Democratic Sen. Ed Markey easily won another six-year term Tuesday night, defeating Republican challenger John Deaton, notching an early win in what’s expected to be a wave of Democratic victories across the country.
The Associated Press called the race for Markey soon after polls closed.
Markey, the longest serving member of the state’s congressional delegation, was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1976, and won his first race for the U.S. Senate in 2013 when he succeeded John Kerry in a special election. Now, at the age of 80, he will remain in the Senate until he is 86.
In a statement shortly after the race was called, Deaton congratulated Markey, who has said this would be his final term in the Senate.
“The voters have made their voices heard tonight, and I respect their decision,” Deaton said. “While I disagree with the path forward, I wish Senator Markey only success in his final six-year term. His service to the Commonwealth is historic in its length and impact on our people.”
From the start it was an uphill climb for Deaton, 59, a U.S. Marine veteran and moderate Republican who overcame poverty and a painkiller addiction. He said he never voted for President Trump, but he struggled to gain traction against fierce headwinds that battered GOP candidates around the country, especially in reliably blue Massachusetts.
Deaton argued that he represented “fresh ideas” and “an independent voice,” and that Markey had been in Washington too long.
“Markey’s had 53 years of elected office. If he was going to accomplish the things that he’s promising, he would’ve done it by now,” Deaton told WBUR a few days before Election Day. “Why not give someone else a chance?”
This was Deaton’s second U.S. Senate bid. He ran and lost two years ago against Elizabeth Warren.
While Democrats in several states debated whether to embrace progressives or moderates, in recent years, Massachusetts has settled on progressive representation in the Senate with Markey and Warren.
That gave Markey, who has spent decades burnishing his reputation as a progressive leader, an advantage in the race, even as Deaton pushed for change.
Markey’s victory Tuesday night followed his primary win against Congressman Seth Moulton, 48, who said Markey was “too old” and tried to make a case for “generational change.” But Markey delivered energy and quickness in debates and on the campaign trail, arguing, “it’s not your age that matters, it’s the age of your ideas.”
“This is the most energized I’ve ever been,” Markey told WBUR. “Donald Trump brings out the Malden in me every day, and I fight him every day.”
In a state that has rejected Trump by consecutive 2-to-1 margins, Markey sought to tie Deaton to an unpopular president.
“I’m going to Washington to be a check on Donald Trump. Mr. Deaton is going to Washington to be a blank check for Donald Trump,” Markey said in their only debate, in which he repeatedly referenced the sitting president.
Deaton, who ran as a non-MAGA Republican, accused Markey of misrepresenting him. But he acknowledged the difficulty of running as a Republican in Massachusetts with Trump in the White House.
“The challenge for me is to get people to look beyond the [Republican] label. But it is a big hurdle,” Deaton told WBUR.
Tuesday’s election result demonstrated that it was a hurdle Deaton could not clear — that the focus on national politics was a political death sentence for local Republicans.
Markey co-sponsored the “Green New Deal,” backs “Medicare for All” and is pressing for higher taxes on millionaires and billionaires. Progressive leaders from Warren and Sen. Bernie Sanders to Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez have endorsed him.
“They are backing me in this election because they know that I have had their back on every single tough fight on the floor of the United States Senate,” Markey told WBUR.
The incumbent Senator also earned the support of left-leaning Democrats across the state.
“I know he’s getting up in years, but I’ve watched him on the campaign trail and he’s very active and he’s firing on all cylinders,” said Nancy Muller of Groton, who appreciates Markey’s work on climate issues and his support for abortion rights. “He has a longstanding track record, and he works hard for the issues that are important to me,” she said.
If Democrats win control of the Senate, Markey is positioned to lead or chair the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.
Cam Charbonnier, Markey’s campaign manager, said the senator’s long record of supporting progressive causes — from universal healthcare, to LGBT rights, to holding the Trump admininstration accountable — makes him “the embodiment of Massachusetts values.”
“We ran Ed Markey as Ed Markey,” Charbonner said. “That authenticity came through.”
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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