The biggest reason that Kamala Harris lost the 2024 election is probably the post-Covid-19 inflation and anti-incumbent sentiment that resulted in parties in power across the world being defeated. It didn’t help that she refused to distance herself from a deeply unpopular President Biden, ran on the “opportunity economy” and other banalities, and seemed more focused on courting the tiny fraction of Americans who are anti-Trump Republicans than any other bloc. But for many in the party, any time the Democrats lose an election, the explanation is simple: Democrats are too far left. So in the days after Harris’s defeat, Democratic Representative Seth Moulton joined that chorus, telling The New York Times, “Democrats spend way too much time trying not to offend anyone rather than being brutally honest about the challenges many Americans face. 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.”
Transgender rights weren’t even close to the most prominent issue in the 2024 campaign. To the extent they were, it was a 2019 video of Harris supporting gender-affirming care for people in federal prison, a much harder position to defend than young people playing sports. It was strange that Moulton singled out transgender athletes for the Democrats’ defeat, as opposed to Biden, Harris, or their campaign strategists. Even worse, he whined when he was criticized for his remarks, suggesting those rebukes showed Democrats don’t tolerate alternative views. Moulton wanted to attack transgender participation in sports without those who support transgender athletes forcefully criticizing him in response. Sorry Seth, that’s not how free speech or open discourse works.
Moulton exemplified the reactionary, left-bashing panic and capitulation to Trump we saw from many congressional Democrats in the wake of the 2024 election. Almost two years later, he got what he deserved: an electoral whupping. Incumbent Senator Ed Markey easily fended off Moulton’s primary challenge. The race was called quickly after polls closed on Tuesday night, and Markey is likely to win by more than 20 percentage points.
Moulton’s blowout loss, along with that of Representative Angie Craig in Minnesota’s Senate race last month, should serve as a warning: Don’t expect to advance in Democratic politics, particularly in a blue state, if you spend the weeks after a Democratic presidential loss distancing yourself from the party base.
Defeating an incumbent senator is obviously hard, so Moulton’s loss isn’t shocking. But Moulton had a huge advantage in this race: age. Democratic voters, angered with Biden for initially running and then flopping on the debate state, are eager for generational change. So when Moulton, now 46, announced his challenge to Markey (80) back in October, I figured the congressman had the advantage.
In fact, it was an example of the scenario I feared. Early last year, some Democratic activists, furious about 2024, were arguing that any Democratic officeholder over age 70 should be replaced by someone younger. They’re wrong. What Democrats really need is not necessarily younger members, but ones who fight hard, both for progressive policies and against Donald Trump and MAGA. I want Bernie Sanders (84) and Elizabeth Warren (77) on Capitol Hill, but not Josh Gottheimer (51) or Jared Golden (44). A fixation on age could elevate ambitious climbers who stand for nothing but their personal ambitions over the fighters we need to make America a better democracy.
But at least in Massachusetts, the younger candidate couldn’t hoodwink voters into thinking that he stands for change or fight or vigor. After all, this is Seth Moulton. He so perfectly embodies the hold-power, do-nothing ethos that plagues Democratic politics that voters can easily discern. Despite serving in the House since 2015, he’s not been a prominent figure in fighting Trump. He didn’t propose anything particularly bold or creative during his brief 2020 presidential run. (You probably forgot that he ran.)
He likely only got on the radar of many Democrats in Massachusetts and nationally with his transgender comments. So when his campaign launched, progressive activists trashed him. “When people are talking about younger leadership stepping up, they’re talking about the Ayanna Pressleys, not the Seth Moultons,” Tanya Neslusan, executive director of MassEquality, a prominent LGBTQ+ rights group in Massachusetts, told NOTUS last fall.
And for an 80-something, Markey was well-positioned. Unlike Biden, he speaks clearly and walks confidently. He’s been a strong supporter of Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, and other left-wing policies, so progressives love him. Including younger ones. Markey, not Moulton, was backed by Pressley, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, and numerous other younger Democratic politicians.
Markey took full advantage of Moulton’s transgender remarks, painting himself as the defender of LGBTQ+ community and other groups that often face discrimination.
Moulton isn’t the only youngish Democrat who positioned himself rightward in the aftermath of the 2024 election and was rightly punished for it. Craig of Minnesota was one of 46 Democrats in the House and 12 in the Senate who voted for the Trump-backed Laken Riley Act, which calls for federal law enforcement to detain and deport immigrants charged with nonviolent crimes even before they are convicted. The legislation itself was bad. The message that those 58 Democrats wanted to send to the rest of the party was even worse: Trump had won the election, so Democrats needed to move right on immigration.
At best, those Democrats didn’t realize just how fervently anti-immigrant this administration would be. At worst, they further emboldened this administration by signaling that some Democrats wouldn’t object to heinous immigration law abuses.
Craig also ran for the Senate. And she lost by 20 points in part because Peggy Flaganan hammered Craig over her Laken Riley vote.
Most of the 58 Democrats who voted for the Laken Riley Act and otherwise capitulated to Trump early last year or blamed progressives for Harris’s defeat remain in Congress. But at least two are gone. And in Moulton’s case, this was an embarrassing defeat. Democrats in Massachusetts were so desperate not to have Seth Moulton be their senator that they were willing to overwhelmingly reelect an 80-year-old to a six-year term. Seth Moulton kicked trangender Americans and other progressives when they were down. Now, Massachusetts voters have kicked him out of politics. Job well done.
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