Good Monday morning, everyone.
One scene in a new campaign video announcing U.S. Rep Seth Moulton’s long-awaited U.S. Senate bid stands out: It’s a sunny kitchen somewhere in Essex County, and the Salem pol is making French toast, his daughters at his side.
And one question jumps out: What’s the secret ingredient? Turns out it’s a dose of vanilla and cinnamon, usually added by the youngest Moultons.
“We finally got to the point where they can actually do the vanilla themselves and not pour the entire bottle in,” the Salem Democrat said with a laugh during a conversation with MassLive.
Moulton’s family is prominently featured in that introductory video, posted last week, confirming his 2026 primary challenge to U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass.
The video also includes police body camera-style footage of Moulton, D-6th District, hoofing and huffing it during a run through a cemetery in Beverly.
Moulton, by the way, describes himself as “more of actually, kind of like, a CrossFit guy than a runner.”
It’s the opening salvo in the ongoing generational battle within a still-scattered Democratic Party as it heads into a determinative 2026 midterm cycle.
And it says the quiet part out loud.
Moulton, who turns 47 later this week, is 32 years younger than the grandfatherly Markey, 79, who will turn 80 by Election Day, and then 86, if he serves out a third, six-year term.
“Since the last election, we’ve all seen what happens when our party clings to the same old playbook and protects the status quo and refuses to make room for new ideas and new leaders,” Moulton said.
“And we have to learn from the lessons of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Dianne Feinstein and Joe Biden,” he continued, repeating what has now become a familiar line. “And that’s not taking anything away from Senator Markey’s public service, but it is about investing in our future.”
Still, the results of similar races, including those unfolding in Maine and Connecticut, could determine the fate of the party for years to come, and more immediately, its ability to counter President Donald Trump’s second-term agenda.
Democrats need to win just a handful of seats in the narrowly divided U.S. House. The lift is significantly higher in the Senate.
“Our country is in crisis and the Democratic Party is in crisis,” Luke Bronin, the former two-term mayor of Hartford, Conn., who’s running for Congress across the border, told MassLive last week.
Bronin is also looking to unseat another deeply entrenched incumbent, U.S. Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., who, like Markey, is in his late 70s and has been in politics for decades.
“We have to be willing to look ourselves in the mirror and recognize that we need to make some bigger changes fast,” Bronin, 46, who, like Moulton, is a veteran, said.
In Maine, incumbent Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, 77, jumped into the race against Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, with the backing of U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y.
If elected, she would be the oldest first-term U.S. senator in history.
The news of Mills’ candidacy also came to the annoyance of some Vacationland progressives who are supporting Graham Platner, 41, a veteran, oysterman and first-time candidate, who describes himself as a “New Deal Democrat.”
Platner faced scrutiny last week over deleted social media posts where he downplayed concerns about sexual assault in the military, The Washington Post reported.
For Moulton, it’s just more of the same from the top of the party.
“The old playbook is failing us. We’ve got a second term of Donald Trump. He’s tearing the country apart. And it feels like Democrats don’t have much response, and that’s why our approval rating as a party is in the toilet,” Moulton said.
“So I’ve been thinking a lot about how to fix the party, and a lot of it does come back to leadership,” he continued. ” As you know, from my time in the Marines, I’m a big believer in the value of leadership. And I think it’s very hard to look at our party today and not say that we need new leadership.”
Markey’s campaign batted away all the generational shade.
In a spiky statement, a Markey campaign spokesperson argued that, while Moulton’s busy running for office during a government shutdown, the Malden pol, who’s been in Congress since the Carter era, “is doing his job — voting against Trump’s extremist agenda and working to stop the MAGA attacks on health care so that we can reopen the government.”
The consequences for Moulton, who previously dabbled in the 2016 presidential derby, are similarly huge. The adages about coming for the king remain applicable, as U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III, D-Mass., learned in 2020.
A slew of candidates have also lined up to replace Moulton in his 6th District seat, including former Biden White House aide Dan Koh and former state Rep. Jamie Zahlaway Belsito, who ran against Moulton in 2020, according to published reports.
State Sen. Brendan Crighton, D-3rd Essex, and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, a former Salem mayor, who also have been mentioned, have ruled themselves out.
Markey, despite concerns about his age, remains popular. He sewed up support among some young Democrats last week, the political newsletter MASSterList reported.
A third of respondents to an informal poll by the Gen Z-focused B-Side newsletter said they’d also back Markey, though an equal number remained undecided.
A clear majority (57%) of respondents to a new Morning Consult tracking poll said they approved of Markey’s job performance, including 77% of Democrats, Politico reported Friday.
He was also the 10th most popular Democratic senator, finishing behind U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., in that same canvass.
Moulton doesn’t have the field to himself. First-time candidate Alex Rikleen is also running. And rumors that U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-7th District, might jump in refuse to go away.
Through a spokesperson, the Boston Democrat said she “remains focused on ending the Republicans’ government shutdown, serving her district and effectively fighting back against the White House’s attacks on the LGBTQ+ community, Black and brown folks, federal workers and our immigrant neighbors.”
Which, if you noticed, is not “No.”
Moulton, meanwhile, is looking ahead to the campaign, with the same questions about the future of the party animating him.
And there’s the small matter of ending the shutdown that’s paralyzed the government. Moulton and his fellow Democrats have doubled down on protecting health care. He thinks it’s a winning message.
“I love talking about health care,” he said. “I think it’s a winning issue for us, and it should be, and it’s incredibly important to American families, and we are right on this,“ he said.
New super PAC enters the chat
Commonwealth Unity, a new super PAC that is backing Republican gubernatorial hopeful Brian Shortsleeve, has reported raising $1.02 million since May to help finance Spirit Halloween-style ads against Democratic Gov. Maura Healey. It spent $34,462 as of Oct. 2, state filings show.
Healey, who is running for a second, four-year term, will face whomever emerges from what is now a three-way Republican primary between Shortsleeve, fellow Baker administration alum Mike Kennealy, and medical device executive Michael Minogue.
They said it
“Terminating service due to nonpayment translates to a lack of heat, electricity, internet and other essentials. A disruption in service will undoubtedly disrupt learning for kids, diminish resources for elders and endanger the health and safety of entire families.”
— U.S Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-7th District, appeals to National Grid and Eversource to impose a shutoff moratorium for federal employees caught up in the government shutdown.
Read more MassLive politics coverage
Transparency concerns raised as Mass. ends shelter spending reports. Why that matters to you
Amid shutdown, Rep. Pressley asks Eversource, Nat. Grid to keep lights on for federal employees
Worcester mayoral candidates debate police, housing, council division
Holyoke council drama sets stage for high-stakes election
Mass. to ‘double down’ on prevention of street takeovers with $14M in local safety grants
Harvard University reports $113M operating loss, its largest in 14 years
Mass. Gov. Healey taps MBTA boss Phil Eng as state’s interim transportation secretary
Former President Joe Biden, joined by former First Lady Jill Biden, will pick up a lifetime achievement award as the Edward M. Kennedy Institute rings in its 10th anniversary during an event on Oct. 26 at its headquarters on Morrissey Boulevard in Dorchester. Former Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and retired U.S. Navy Adm. Lisa Franchetti also are set to collect honors at the ceremony.
Turned up to 11
Boston legend Jonathan Richman plays a three-night residency at the Somerville Theatre, starting Oct. 24 and running through Oct. 26 (tickets and more info here).
And yes, it’s predictable, but here’s Richman, with his old combo, The Modern Lovers, with the indelible “Roadrunner.”
Your Monday long read
The future of the late fashion legend Giorgio Armani’s company is now a real-life “Succession” story. Writing for The Observer, Scarlett Conlon notes that, while the company has a new CEO, who took the reins after Armani’s death at 91 in September, its future is not clear.
Here’s the germane bit.
“The Armani succession story is one of the most talked-about in the luxury industry right now, fueled by the contents of Armani’s will, which was made public on 12 September, just four days after his Milan funeral.”
“In a move that Italian tabloids branded “a surprise twist”, Armani expressed wishes for his empire, comprising the Giorgio Armani and Emporio Armani fashion brands as well as Armani Casa, Armani Hotels and Armani Beauty (an organisation that employs some 8,700 people in total) to be gradually sold.”
“The will itself was sensational for its detail: an instruction for his heirs to offload a 15% stake in the business within 18 months, and an additional 30% to 54.9% to the same buyer within the next five years.”
” … Industry analysts have valued the Armani empire at anywhere between €5bn and €12bn – a remarkable sum of money. In the will, Armani appointed Dell’Orco to handle the sale, and stipulated the three luxury conglomerates he would prefer to be considered for ownership: L’Oréal, which holds the licence to market Armani Beauty; EssilorLuxottica, which holds the licence to manufacture Armani eyewear; and LVMH, parent company to Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Fendi, and many more luxury watch, jewellery, wine and spirit brands, and the current title sponsor of Formula One.”
That’s it for today. As always, comments, tips and questions can be sent to jmicek@masslive.com. Have a good week, friends.
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