In Senate race, Markey and Moulton both say Tuesday's election bolsters their cases

Tuesday's night's election results provided a jolt of energy for Democrats nationwide, showing the party still has a pulse a year after President Trump and his fellow Republicans swept to power in Washington. 

It's also fueled competing claims in the U.S. Senate primary race in Massachusetts, where Rep. Seth Moulton is challenging Sen. Ed Markey.

Shortly after the results rolled in Tuesday night, Moulton posted on X that Democrats prevailed with "a diverse array" of candidates who won "with different platforms but the same mission: bringing new ideas and generational change to our party."

Moulton's interpretation of the night's events mirrors the central message of his campaign: that Markey, 79, is too old to run for a third full term in the Senate; and that Moulton, 47, would bring much needed generational change to the Democratic Party.

For its part, the Markey team had a different assessment: Tuesday's night's results "were a stark rejection of Donald Trump and the MAGA agenda," said Cam Charbonnier, Markey's campaign manager. In a text to WBUR, Charbonnier wrote that voters made it clear that "they want leaders who fight back and deliver on the everyday challenges families face," and that Markey has a record of doing just that, while forcefully opposing "the MAGA agenda."

Democrats won up and down on ballots across the country, but the three highest-profile victories belonged to Abigail Spanberger, who was elected the first female governor of Virginia; Mikki Sherrill, who crushed a pro-Trump Republican in the New Jersey governor's race; and Zorhan Mamdani, who electrified New York City and won a historic race, becoming the city's first Muslim mayor.

All three are younger candidates who represent new faces in the Democratic Party, especially Mamdani, 34, a democratic socialist and assemblyman who routed former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a member of a storied political family that defined New York's Democratic establishment for decades.

Erin O'Brien, a professor of political science at UMass Boston, suggested there are bits of truth in both claims by Markey and Moulton. She said while Spanberger, Sherrill and Mamdani certainly represent younger candidates, the more important point is that they figured out how to appeal to voters in their respective states.

"They were good matches for the states they ran in," O'Brien said, pointing out that Mamdani ran as a full-throated progressive in New York City, while Spanberger and Sherrill pushed more centrist agendas in Virginia and New Jersey.

"The challenge for Moulton, of course, is that Markey matches the state ideologically, especially among Democrats," she said.

A pair of new polls found that, at least for now, Markey holds a sizable advantage in the race. A survey of primary voters by UMass Amherst and WCVB found Markey leading by more than 20 points. Another poll from Data for Progress found a similar lead for Markey, who's been in Congress for almost 50 years; but it also found that a majority of primary voters are concerned about his age.

Markey, who would turn 86 at the end of another Senate term, told WBUR recently that he feels "more energized than ever," and repeated his oft-stated maxim, "It's not your age that matters, it's the age of your ideas." But he's running at a time when some in his party, including Moulton, warn of the perils of staying in the game too long.

"We need to learn the lessons of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Dianne Feinstein and Joe Biden," Moulton told WBUR after he announced his decision to challenge Markey in October.

Meanwhile, in a week that rejuvenated the hopes of many Democrats, another long-serving member of the party, California Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, 85, said she will not run for reelection next year. Pelosi, who became the first and onlywoman to serve as Speaker of the House, will retire after serving in Congress for 39 years.