Markey, Moulton agree to August debate in US Senate primary fight

US Senator Ed Markey and his challenger, US Representative Seth Moulton, will meet in an hour-long debate in late August, just days before voters get their say in the Senate Democratic primary.

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WCVB, WBUR, and the Boston Globe are hosting the one-hour, televised event on Aug. 20. It will be the last debate between the two Democrats before the Sept. 1 primary, and two days before the state’s early-voting period begins.

Moulton, 47, has built his primary challenge on a call for generational change, pointing to Markey’s age and seniority — he turns 80 in July and has served in Congress for 50 years — as arguments for a new era of leadership in Washington.

Markey, who has held his Senate seat since 2013, remains popular among the state’s Democratic base, with 84 percent of likely primary voters surveyed in an April Suffolk University/Boston Globe saying they view him favorably.

The August debate will be moderated by WCVB anchor Ed Harding. Panelists include WCVB political reporter Sharman Sacchetti, Boston Globe columnist Adrian Walker, and WBUR “Morning Edition”host Tiziana Dearing.

The event will be livestreamed on WCVB.com, WBUR.org, and Globe.com, and broadcast live on WBUR 90.9FM.

With less than four months until the primary election, Markey and his campaign have largely declined to directly attack Moulton, address Moulton’s own attacks, or invoke the Salem congressman’s name much at all, the Globe has reported.

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Moulton, meanwhile, has repeatedly gone after the incumbent senator, arguing he is too old to serve another six-year term.

Moulton has also sought to challenge Markey to a series of debates, and has agreed to face John Deaton, the likely Republican nominee for the US Senate seat, in a separate June 16 debate hosted by WBZ’s Jon Keller.

The Massachusetts Democratic Party is holding its convention next week, when party activists will vote on whom to endorse in the race. Candidates must get at least 15 percent of support from the thousands of delegates gathering in Worcester in order qualify for the primary ballot.

In a statement Wednesday, a spokesperson for Moulton said for the two Democrats to not participate in more debates is a “disservice to our democracy.”

“Massachusetts deserves a real conversation throughout June and July, not a single, performative checkbox debate right before Election Day,” Taylor Hebble, the Moulton spokesperson, said in a statement.

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Kelly Garrity of the Globe staff contributed to this report.