Markey, Moulton clash in first Democratic senate primary debate

Seth Moulton and Ed Markey talk to reporters after their first debate.
Reminder Publishing photos by Tyler Garnet

CHICOPEE — U.S. Sen. Ed Markey and challenger U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton clashed over leadership, policy, and experience during their first head-to-head debate on July 8 at the WWLP TV-22 Studios.

The format, which offered voters a preview of the race ahead of the Sept. 1 primary, included a panel of Tony Fay from WWLP, Dave Madsen from Western Mass News, Elizabeth Roman from NEPM, and Jim Kinney of The Republican-MassLive asking the candidates questions.

The debate covered a range of topics, including age and experience, ethics and finances, healthcare, transgender athletes, infrastructure, immigration and the East-West rail.

Markey, the incumbent, is looking to secure another six-year term. He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1976. He has served in the Senate since 2013. If victorious, Markey said this would be his last year running for re-election.

“I need one more term to finish the agenda, this progressive agenda,” Markey stated. “And then I will step down. But we need to complete the agenda. We need Medicare for all, we need a green new deal, we need to make sure that we are fighting for every family who is out there who justifiably feels that they have been left behind.”

Moulton said he thinks the U.S. Senate could use a bit of a tune-up and argued for a new generation of Democratic leadership. Moulton is currently the U.S. Representative for Massachusetts’ Sixth District, which is composed of most of Essex County, including Tewksbury, Lynn and Gloucester.

“A lot of people in Massachusetts feel like they don’t have a voice in politics, and they’re struggling to afford basic needs, and we need a fighter,” Moulton said. “We need someone who’s going to change the playbook, invest in a new generation of the years and start making Democrats win again.”

On the topic of his age and if it could affect his ability to serve the commonwealth, Markey stated, “This is the most energized I’ve ever been. Fighting [President] Donald Trump every single day, fighting his agenda to undermine families all across our country.”

Moulton stated that the focus should not be on Markey’s age but rather on the fact that the playbook has not been working for the last 50 years.

“We need new ideas and a new playbook because a 50-year-old playbook is just not delivering for our country, for Massachusetts,” Moulton stated.

Moulton spoke about his American Affordability Agenda, a comprehensive plan focused on housing, healthcare and education. He said he believes housing, healthcare and education should be human rights.

Markey said he supports Medicare for all and has supported the Millionaires Tax in 2022 that raised $5 billion to pay for education for kids in schools in Massachusetts. He also opposed the defense budget seven months ago, giving $1 billion to conduct the wars in Venezuela and Iran.

“My goal is to continue to fight for every day, to make sure every child has a very strong floor and an unlimited ceiling, and we’re going to need the healthcare and education money in order to accomplish that goal,” Markey stated.

The topic that caused the most debate between the two candidates was the issue of transgender athletes. The Supreme Court recently upheld state laws in Idaho and West Virginia that ban transgender women and girls from competing in women’s and girls’ sports at public schools and universities.

Fay noted that Moulton publicly condemned the Supreme Court ruling, but in 2024, he was quoted in the New York Times saying that Democrats “spent too much time trying not to offend anyone” and that he wouldn’t want his daughters “getting run over on a playing field by a male or formally male athletes.”

At the debate, Moulton said he stands with everyone in the LGBTQ community. “I stand with you because I always stood with you. I have seen the pain you are going through because of this hateful Trump administration.”

Markey claimed that the LGBTQ community has endorsed him in this race and applauded Fay’s question because “after the 2024 election, Congressman Moulton decided that he was going to throw trans kids under the bus, the political bus, and blame them for the loss of the 2024 election.”

Looking at Western Massachusetts specifically, the candidates discussed the highly anticipated West-East Rail, which Markey said he and his colleague, U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, secured $157 million in federal funding for.

Moulton argued that the current proposed speed of the train is too slow, and the funding secured will only pay for “10 miles of rail,” which is not enough to get to Boston.

“No one’s going to ride your train because it’s too slow, and you’ve had 50 years in Washington to get this done, and it’s not done,” Moulton stated. “Meanwhile, the rest of the world is passing us by.”

Moulton argued that if Massachusetts had a high-speed rail between Springfield and Boston, one could get from downtown [Springfield] to downtown [Boston] in 40 minutes, connecting the state and enhancing job opportunities.

The debate also focused on rising healthcare costs and changes to Medicare and Medicaid that are taking place this fall, changes that many say will hurt insurers.

Markey said, “Next year, after we win the majority in the Senate, I will be the chair of the Health Subcommittee in the United States Senate.” He said his first order of business would be to restore all the Medicare cuts, including the $1 trillion that the Trump administration cut from the budget. He also wants to restore the $300 billion from the Affordable Care Act.

“And then we have to go beyond that. We have to double funding for community health centers. We have to double the funding for [National Institutes of Health] research,” Markey said. “In Western Massachusetts, I have stood up and have fought. I have met with all the hospital leaders out here, and we are going to deliver beginning of January of next year.”

Moulton said he agreed with Markey’s ideas, but stated, “This doesn’t happen by magic. You have to fight to win the majority.”

Both candidates spoke against current immigration laws and agreed that they must continue to fight for those in the minority communities who feel they are under attack.

After the debate, Markey said, “It’s No Kings, it’s indivisible, and I’m a leader of this movement because we have to just have a higher vision for what the Democratic Party stands for, and that’s Medicare, that’s the green new deal, that’s taxing billionaires. That’s not self-enrichment but the enrichment of every family in our country.”

Moulton also provided a final message after the debate. “I thought it was great. It was a clear contrast between a senator who’s been in Washington for 50 years and is very comfortable bending the establishment and the status quo. Talked a lot about the different things that have been tried over the last 50 years, most of which have failed, and in contrast, I’m putting forward new ideas, a new vision, a new generation of leadership, with a simple acknowledgment that the old plans haven’t worked.”