BOSTON — U.S. Sen. Ed Markey and Congressman Seth Moulton sparred last week over age, finances, voting records, Jeffrey Epstein and more ahead of the Sept. 1 Democratic primary election for Markey’s Senate seat.
In their second debate Monday night, Markey opened by saying there’s “a clear choice in this election about who is going to fight for the future of Massachusetts families,” adding that he has taken “the right side” on issues such as Medicare for all, taxing the rich for education and opposing President Donald Trump’s defense budget.
Moulton told hosts Kerry Kavanaugh of Boston 25 and Adam Reilly of GBH that he’s “not running against Ed Markey because I oppose his policies. In fact, we agree on most things.”
“I’m running against a Washington establishment that puts personal power over public service and has been too weak to stand up to the fascist Trump agenda,” he continued.
Moulton, 47, has repeatedly said he believes in “a new generation of leadership,” making Markey’s age of 80 a central point in his campaign.
“The question before us is whether, at 80 years old, you should serve for another six years,” Moulton said Monday. “People ought to ask, what are you going to accomplish in the next six years that you haven’t been able to accomplish in the last 50?”
Markey was elected to the U.S. House in 1976, and then elected to the U.S. Senate in 2013. He has committed to not seeking another six-year term after this one. He said Monday he would step down in the event that he could no longer effectively serve, “but Congressman Moulton should step down, any public official should step down if they cannot serve. That is a responsibility.”
Moulton during the debate claimed that Markey’s name “appears repeatedly” in the Jeffrey Epstein files, asking him, “Why would you even take a meeting with a lobbyist on behalf of Jeffrey Epstein? Just how could you do that, long after he was convicted?”
Markey called Moulton’s line of questioning “reprehensible.”
“I have never met Jeffrey Epstein. I don’t know Jeffrey Epstein. I have been calling for the investigation of Jeffrey Epstein since day one at 8 a.m.,” Markey said. “What you’re saying right now is absolutely the worst of the playbook of destruction and character assassination, which is so characteristic of MAGA Republicans.”
Pressed by moderator Adam Reilly for specifics about the context in which Markey was mentioned in the files, Moulton replied that Markey’s name “appears repeatedly in the files in the context of doing a favor for one of Epstein’s pals who was sex trafficking women.” He did not provide any other details.
Markey’s campaign called Moulton’s claims a “lie” in an email blast on Monday night, writing that Moulton was “using human trafficking victims to score political points.” A competing email from Moulton’s campaign laid out a brief “timeline” of Markey’s “contact and involvement with lobbyists connected to” Epstein.
Moulton was also asked about his suggestion to The New York Times after the 2024 presidential election that Democrats should approach transgender issues differently, at the time saying, “I have two little girls, I don’t want them getting run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete, but as a Democrat I’m supposed to be afraid to say that.”
Markey said Moulton “threw” trans kids “under the political bus.” Asked Monday night about his past commentary, Moulton issued an apology to those hurt by his comments.
“To the trans community, feeling the weight and the pain of the Trump administration policies, I deeply recognize your trauma, and I’m sorry if my comments hurt you. That was not my intention,” Moulton said. “If you’re in the trans community or you’re a trans kid feeling the weight of the Trump administration and the Supreme Court, you matter. You’re valued, and I will always have your back.”
Markey throughout the debate railed against Moulton’s investments in defense sector companies while serving on the House Armed Services Committee, calling on him to “divest of any of those ill-gotten gains which he has received.” WBUR reported in June that Moulton amassed holdings worth at least $1 million in defense sector startups while on the committee. His campaign said at the time that Moulton was placing those assets into a “blind trust” and that the money related to the investments came from his wife’s private sector career, per WBUR.
Moulton countered that he has followed “every law and ethics rule above and beyond,” and that every time Markey “implies these investments are due to my job and not my wife’s success, that’s not only wrong, but it’s sexist.”
In a June social media post, Moulton’s wife Liz addressed Markey, telling him “This is not the 1970s Sen. Markey, it’s 2026.”
“The fact that you assume that whatever we have earned is because of Seth, rather than the career I have built, brick-by-brick, that tells me that you’re the one that’s out of touch,” she said. “Is it that you don’t believe a woman can be responsible for a family’s financial success? Do you think the only way we could have done this is through my husband’s career?”
Amid spars, the two Democrats agreed upon issues like ending the war in Iran, lowering utility rates and abolishing ICE. Asked who the next top Democrat in the Senate should be, Moulton said, “It should not be [Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer,” while Markey said, “We need a big debate about new leadership in the Senate, the direction of the Senate.”
GOP U.S. Senate candidate John Deaton called the debate “the greatest advertisement I could ask for” in a statement Tuesday, writing that, “If the 67% of registered unenrolled (Independent) voters in Massachusetts watch this debate, I win by a landslide.” Deaton will face the winner of the Democratic primary in November.
A May poll of 1,000 Massachusetts voters from Emerson College showed Markey with a five-point lead over Moulton, receiving 37% to Moulton’s 32%, with 29% undecided.
Markey and Moulton will face off in a final, live, one-hour primary debate on Aug. 20 at 8 p.m., hosted by WCVB in partnership with WBUR and The Boston Globe, per WCVB. WCVB anchor Ed Harding will moderate, and panelists will include WCVB political reporter Sharman Sacchetti, Globe columnist Adrian Walker and WBUR Morning Edition host Tiziana Dearing.