Progressive activists and organisations in the United States spent Tuesday night celebrating Senator Ed Markey’s landslide primary win in Massachusetts, casting the 80-year-old’s victory over US Representative Seth Moulton as proof that voters reward left-wing policy positions over calls for generational change. Twitch streamer and activist Hasan Piker was among the first to react, declaring the result “another W for our movement” in a post on X.
Massachusetts Primary Election Results 2026: Why Is Hasan Piker Calling Markey’s Win ‘A W For Our Movement’?
Piker, a prominent voice on the online left who has previously backed primary challengers against moderate Democrats, argued the result showed party voters prioritised substance over age. His post came within minutes of the Associated Press projecting Markey’s win over the 47-year-old Moulton, who had built his campaign around the argument that it was time for younger leadership in Washington.
Massachusetts Primary Election Results 2026: Why Does Markey’s Stance On Trans Athletes Matter?
Markey drew a sharp contrast with Moulton by embracing transgender rights throughout the campaign, a position many Democrats nationally have avoided since the party’s 2024 election losses. “Trans athletes should be able to play,” Markey told The New York Times, adding that the stance reflected Massachusetts values. Moulton had argued the issue contributed to Democratic setbacks at the ballot box, but Markey’s win suggests it carried little cost among the deep-blue state’s primary electorate.
Massachusetts Primary Election Results 2026: How Are Green New Deal Groups And Bernie Sanders Reacting?
Climate activist group Sunrise Movement, which describes itself as a coalition of young people fighting for a Green New Deal, praised Markey as a “leading climate champion in the fight for a Green New Deal” in a statement posted to X. Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, also welcomed the result, writing that Markey knows “Congress must take on the billionaires and fight for working families.” Sanders, 84, has long championed Markey’s climate and economic agenda.
Massachusetts Primary Election Results 2026: Why Does David Axelrod Say Markey’s Left Turn Explains His Longevity?
Former Obama strategist David Axelrod offered a more analytical take, noting on X that Markey had entered Congress fifty years ago as a social conservative opposed to abortion rights and school busing. Axelrod said the senator’s survival owed to the fact that “he’s grabbed on to the Green New Deal, Medicare for All, trans rights” and other left-wing priorities as he aged in office.
Markey now advances to the November general election, where he is heavily favoured to defeat Republican John Deaton in the reliably Democratic state. In his concession speech, Moulton had urged Democrats to unite behind Markey to defeat US President Donald Trump, pledging his full support for the party’s nominee.
