Markey was first elected to Congress nearly two years before the middle-aged Moulton, who turns 48 in October, was born.

A pro-Moulton super PAC ran an ad starring Michael Connolly, the longtime former Massachusetts secretary of state who served from 1979 to 1994. He and Markey were both seated in the Massachusetts state legislature back in 1973.

“Ed Markey and I got into politics together more than 50 years ago,” Connolly said, looking into the camera. “We served in the State House. I was proud when he got elected to Congress [in 1976]. But it’s time for the next generation to lead.”

“You’ve got to know when to pass the torch,” Connolly continued in his Boston accent. “Part of serving is knowing when to step aside. That’s why I retired.”

Connolly called Markey “a friend,” but added it was “time to move on.” He then concluded, “People shouldn’t stay in Washington too long. It’s bad for your health!”

The ad highlighted that Markey was among the last of his and Connolly’s generation of Democratic leaders still in public office. Markey became the longest-serving member of the commonwealth’s congressional delegation from either chamber when longtime Sen. Ted Kennedy died in 2009. Markey was elected to the Senate after John Kerry vacated the seat to become secretary of state under then-President Barack Obama.

But Markey, who was more progressive than Moulton was able to defend his liberal voting record throughout the campaign, trounced Moulton by more than 30 points in a year when many incumbents in both parties, especially Democrats, have been sent packing.

Democrats are also still grappling with the legacy of octogenarian former President Joe Biden, whose age and ability to serve came to a head after a disastrous debate performance, forcing him to abandon his 2024 reelection bid and leading to President Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

The party has slowly turned away from an aging leadership team, with 75-year-old Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) among the last hanging on. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who remained a powerful figure after stepping down as Democratic leader in the chamber and helped push Biden aside, is retiring from Congress at the end of her term.

Nevertheless, Tuesday night’s result wasn’t a surprise even if it took a while to build to the final margin of victory. Markey consistently led in the major public polls dating back to late last year, but a Boston Globe-Suffolk University poll in August gave him a 14-point advantage. But in the rest of the polls last month found Markey with an edge ranging from 28 to 35 points, including Emerson, which had the incumbent just 5 points up in May but up 30 points by late August.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) was among the progressives who endorsed Markey, rather than his challenger.

Moulton wasn’t part of the socialist uprising that has been toppling Democrats in recent primaries. Instead, the New Democrat caucus member criticized Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) for wanting to change the party and country. As a low-polling candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, he said Sanders and fellow Bay Stater Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) were too liberal to defeat Trump.

“We can’t go too far left or we will lose middle America,” Moulton warned in 2019 shortly after declaring his candidacy. He said punishing the rich was “un-American.” His campaign went nowhere, but such admonitions helped Biden beat Sanders and Warren in the primaries.

DEMOCRATS FROM OPPOSITE SIDES OF PARTY ALL RALLY BEHIND ‘BIG TENT’

In this Senate race, Moulton was seen as being closer than Markey to Biden in everything but age. Markey ran to the left on Israel and biological males in women’s sports. The incumbent long championed the Green New Deal. “What ever happened to the young, exciting moderate Democrats?” a New York Times op-ed writer asked in part about Moulton less than a week before the primary.

The answer in this case was a lopsided defeat, as the Massachusetts Senate primary and many of the battles inside today’s Democratic Party turned on ideology more than age or length of government service.