{"id":4535,"date":"2026-07-08T10:04:22","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T10:04:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=4535"},"modified":"2026-07-08T10:04:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T10:04:22","slug":"is-80-too-old-for-the-senate-heres-what-80-year-olds-and-almost-80-year-olds-think","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=4535","title":{"rendered":"Is 80 too old for the Senate? Here\u2019s what 80-year-olds (and almost 80-year-olds) think."},"content":{"rendered":"
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At 86, Alan Elliott speaks frankly about old age. While he\u2019s voted for Senator Ed Markey before, Elliot said that come the September primary, he\u2019s not prepared to offer the soon-to-be 80-year-old incumbent \u201cany long-term warranties.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cI like Markey, but I don\u2019t know that he\u2019s going to last through his time,\u201d said Elliott, an unenrolled voter. \u201cI don\u2019t know that I would plan on anything for the next six years.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Elliott is exactly the kind of voter Representative Seth Moulton is trying to win over as he vies to unseat Markey in their Democratic primary. The 47-year-old congressman has staked his campaign on the idea that after nearly five decades in Washington \u2014 and turning 80 on Saturday \u2014 Markey is simply too old for another six-year Senate term. The argument is likely to surface again when the candidates face off in theirfirst primary debate Wednesdayin Chicopee. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

For many older Massachusetts voters, the age question isn\u2019t abstract. As they weigh their choice in the state\u2019s marquee Democratic election, some said they are judging the senator through the lens of their own experience growing older, balancing questions about stamina and longevity against Markey\u2019s experience and his repeated declarationsthat he\u2019s never been more energized than he is now. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Globe interviewed 15 Massachusetts voters who are 80 or will be in their 80s over the next six years. Nearly all expressed reservations about sending someone close to their age to Washington until 2033, thoughsome said they\u2019re still leaning toward supporting Markey over Moulton.<\/span><\/p>\n

Among both types of voters, severalcited Markey\u2019sprogressive posture \u2014pointing to his stance on climate change or his criticism of President Trump \u2014 or the perceptionhe is hardly showing his age. Others said they simply like him. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe only thing that turns me off about him is his age,\u201d said Brenda Castseel, 75, a Democrat from Raynham. \u201cI like where Markey is going. I just wish he was younger.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For Dennis Yeaw of Shrewsbury, it\u2019s not Markey\u2019s age right now that gives him pause so much as his age by the timehis next term would end. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think 80 is too old necessarily, but it\u2019s a six-year term,\u201d said Yeaw, 83, an unenrolled voter who still practices law. \u201cThat means he\u2019ll be 86 at the end of his term, and I think that\u2019s a little much of a stretch.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s enough to give Yeaw pause, although he\u2019s also not sold on Moulton, a six-term congressman. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf all Moulton is running on is the age difference, then that doesn\u2019t cut it for me,\u201d said Yeaw, who wants to know what the candidates \u201ccan do better for the state that\u2019s not being done now.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The length of the term is also on Anne Layton\u2019s mind. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think I could vote for an 80-year-old for a six-year term,\u201d said Layton, 81, a Democrat from Mattapoisett. \u201cIt might have been different if it was for a two-year term, because [Markey is] still quite active. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAt my age,\u201d she added, \u201cI would not want to be running for anything.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Arguments for generational change have perpetually hovered over the race,as they did duringMarkey\u2019s last challenge in 2020. He is the state\u2019s longest-serving member on Capitol Hill, firstwinning a seat inthe Housein 1976. But he is also far from the oldest member of Congress. (There are two dozen members who are 80 or older.) <\/span><\/p>\n

He is also not alone in weathering attacks on his longevity. Moulton has similarly targeted Chuck Schumer, the Senate\u2019s 75-year-old minority leader who has repeatedly served as a proxy forDemocratic challengers calling for sweeping out the party\u2019s old guard.<\/span><\/p>\n

Markey\u2019s campaign declined to comment for this story.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Malden Democrat\u2019s rise through the party\u2019s progressive ranks has been fueled, at times, by a surge in support from younger voters.His 2020 victory over former representative Joe Kennedy III was made possible by the throng of young, online supporters who helped reshape his public image. He\u2019s both embraced his old-school bona fides \u2014 he\u2019s a proud member of Congress\u2019s unofficial flip phone caucus \u2014 and repeatedly emphasized it\u2019s not a person\u2019s age but \u201cthe age of your ideas\u201d that matter.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Still, for 79-year-old Janet Tierney, \u201cthe age thing\u201d is a \u201ca real dilemma.\u201d The unenrolled voter from West Springfield acknowledged that seniority on Capitol Hill also comes with some perks \u2014 leadership positions on committees, for example \u2014 so \u201cit\u2019s a bit of a trade-off.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe way our system is set up, sometimes these politicians have to be in office for years and years to actually get into positions of power,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

For some, Markey\u2019s age is the main reason they plan to support Moulton in September. <\/span><\/p>\n

At 83, \u201cI\u2019m not looking to discriminate against someone just because of age, but I do feel that there\u2019s a point in time in one\u2019s life that I can speak to now in terms of effectiveness,\u201d said Robert Katz, an unenrolled voter fromFramingham. \u201cUnfortunately there\u2019s a physiological reality. And there are very few people that are incredibly active, which is what politics requires.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Markey \u201cseems to be very stable right now,\u201d added Paul Roy, 84, an unenrolled voter from Andover. \u201cBut I think we should think in terms of the future. We should start developing new people and new talent to represent us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Voters have expressed varying opinions on how much age will weigh on their primary ballot. In a Suffolk University\/Boston Globe poll of likely Democratic primary voters in April, many said a candidate\u2019s age matters little, if at all, in their vote, a trend that largely held in a June Suffolk\/Globe poll of general election voters. About 41 percent surveyed in June said age was a small factor, while 33 percent said it didn\u2019t matter.<\/span><\/p>\n

For 81-year-old Virginia Walsh of Worcester, her own experience as she agesis pushing her toward backing Moulton. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThings I could do 10 years ago take me a lot longer to get done[now] \u2014 even just having people for dinner,\u201d said Walsh, a Democrat. <\/span><\/p>\n

Linda Spencer, an unenrolled voter from Littleton, expressed a similar hesitation tobacking someone her age. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAt this age, we can suddenly get sick at any time or just run out of having a lot of energy, so I think maybe 80 is too old,\u201d Spencer, 81, said. Markey \u201cshould go enjoy himself.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For others, Markey is among the exceptions to some of the commonly held beliefs about aging. Howard Gorin, 80, said one of his friends recently celebrated her 95th birthday, and is \u201cgoing fairly strong.\u201d Remarkably, he said, her 97-year-old brother still plays tennis.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSome people have got it. Some people have lost it. Some people never had it,\u201d said Gorin, of Waltham. As for Markey, \u201cHe\u2019s got most of his marbles.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

More than age, \u201cyou have to look at the person and look at what they have accomplished, and feel confident in their capacity to continue to make good decisions,\u201d said George Bauman, a 91-year-old Democrat. \u201cI think that Senator Markey has done a very capable and admirable job representing Massachusetts.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Stefan Sage, 76, a Democrat from Charlton, said he is more focused on where the candidates \u201cstand on policies.\u201d Markey\u2019s age, he said, isjust a number.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cIn about four years, I was going to run,\u201d he joked. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For many older Massachusetts voters, the age question isn\u2019t abstract.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4534,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nIs 80 too old for the Senate? Here\u2019s what 80-year-olds (and almost 80-year-olds) think. - Boston Relocation Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=4535\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is 80 too old for the Senate? 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