Ed Markey defeated Seth Moulton 65 to 35 in Massachusetts and will remain in the Senate for another six years. Markey has survived the Democratic Party’s push to purge its elders by arguing that he’s still more progressive than his opponents. He toured with Ayanna Pressley and essentially said: Give me one more term, then I’ll hand her the reins. Great taste, less filling. Massachusetts keeps its seniority and gets as progressive a senator as it’s going to get. Moulton, a climber who always seems to be angling for the next level, came up empty-handed. Markey ended Joe Kennedy III’s budding career in 2020, and now he’s dispatched Moulton, too.
Hakeem Jeffries, meanwhile, got a preview of his possible future as speaker. Republicans were short on a rule vote and headed toward another humiliation until Democrats Jared Golden and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez voted with them. Neither warned Jeffries. The rule included relief for Maine lobstermen, a major Golden priority, but it also cleared a path for a Republican resolution condemning socialism and urging passage of the Save America Act. That forced other vulnerable Democrats toward a difficult election-season vote while sparing Republicans from owning their failure.
