By Nathan Metcalf, Special to the Reporter
When US Sen. Ed Markey’s campaign blasted out endorsements last month from the state’s young Democratic leaders, it revived memories of the “Markeyverse,” the online coalition of progressives that helped propel the now-79-year-old into his third US Senate term in 2020.
Five years later, however, as US Rep. Seth Moulton mounts a challenge built on the idea of generational change in Washington, some younger voters say their enthusiasm for incumbents is tempered by frustration with an aging Democratic establishment and the rising costs of daily life.
UMass Boston students Nick Gentile and Arianni Pimentel said they want to believe in the system but feel alienated by it.
“Neither of them really seems like a great option right now,” Gentile said.
“I just want someone who’s not going to forget about people like us once they win,” Pimentel added.
In a deep-blue state like Massachusetts, it’s likely that Moulton, often cast as a more moderate Democrat than the progressive Markey, will have to convince young voters that his pragmatism won’t come at the expense of marginalized groups.
Those fears likely stem largely from remarks he made after Donald Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris last November, when he told The New York Times, “I have two little girls. I don’t want them getting run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete, but as a Democrat, I’m supposed to be afraid to say that.”
The comment spurred the resignation of his top political aide and drew backlash from progressives nationwide.
With Markey’s age and Moulton’s remarks about the LGBTQ+ community emerging as their biggest liabilities among young Democrats, the two lawmakers have begun what promises to be a grueling, yearlong intra-party fight over the future.
Inside the political science office at UMass Boston, Gentile and Pimentel – two undergraduates juggling classes, jobs, and rent – said the race feels distant from their lives.
Above, U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton at WBUR. Robin Lubbock/WBUR photo
“I don’t really know much about either of them,” Gentile said. “But we need people who actually know what it’s like to be our age right now. It’s not about identity; it’s about whether you can afford rent, food, or even the T.”
Gentile, a political science major from Dorchester who works part time on campus, said he’s undecided but, drawn to the idea of younger leadership, leaning toward Moulton. “He’s younger,” he said. “Maybe he’d understand how hard it is to make it work.”
Across the desk, Pimentel, a psychology major who grew up in Dorchester and now lives in Quincy, said she’s budgeting how to eat through November while waiting on her SNAP benefits. “Everyone’s struggling to pay for groceries, not just one group,” she said. “I support LGBTQ+ rights and everything, but I think politicians talk about that more than they talk about how expensive life’s gotten.”
Simone Alcindor, a freshman political science major from Medford, offered a different view. A member of Our Revolution Medford and the Suffolk University Democrats, he calls himself “a proud progressive” and said he’s firmly behind Markey.
“He’s still a fine leader,” Alcindor said. “Younger doesn’t mean better. We’ve seen what happens when people talk about change but don’t fight for it.”
Alcindor said Moulton’s comments about transgender Americans show why progressives must stand their ground. “It’s incredibly regressive,” he said. “You don’t win by throwing people under the bus. The right’s going to come after us no matter what, so we might as well stand up for what we believe in.”
He said that after meeting Markey at a campaign event in Springfield, he saw that “he had more energy than most people in the room. He listens, and he actually shows up. That matters.”
Alcindor said he’d “probably prefer” Ayanna Pressley if she entered the race but worries a three-way contest could split the progressive vote. “I think Pressley and Markey are on the same team,” he said. “It’s the kind of leadership that actually represents us when the time comes.”
Pressley, a progressive Massachusetts congresswoman, has not announced a Senate bid, though her office has not ruled out the possibility, fueling speculation she could join the race.
Abdullah Beckett, a 26-year-old Dorchester resident, UMass Boston graduate, and community organizer, said his support for Markey comes from a more local place shaped by rent hikes, long commutes, and a sense that many working-class voters have stopped believing politics can change their lives.
Beckett works as a field organizer for Mayor Wu and plans to volunteer for Markey’s campaign this fall. “I like Markey. I think he’s real,” Beckett said. “He shows up for stuff that matters here, not just in Cambridge or downtown.”
He said that while he respects Moulton’s service as a Marine, the congressman’s remarks about transgender athletes “felt like he was trying to play both sides.”
That kind of hedging he argued, drives away younger voters. “That’s not leadership,” he said. “You can’t be afraid to say what’s right just because it’s not polling well. That’s the kind of stuff that loses people my age.”
For many of his neighbors, Beckett said, affordability outweighs ideology. “It’s hard to tell people in Dorchester that voting’s gonna change their rent,” Beckett said. “We’re paying Boston prices on fast-food wages. Until somebody fixes that, it’s hard to care who’s fighting who.”
“He’s old, sure,” Beckett added of Markey, “but I’d rather have somebody old who listens than someone young who doesn’t.”
This story is part of a partnership between the Dorchester Reporter and the Boston University Department of Journalism.
