2026-08-31T16:00:29.379Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/31/politics/massachusetts-democratic-senate-primary-markey-moulton
马萨诸塞州阿灵顿——
波士顿倾茶事件的核心并非茶叶，当然也不是莫霍克人，尽管当时殖民者们正是身着这套服饰将一箱箱茶叶倒入海中。
在周二深蓝州马萨诸塞州的民主党参议院初选中，资深参议员埃德·马基正回溯这些革命根源，将自己定位为反建制候选人，挑战众议员赛斯·莫尔顿——尽管他1973年抵达华盛顿的时间仅比乔·拜登晚三年。
尽管这场竞选被左翼激进主义的言辞所笼罩，但在表面之下，对许多人来说，这场竞争与其说是围绕意识形态议题或施政理念，不如说是野心的碰撞、为未来掌控州内民主党权力的努力，以及个人恩怨。
现年80岁的马基站在一方，誓言继续为左翼理想而战，这些理想既有他已取得的成就，也有他在多年从政生涯中尚未推动通过的政策。另一方则是47岁的荣誉海军陆战队老兵、已任职六届的国会议员莫尔顿，他曾多次挑战南希·佩洛西及其他多位民主党领袖，令他们颇为不满。莫尔顿将竞选的核心放在代际变革上。
尽管这场初选被称为中期选举周期最后一场至关重要的民主党党内对决，但马基和莫尔顿的竞选活动中，选民们告诉CNN，他们很难理解这场竞选在党内大辩论中的定位，甚至弄不清“进步派”一词如今究竟意味着什么。
“对我而言，我觉得就是要致力于帮助工人阶级，致力于提升代表性不足群体的地位。我没有一个单一的评判标准，说如果你不认同这点，就不算进步派，”东北大学法学院学生科林·鲁说道。周六，他和其他大学生作为背景，出席了在多切斯特的国际电气工人兄弟会工会大厅举行的马基竞选集会。这场集会的主讲嘉宾是佛蒙特州参议员伯尼·桑德斯和马萨诸塞州资深参议员伊丽莎白·沃伦。
“我喜欢成为进步派，”语言学家莉萨·拉沃伊说道。周六下午，她来到了在马萨诸塞州林恩公共草坪举办的莫尔顿筹款派对。她表示，这个问题让她想起了自己作为第二语言英语教师时遇到的一些困境。“使用这些词汇的人可以自己定义其含义，就像星巴克用‘大杯’和‘超大杯’一样……在我看来，进步派就是要打破现有体系，让每个人都能拥有合理的发展机会。”
沃伦在2012年以局外人进步派英雄的身份当选参议员，她在马基竞选集会的后台（她是当日主要演讲者之一）向CNN给出了自己当下的定义：“进步派是那些相信政府应该发挥作用，为所有人扩大机会，而不仅仅是帮助将更多资源输送给顶层人群的人。”
马基向CNN给出的进步主义定义是一系列他一直在推动但尚未获得通过的主张：“全民医保、绿色新政、跨性别权利法案、对亿万富翁征税、削减国防预算，将资金转用于医疗、教育和环境正义。”
莫尔顿的回答是：“在我看来，进步派意味着真正取得进展，我认为这是很大的区别。因为毫无疑问，马基参议员很擅长写新闻稿，擅长写出不会冒犯任何人的措辞完美的声明，但他并没有太多实际作为。”
这场初选对马萨诸塞州的民主党领袖们而言颇具风险。马基并未激发广泛的热情，许多人曾认为他2020年的胜利——当时时任众议员乔·肯尼迪三世试图在初选中将他拉下马——将是他的告别演出，让他体面地结束职业生涯。当年，马基与纽约州众议员亚历山大·奥卡西奥-科特兹共同提出《绿色新政》，后者帮助提振了马基的竞选活动。
在私下交谈中，州内官员表示，他们陷入了两难境地：一方面觉得这位参议员只是在走过场，另一方面又个人反感莫尔顿。
马基获胜的可能性还需结合未来几年马萨诸塞州两个参议院席位和州长职位都可能出现空缺的背景来考量。沃伦在2031年现任任期结束时将年满81岁，州民主党人士猜测，州长莫拉·希利可能会寻求未来总统政府中的职位。
渴望崭露头角的年轻马萨诸塞州民主党人并不太愿意搅乱这滩他们自己也可能想要涉足的浑水，而且他们对莫尔顿像六年前的肯尼迪一样试图“插队”参选感到不满。
希利和该州其他多位知名民主党人一样，保持了中立。周日上午，在一场为州参议院临时议长造势的竞选活动中（该议长本人也面临初选挑战），当被问及她内心是否已做出决定时，她稍作犹豫后表示自己已有想法。
“对马萨诸塞州而言，重要的是我们联邦代表团中要有能够为民众带来切实成果的领导人，能够与我作为州长合作，推进我希望在此地实现的目标，”希利说道。“民众对华盛顿的瘫痪状态深感沮丧。就是要去切实办成事情。”
至于肯尼迪，他告诉CNN，尽管现任议员带来的从政经验有其好处，但有时也“会固化权力结构”。民主党人“应该好好审视那些维持现状的体制”，他说道。
截至周日下午，他表示尚未决定周二将投给谁。
在周六的集会上，马基谈到要在华盛顿再任职六年，称这是马萨诸塞州自1775年以来的革命传统的一部分，同时也谈到了该州废奴运动、妇女选举权运动、同性恋权利运动和医疗保健运动的本土根源。
“我们就是革命者。感谢各位革命者今天加入我们，”他向欢呼的人群说道，并在演讲结束时随着马文·盖伊和塔米·特雷尔的《山高不可攀》尽情摇摆。
头戴1775年风格帽子的马基，次日下午在阿灵顿的一场小型集会上谈到了继承保罗·里维尔的精神——他曾骑马穿过该镇警告民众国王的动向。事后在公园的野餐桌旁落座时，马基再次提及里维尔的著名骑行，称他多次面临初选挑战反映了该州的“基因构成”。
他对将年龄作为竞选议题的说法不予理会，认为这是合理的讨论，但最终无关紧要。马基同样驳斥了《波士顿环球报》在支持莫尔顿的社论中提出的批评，即他在2020年对阵肯尼迪的竞选中做出的承诺并未兑现。他辩称，这一批评并未反映出他提出并支持的所有立法成果。
“在我看来，重要的不是你的年龄，而是你的理念的时代性。在理念方面，我一直是世界上最年轻的人。所以，我向前看，引领方向，挑战的不仅是共和党建制派，还有民主党建制派，”马基说道。
奥卡西奥-科特兹在本届初选周期中较2020年更晚才背书马基，此次也没有像上次那样现身他的集会。当CNN询问该如何解读这位国会女议员未出席周六与桑德斯共同举行的集会时，马基的助手并未回应。
尽管如此，马基的竞选团队仍在努力激发左翼选民的热情，无论是最后请来桑德斯助阵、向大学民主党团体发送邮件提供学生免费坐在这位政治偶像身后的座位，还是与网红展开合作。竞选T恤是亮粉色的，背面的“AGONIZE”（使痛苦）被划掉，下方写着“ORGANIZE”（组织起来）。现场标牌被一名分发人员称为“彩虹埃德”或“埃德，红白蓝”。在倡导《绿色新政》时，马基有一句台词是“把那些石油公司的税收减免给我们！这就是社会主义！”，他知道这句台词能在观众中引发可靠的欢呼。
他多次抨击莫尔顿，嘲讽道：“在众议院任职12年却几乎毫无建树，如今却突然声称自己当选参议员后就能成为超级巨星。我只是认为，没有任何证据能够支撑这种错误的前提。”
马基承诺这将是他的最后一个任期，并表示不担心自己有能力胜任这项工作。
今年以来，桑德斯一直在支持大量挑战现任议员的候选人。周六，他为马基展开了熟悉的指手画脚、情绪激昂的演讲。十多年前，《华盛顿邮报》在报道马基首次参议院就职派对时，曾将他和妻子描述为“二十多年来一直活跃在慈善晚宴和鸡尾酒会圈的常客”。
“埃德明白共和党人不明白，也有太多民主党人不明白的道理：维持现状的政治和政策对工薪家庭不起作用，”桑德斯说道。
华盛顿和马萨诸塞州的民主党领袖私下里往往会说，莫尔顿的行事风格被一些人认为傲慢自大、自以为是，这并未给他带来任何好处。因此，尽管他取得了一些立法胜利，比如协助创建了全国988自杀与危机生命线，但莫尔顿深知，如果等待空缺席位，他永远不会成为党内领袖们青睐的人选。
这也意味着，与肯尼迪不同，莫尔顿在参选之初就清楚自己会招致一些敌意。
周六下午，在波士顿郊区林恩的绿带凉亭前，一场活动设置了充气城堡和免费冰淇淋车，以鼓励选民前来拜访。莫尔顿看着凉亭外的场景，逐一列出了《波士顿环球报》民调中指出的问题：四分之一的马萨诸塞州居民表示考虑离开该州。
“当我说赛斯时，你们喊服务！”一名竞选工作人员喊道，试图带动互动问答。
活动结束后，人群散去，莫尔顿坐在树荫下的长椅上，表示将他描绘为温和派或企业说客的说法虚伪且不真诚。
他说，此次竞选出现了“我未曾预料到的谎言程度”。他指责马基的竞选团队“充满负面文化”，并细数了多名工作人员和志愿者——他称——在辩论前他上前问候时拒绝与他握手的情况。当听到马基将他的连任竞选比作一场新的革命时，他翻了个白眼。当听到马基及其盟友大肆攻击他在2024年表示不支持跨性别女孩参加女子体育赛事的言论时，他感到恼火——他后来对此立场有所缓和。
“他谴责特朗普为了政治目的将这些群体武器化，”莫尔顿说道。“那他现在在做什么？”
莫尔顿对马基的批评直截了当：“我尊重你的工作，我自己也支持其中大部分内容。但你必须承认，这还不够。当我们的电费是全国平均水平的两倍时，你怎么能说你为能源政策感到自豪？当人们在这里买不起房子时，你怎么能说你为保障性住房的工作感到自豪？”
就在莫尔顿阐述自己的观点时，他5岁的女儿跑了过来，向他展示自己在集市上被面部彩绘师画成了小猫的样子。
他说，作为父亲的视角推动了他在竞选活动中提出的论点。
“我的视野曾经可能是未来50年。现在则是未来100年，”莫尔顿说道。
在这场竞选的背景下，这不仅仅是一种笼统的感受，莫尔顿解释道，他提到了自己的另一个女儿，并将其与8月的一场辩论中的一幕联系起来：当时马基在被问及如何使用人工智能时似乎有些力不从心。
“六年后，我7岁的女儿将年满13岁，未来几年可能会使用社交媒体。我们都知道社交媒体对孩子有害，而这位如今已86岁的家伙甚至都不理解人工智能，还放任大型科技公司放松对社交媒体的监管，”莫尔顿说道。“有很多自私的理由让人希望参议院效率低下。”
尽管莫尔顿没有声称自己代表一场革命，但他表示，他的获胜将在大选中产生更直接的连锁反应。
“如果俄亥俄州或德克萨斯州的独立选民认为民主党人代表的是一个由80岁老人组成的政党，那么他们很难会投票给民主党，”莫尔顿说道。“你可能喜欢詹姆斯·塔拉里科，但说他将前往华盛顿加入埃德·马基这样的团队，与加入下一代领导者的团队，这之间有很大的区别。”
无论结果如何，这可能都是马萨诸塞州最后一次举行此类竞选：11月的选票上有一个问题，将取消初选制度，采用像加州那样的无党派两轮选举制。
An 80-year-old senator is asking for six more years — and pitching himself as revolutionary
2026-08-31T16:00:29.379Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/31/politics/massachusetts-democratic-senate-primary-markey-moulton
Arlington, Massachusetts—
The Boston Tea Party wasn’t really about the tea, and it certainly wasn’t about the Mohawks though those were the costumes the colonists wore as they dumped the boxes overboard.
In Tuesday’s Democratic Senate primary in deep blue Massachusetts, longtime Sen. Ed Markey is harking back to those revolutionary roots as he pitches himself to voters as the anti-establishment candidate against Rep. Seth Moulton – despite arriving to Washington just three years after Joe Biden did in 1973.
Although the language of the left-wing insurgency surrounds the race, under the surface, the contest for many appears to be less about ideological issues or governing philosophies than a smash-up of ambition, efforts to secure Democratic power in the state in the future, and personal pique.
Markey, 80, in one corner, is vowing to keep fighting for left-wing ideals, which include some successes and some that he hasn’t passed in all his years in power so far. In the other, Moulton, the 47-year-old decorated Marine and six-term congressman who has frustrated Nancy Pelosi and many other Democrats by repeatedly challenging their leadership, has staked his campaign on generational change.
While the race has been cast as the last big existential Democratic primary of the midterms cycle, voters across Markey and Moulton events told CNN they struggle to make sense of where they fit into the great intraparty debate this contest has been made out to be, and even what the word “progressive” means anymore.
“I think for me it’s just like you’re committed to helping the working class, committed to lifting up underrepresented groups. I don’t have one issue that if you’re not committed to that, you’re not progressive,” said Northeastern law student Collin Rue, who stood with other university students as the backdrop for Markey’s Saturday rally at an International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union hall in Dorchester. The event was headlined by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and senior Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
“I love being progressive,” said linguist Lisa Lavoie, who came to a Moulton-funded party on the Lynn, Massachusetts, common on Saturday afternoon, noting that the question reminded her of some of her struggles teaching English as a second language. “People who use the words get to define what they mean, just like Starbucks with their ‘Grande’ and ‘Venti’… I see it as moving past the established systems so that everyone has a reasonable chance.”
Backstage at the Markey rally where she was one of the marquee speakers, Warren — who in 2012 won her seat as the outsider progressive hero — told CNN her current definition: “Progressives are people who believe that government should play a role in expanding opportunity for everyone, not just helping funnel more resources to those at the top.”
Markey’s definition of progressivism to CNN was a list of ideas that he’s been pushing but so far hasn’t passed: “Medicare for All, Green New Deal, Trans Bill of Rights, taxing billionaires, cutting, slashing the defense budget, transferring the funding over to healthcare, education, environmental justice.”
Moulton’s answer: “In my view, it means actually making progress, and I think that’s a big difference, because there’s no question that Senator Markey is good at the press release, good at a perfectly worded statement that’s not going to offend everybody, but he hasn’t done much.”
The primary is dicey for Massachusetts’ Democratic leaders. Markey doesn’t inspire broad passion, and many assumed his 2020 victory — when then-Rep. Joe Kennedy III tried to take him out in the primary — would be his swan song, a career ending on his terms. Progressive stalwart Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York helped galvanize Markey’s campaign that year after he stood with her to introduce the Green New Deal.
In private conversations, state leaders say they’re stuck between feeling like the senator is going through the motions and a personal dislike for Moulton.
The potential of a Markey win is also being weighed through the prism of the possibility of both Senate seats and the governor’s office being open in the next few years. Warren will be 81 when her current term expires in 2031 and state Democrats suspect Gov. Maura Healey will want a job in a future presidential administration.
Eager younger Massachusetts Democrats aren’t too eager to rock a boat they may want to sail on themselves, and they’re not happy that Moulton, like Kennedy six years ago, is trying to jump the line.
Healey, like many of the state’s other better-known Democrats, stayed neutral. Asked on Sunday morning at a campaign event boosting the state Senate president pro tempore – who’s facing his own primary challenge – whether she’s landed on a decision in her own head, she hesitated slightly before saying she thinks so.
“What’s important to Massachusetts is that we have leadership in the federal delegation that’s going to get real results for people and that will be a partner with me as governor in doing the things that I want to see happen here,” Healey said. “People are so frustrated that DC seems so broken. It’s like, go get stuff done.”
As for Kennedy, he told CNN that while the experience that comes with incumbency can have benefits, there are times when it “calcifies power.” Democrats “would do well to examine the structures that perpetuate a status quo,” he said.
As of Sunday afternoon, he said he had not made up his mind who to vote for on Tuesday.
At the Saturday rally, Markey talked about getting another six years in Washington as part of a Massachusetts tradition of revolution going back to 1775, but also spoke of the local roots of the abolitionist, suffragette, gay rights and healthcare movements.
“We are the revolutionaries. Thank you, revolutionaries, for joining us today,” he told the cheering crowd, and finished his speech by doing an extended bop to Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.”
Markey, wearing a 1775 cap, spoke to a smaller gathering in Arlington the next afternoon about picking up the spirit of Paul Revere as he rode through the town warning of a king. Sitting at a picnic table in a park afterwards, Markey again invoked Revere’s famous ride as he claimed that his repeated primary challengers reflect “the genetic make-up” of the state.
He brushed off mentions of his age as fair game but ultimately insignificant. Markey likewise dismissed the Boston Globe’s complaint in its endorsement of Moulton that he hasn’t delivered on the promises made in the Kennedy race, arguing that the critique was not reflective of all the legislation he’s put together and signed onto.
“From my perspective, it’s not your age, it is the age of your ideas, and I’ve always been the youngest guy in the world when it comes to ideas. So, I look ahead, I lead the way, and I challenge the establishment, not only from the Republican Party, but from the Democratic Party as well,” Markey said.
Ocasio-Cortez endorsed him much later this cycle than in 2020, and without the verve or presence by his side this time around. An aide did not answer CNN when asked how to read the congresswoman’s decision not to join the rally with Sanders on Saturday.
Still, Markey’s campaign has been trying to drum up energy on the left, whether through pulling in Sanders at the end, the email blast to college Democratic groups offering students free seats behind the political icon as he spoke, or leaning into collaborations with influencers. Campaign shirts are bright pink, with the word “AGONIZE” crossed out on the back and “ORGANIZE” written under. Signs are printed in what one staffer handing them out called “Rainbow Ed” or “Ed, White and Blue.” As he advocates for the Green New Deal, Markey has a line about cutting tax breaks for oil companies —“Give us some of that socialism!” — that he knows to work into his speeches for reliable cheers from his crowds.
He ripped repeatedly into Moulton, sneering, “after being in the House of Representatives for 12 years and accomplishing very little, that all of a sudden he’ll be superstar if he goes to the Senate. I just don’t think the evidence is there in order to, in any way, defend that erroneous premise.”
Markey has promised this will be his last term and says he has no concerns about his ability to do it capably.
After spending the year backing an extensive list of challengers to incumbents, in this race, Sanders on Saturday summoned the familiar finger pointing and reddening of the race for Markey, a man who over a decade ago was described along with his wife in a Washington Post write-up of his first Senate swearing in party as “regulars on the charity gala/cocktail party circuit for more than two decades.”
“Ed understands what Republicans don’t and too many Democrats don’t: That status quo politics and status quo policies are not working for working families,” Sanders said.
Moulton, Democratic leaders in Washington and Massachusetts tend to say privately, hasn’t done himself any favors with an approach some find standoffish and self-righteous. So, though he’s racked up some legislative wins, like helping create the national 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, Moulton knew that if he waited for an open seat, he’d never be the one party leaders turned to.
That’s also meant he, unlike Kennedy, came into the race more comfortable with knowing he was going to get some hate.
Looking out from a gazebo on the greenway in the Boston suburb of Lynn at a bouncy house and free ice cream truck meant to encourage voters to stop by, Moulton on Saturday afternoon ticked through the problems identified in a Boston Globe survey that showed one in four Massachusetts residents saying they considered leaving the state.
“When I say Seth, you say service!” a campaign worker shouted, trying to get a call-and-response going.
Sitting on a bench in the shade as the crowd dissipated afterwards, Moulton said the efforts to paint him as a moderate or corporate shill are hypocritical and disingenuous.
He said there’s been “a level of lying that I did not expect.” He tagged the Markey campaign with a “culture of negativity,” recounting how many staffers and volunteers he says refused to shake his hand when he went over to greet them before their debates. He rolled his eyes at hearing Markey compare his reelection campaign to a new revolution. He got exasperated to hear how much Markey and allies have attacked him over saying in 2024 that he wasn’t in favor of trans kids playing girls’ sports – a stance he’s somewhat backtracked on.
“He decries Trump for weaponizing these people for political purposes,” Moulton said. “What is he doing?”
Moulton’s case against Markey is straightforward: “I respect your work, and I’ve supported much of it myself. But you’ve got to admit it hasn’t been enough. How can you say you’re proud of your energy policy when our electric bills are twice the national average? How can say that you’re proud of your work on affordable housing when people can’t afford to live here?”
As Moulton made his case, his five-year-old daughter came by to show him how she’d been turned into a kitty cat by the face painter at the fair.
The perspective of being a father, he said, helped push him into the argument he’s been making on the trail.
“My horizon used to be maybe 50 years out. Now it’s like 100 years,” Moulton said.
In the context of this race, that’s more than just a general feeling, Moulton explained, bringing up his other daughter and connecting it to a moment in an August debate when Markey seemed to struggle when asked about using artificial intelligence.
“Six years from now, my 7-year-old will be 13, getting on social media probably within the next few years when we know it hurts kids because the guy who’s now 86 doesn’t even understand AI and gave free rein to big tech to deregulate social media,” Moulton said. “There’s a lot of selfish reasons people want an ineffective Senate.”
While not claiming to represent a revolution, Moulton said his win would have a more immediate ripple effect in the general election.
“It’s going to be hard for independent voters in Ohio or Texas to vote for a Democrat if they think he or she represents a party of 80-year-olds,” Moulton argued. “You might love James Talarico, but there’s a big difference between saying he’s going to go to Washington and be a part of a group like Ed Markey versus a next generation leader.”
Whatever happens, this may be the last time Massachusetts does a race like this: one of the questions on the ballot in November would eliminate primaries in favor of a non-partisan, top-two system like that of California.