Seth Moulton, representative, launches Dem primary challenge against Sen. Ed Markey in Massachusetts

Rep. Seth Moulton on Wednesday launched a primary challenge against Sen. Ed Markey in Massachusetts, saying Democrats have “failed to stop Donald Trump’s harmful, racist agenda” and must embrace “big, forward-looking progressive solutions” that lift working people.

In his announcement video, Mr. Moulton, a former Marine who has represented Massachusetts’s 6th Congressional District since 2015, said Democrats have “clung to the status quo.” The 46-year-old also played the age card against Mr. Markey, 79, who is in his second Senate term.

“We’re in a crisis, and with everything we learned last election, I just don’t believe Senator Markey should be running for another six-year term at 80 years old,” Mr. Moulton said. “Even more, I don’t think someone who’s been in Congress for half a century is the right person to meet this moment and win the future.

“Senator Markey is a good man, but it’s time for a new generation of leadership, and that’s why I’m running for U.S. Senate,” he said.

Mr. Moulton, whose 2020 presidential bid flamed out quickly, has leveled stiff criticism at his party in the wake of President Trump’s victory in the 2024 election.

He accuses Democrats of being out of touch with the challenges facing ordinary Americans and of trying to stop people from speaking their minds.

He has cited the blowback he received after suggesting the party must rethink its approach to transgender issues, saying that as the father of two girls, he doesn’t like the idea of them having to compete against biological men who identify as women.

Mr. Moulton steered clear of the subject in his Senate campaign launch and touted lessons he learned in the military. He said more attention should be given to how hard it is for people to stay afloat economically, given rising costs. He embraced universal health care coverage and vowed to tackle climate change.

“But we also have to talk about the things we don’t want to: Like how Democrats have failed to stop DT’s harmful, racist agenda,” the five-term representative said. “Our party has clung to the status quo, insisted on using the same old playbook, and isn’t fighting hard enough.”

“The next generation will keep paying the course if we don’t change course,” Mr. Moulton added.

Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts’ Democratic senior senator, rushed to Mr. Markey’s defense.

“I couldn’t ask for a better partner in the Senate than Ed Markey,” Ms. Warren, a liberal icon, posted on X. “I’m with him all the way.”