{"id":4584,"date":"2026-07-08T22:34:47","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T22:34:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=4584"},"modified":"2026-07-08T22:34:47","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T22:34:47","slug":"with-all-due-respect-markey-moulton-trade-barbs-in-heated-first-debate-of-mass-senate-primary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=4584","title":{"rendered":"\u2018With all due respect\u2019: Markey, Moulton trade barbs in heated first debate of Mass. Senate primary"},"content":{"rendered":"
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CHICOPEE \u2014 US Senator Ed Markey spent the early part of this year publicly ignoring his primary challenger, US Representative Seth Moulton. There\u2019s no question where their targets are now. <\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Second person in 4 days is fatally shot in Memphis by federal task force member<\/a><\/p>\n

In the opening debate of their Senate contest, the two Democrats on Wednesday traded barbs on a variety of fronts, with Markey taking shots at Moulton over his stances on Medicare for All and investments in the defense sector, both attacking each other on their financial disclosures and tax returns, and Moulton likening Markey\u2019s approach to that of President Trump.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe attacks people for doing things,\u201d the Salem Democrat said of the incumbent.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The hourlong event marked the first head-to-head matchup between the pair after months of back-and-forth over when, where, and how many debates should take place in the state\u2019s signature political race.<\/span><\/p>\n

The often-chippy debate presented a clear contrast. Markey argued that his progressive policy positions \u2014 and long list of other politicians supporting him \u2014 are better aligned with Massachusetts voters. Moulton, meanwhile, laid out the need for fresher ideas and for building Democratic majorities beyond Massachusetts.<\/span><\/p>\n

Policy-wise, there is little daylight between the two candidates. Both, for instance, blasted the Trump administration\u2019s aggressive campaign to detain and deport immigrants, as well as the Supreme Court\u2019s recent ruling ending temporary protected status for Haitians and Syrians. Both have called for the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. <\/span><\/p>\n

They have also centered their election bids on calls to address residents\u2019 affordability concerns, funding for transportation, and support for clean air efforts in the western part of the state.<\/span><\/p>\n

And they both, at several points, agreed that their party is flawed and that the country at large \u201cneeds change.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Many of their differences hinged on more personal factors. Moulton has made the case that Massachusetts needs a new generation of leadership in Washington to take on the Trump administration. Markey and his supporters, meanwhile, have painted Moulton as inauthentic and insufficiently progressive, pointing to more moderate positions he took in the past.<\/span><\/p>\n

That dynamic manifested almost immediately on Wednesday when Moulton declared that Massachusetts needs \u201csomeone who\u2019s going to change the playbook, invest in a new generation of leaders, and start making Democrats win again.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWith all due respect, no one\u2019s going to ride your train because it\u2019s too slow,\u201d he said to Markey. \u201cSenator, you had 50 years. What are you going to do in the next six?\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

In response to a question about his age, Markey, 79, used familiar refrains that \u201cthis is the most energized I\u2019ve ever been\u201d and that \u201cit\u2019s not your age, it\u2019s the age of your ideas.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Markey told the Globe\u2019s Editorial Board that, should he win again, his next term in the Senate would be his last. He would be 86 at the end of that term in 2033.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI need one more term to finish this progressive agenda, and then I will step down,\u201d Markey told reporters after the debate Wednesday. \u201cBut we need to complete the agenda \u2014 we need Medicare For All, we need a Green New Deal.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The two Democrats have each sought to paint themselves as best positioned to bring new ideas to Washington and take on the Trump administration \u2014 though, as one panel member pointed out, each has served several terms in Washington,<\/span><\/p>\n

Both candidates argued that experience itself wasn\u2019t necessarily a bad thing \u2014 just that their<\/i> particular r\u00e9sum\u00e9 was best to meet the moment.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cExperience is not the opposite of change,\u201d Markey said. \u201cExperience is what you use in order to create change. That is what I have done.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Trump says US will give Ukraine license to produce Patriot defense systems<\/a><\/p>\n

Moulton, who first won his House seat by topping a longtime incumbent and once sought to oust Nancy Pelosi as then-House Speaker, emphasized that he has \u201cconsistently fought against the establishment, even when it means standing up to my own party.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The congressman also pointed to his work boosting veteran candidates around the country, arguing Markey hasn\u2019t taken action to boost Democrats\u2019 numbers in Congress.<\/span><\/p>\n

Markey, meanwhile, leaned on the support from prominent left-leaning Democrats in Massachusetts and beyond, referencing his work with Representative Ayanna Pressley and Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senator Bernie Sanders \u2014 all of whom have endorsed him. He also repeatedly listed, at length, the endorsements he\u2019s garnered from local officials at all levels across the state, including in Moulton\u2019s own congressional district.<\/span><\/p>\n

Moulton, in response, pounced. \u201cSenator, we know that all the elected establishment politicians have endorsed you. The question is, is that working?\u201d he asked.<\/span><\/p>\n

Moulton at times deflected when asked to defend his stances in the past, including backlash to comments he made in 2024 blaming identity politics for the party\u2019s losses that year and saying he didn\u2019t want his daughters \u201cgetting run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t directly address the 2024 comments on Wednesday, instead pivoting to Markey\u2019s Senate confirmation vote of Trump nominees, including US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whom Moulton said earned a \u201c0 percent\u201d rating from the Human Rights Campaign. (The Human Rights Campaign political committee has endorsed Markey\u2019s campaign).<\/span><\/p>\n

Markey\u2019s campaign immediately sent out a \u201cfact-check\u201d email to reporters with the subject line: \u201cEd Markey Won\u2019t Scapegoat Trans Kids. Seth Moulton Does.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Moulton, speaking to reporters after the debate, said the point of his 2024 comments \u201cis that we need to have a discussion\u201d about identity politics.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd as a Democrat, you\u2019re not even allowed to have that debate, and that really doesn\u2019t serve the very people we\u2019re trying to protect,\u201d Moulton said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not afraid to take tough questions from transgender kids, from transgender parents,\u201d he added. \u201cThey want someone who\u2019s going to fight forward, who\u2019s going to actually foster this debate.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Wednesday\u2019s first side-by-side event with the Democrats came weeks after Moulton participated in an unusual debate against John Deaton, the presumptive GOP nominee, which Markey declined to attend.<\/span><\/p>\n

During that debate, Moulton at times defended the absent senator, at one point pushing back on Deaton\u2019s claim that Markey was a \u201ccoward\u201d for not attending. But on Wednesday, that civility fizzled \u2014 even as Moulton often prefaced his criticisms with a \u201cwith all due respect.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The barbs on Wednesday echoed criticisms from Moulton and Markey the last time the pair shared a stage \u2014 though at separate times \u2014 at the state Democratic convention in late May, when Markey resoundingly won his party\u2019s endorsement.<\/span><\/p>\n

Markey and Moulton are slated to participate in two more debates before the Sept. 1 primary: One on Aug. 3 in Dedham, hosted by Boston 25 and GBH News, and another on Aug. 20, hosted by WCVB, WBUR, and the Boston Globe.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more In a surprise swap, Trump flies back from Turkey in an old Air Force One, not the Qatari-gifted jet<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The hourlong event marked the first head-to-head matchup between the pair after months of back-and-forth over when, where, and how many debates should take place in the state\u2019s signature political race.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4583,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018With all due respect\u2019: Markey, Moulton trade barbs in heated first debate of Mass. 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