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Incumbent Sen. Ed Markey is still leading his younger challenger, Rep. Seth Moulton, but the gap appears to be shrinking.
Rep. Seth Moulton. Alex Brandon/AP, File
New poll results released this week show Rep. Seth Moulton could be gaining ground on Sen. Ed Markey in the Democratic Senate primary race.
Among likely voters, Markey has 37% support, compared to Moulton’s 32%, according to a new poll from Emerson College.
A Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll last month found that Markey was enjoying 47% of the support of voters, compared to Moulton’s 30%.
According to the Emerson poll, Markey’s lead among registered Democrats is 13 points, however Moulton leads Markey by six points when it comes to unenrolled voters.
Moulton’s campaign has been heavily focused on the age difference between himself and Markey. The 79-year-old senator is campaigning for another six-year term. Moulton, 47, says that now is the time for Democrats to embrace a new generation of leaders.
Despite this dynamic, Markey appears to be winning over more young voters. He is leading Moulton 33% to 26% with voters under the age of 50, according to the Emerson poll. Voters over 50 are more split, with 40% backing Markey and 38% supporting Moulton.
Two long-shot candidates, William Gates and Alex Rikleen, are polling at around 1%.
Among women, Markey leads Moulton 37% to 29%, according to the Emerson poll. Among men, Moulton has 38% support while Markey has 37%.
“Notably, groups that are more favorable toward Markey, including women and young voters, are also more undecided than their counterparts; women are ten points more undecided than men (33% to 23%), and 39% of voters under 50 are undecided compared to 21% of voters over 50,” said Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, in a statement.
The Moulton campaign jumped on the Emerson poll, saying that it highlights the “stark trajectory contrast” in the race and shows that Markey has a “shrinking ceiling.” Moulton has been averaging a public event every four and a half days, a campaign spokesperson said, casting the poll results as evidence of Moulton’s greater engagement with voters.
“The math of this race is simple: the more people get to know Seth, the more they want to vote for him,” the Moulton spokesperson, Taylor Hebble, said in a statement. “Seth has been in coffee shops, VFW halls, and neighborhoods for 44 Listening Tour stops and counting. You cannot win a job interview if you refuse to show up for the meeting.”
Markey’s campaign manager, Cam Charbonnier, dismissed the poll results.
“Sometimes a poll is such a clear outlier you have to wonder if they accidentally surveyed a parallel universe. If others want to obsess over polls, they’re welcome to. We’re grateful for the overwhelming support we continue to see from every corner of the Commonwealth as Ed stays focused on the job the people elected him to do: lowering costs, standing up to Donald Trump’s chaos and corruption, and delivering real results for working families,” Charbonnier said in a statement.
The Moulton campaign says that Markey is ignoring calls for a “robust debate schedule.” In recent social media posts, Moulton and GOP candidate John Deaton expressed interest in debating each other, potentially without Markey’s involvement.
There appears to be room for both Markey and Moulton to grow their support. The Emerson poll found that 29% of voters are still undecided in the race.
It found that 31% of voters have a favorable view of Moulton, while 43% are either neutral or have never heard of him. Markey is sitting at 37% favorability, with 28% of voters saying they are neutral or had never heard of him.
For context, Sen. Elizabeth Warren has 48% favorability, while both Gov. Maura Healey and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu have 45% favorability.
Ross Cristantiello
Ross Cristantiello, a general assignment news reporter for Boston.com since 2022, covers local politics, crime, the environment, and more.
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