With less than five months until their September primary, incumbent U.S. Sen. Ed Markey still holds a double-digit lead over 6th District Congressman challenger Seth Moulton among likely Democratic primary voters.
More troubling for Moulton, the majority of those polled said that a candidate’s age factors little in their decision making.
At least that’s the conclusion of the most recent taking of that race’s political pulse.
A Suffolk University/Boston Globe survey found that 47% of likely primary voters would choose Markey, 79, if the election were held today, compared to 30% who prefer Moulton, 47, who’s attempted to make Markey’s advanced years and 50 years in Washington reasons to seek a new Senate voice for Massachusetts.
However, with more than 20% of the 500 likely primary voters polled still in the undecided camp, Moulton retains a mathematical chance of making this matchup a more competitive race leading up to the Sept. 1 preliminary election.
In accenting the positive, Moulton can point to the narrowing of Markey’s advantage in this most recent assessment of the Senate campaign.
In a Suffolk/Globe poll taken in November, Markey held a 23 percentage-point lead.
Markey, the state’s junior U.S. senator, who is seeking his third, six-year term, still appears to enjoy the support of the state’s Democratic core.
That’s reflected in this latest poll, where 84% of those surveyed said they view him favorably, while nearly three-quarters of the respondents believe he’s done an “excellent” or “good” job.
Moulton couldn’t muster anywhere near that level of favorability.
Only 55% said they have a favorable view of the six-term congressman, whose district includes area towns Bedford, Billerica, Burlington, Tewksbury and Wilmington.
The candidates’ stark difference in favorability could be a residual effect from Moulton’s 2024 statement that he wouldn’t want his daughters to be “run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete,” in arguing for limits on transgender participation in competitive women’s sports, a view that alienated many Massachusetts Democrats, including his own congressional staff.
Moulton has searched — so far unsuccessfully — for a way to differentiate himself, a decorated Marine captain who served four tours in Iraq, from his career politician rival.
Though Markey, who turns 80 in July, may trend a little further left on the liberal meter, their political positions align on most issues.
Moulton undoubtedly thought Markey’s age, deemed advanced in most circles — except it seems in the halls of Congress — would give him a political leg up, but the poll results tell a different story.
Moulton, who’s made the prospect of a generational change a key component of his campaign — must have been chagrined to learn that only 26% of those surveyed said the candidate’s age would greatly influence how they’d vote.
Conversely, 68% of respondents said age would have “a little” or no impact on their decision.
“When I saw less than 30% said that the age difference mattered a lot, that was a sign that age alone was not enough to topple Markey,” said David Paleologos, director of Suffolk University Political Research Center.
Paleologos said a candidate’s age may matter more to the general voting public, including unenrolled voters who can cast a ballot in either the Democratic or Republican primary.
However, Democratic primary contests especially tend to attract the party’s more progressive, liberal wing.
This poll only concentrated on the two major candidates.
Alex Rikleen, a former teacher and Markey’s first declared Democrat challenger, wasn’t included because he has less than $100,000 in his campaign account, according to Paleologos.
Democrats running for statewide office in Massachusetts need support from 15% of attendees at the state’s Democratic Convention in May to get their names on the ballot.
The Suffolk/Globe poll was conducted over five days, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points. Live callers reached respondents via mobile and landline phones.
Another positive for Moulton, aside from trimming Markey’s lead somewhat — his ability to raise more money than his incumbent competition.
Moulton outraised Markey for the second consecutive quarter, bringing in nearly $1.1 million to Markey’s $776,000 in the first quarter of 2026.
Moulton now holds a $790,000 cash-on-hand advantage, reporting $3.33 million to Markey’s $2.54 million as of March 31, signaling at least one demonstrated advantage.
Moulton has raised approximately $3.2 million since joining the race, while Markey has raised roughly $1.65 million in that same period.
Challengers outraising incumbents have occurred in several U.S. representative races, but Markey’s the only U.S. Senate incumbent to have raised less cash.
At least nine House Democrats were outraised by their primary challengers in the first fundraising quarter of the year.
Unfortunately, in Moulton’s case, all that money — to paraphrase that Beatles song — can’t buy him much love with the Democratic electorate.
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