Markey projected to win reelection, defeat Deaton in Senate race

Native Information

The 80-year-old Democrat is about to serve one other six years after first assuming the position in 2013.

Democratic incumbent Sen. Ed Markey was projected to carry onto his seat Tuesday, defeating Republican challenger John Deaton within the 2026 midterm election. 

The Related Press referred to as the race for Markey lower than 10 minutes after polls closed at 8 p.m. on Election Day. Markey obtained almost 83 % of the votes, with Deaton solely receiving roughly 9 % with about 1 % of votes counted, AP outcomes confirmed round 8:30 p.m.

The 80-year-old longtime politician is now set to serve one other six-year time period. Markey was first elected to the Senate in 2013, succeeding John Kerry in a particular election.

Earlier than that, Markey represented Massachusetts’ seventh congressional district within the U.S. Home for 20 phrases, first successful election in 1976. He’s the longest-serving member of the state’s congressional delegation. 

A lawyer who makes a speciality of representing asbestos poisoning victims and advocates for cryptocurrency, Deaton first entered state politics in 2024 when he challenged Sen. Elizabeth Warren and misplaced by an almost 20-point margin. 

Deaton ran unopposed within the Republican major earlier this 12 months. His marketing campaign targeted on decreasing the price of residing, enhancing financial affordability, and addressing the housing disaster.

In an announcement launched Tuesday evening, Deaton mentioned he respects voters’ choice and desires one of the best for Markey’s final time period. Markey has beforehand mentioned the 2026 midterms is his closing marketing campaign.

“America has all the time been stronger after we put apart our variations and observe the threads that we share — a lesson I relearned writing my very own story,” Deaton mentioned. “In that spirit, I stay hopeful that the following U.S. Senate will forge a brand new path with the U.S. Home of Representatives and White Home to ship the change we desperately want.”

Markey defeated Rep. Seth Moulton by almost 30 factors within the Sept. 1 Democratic major.

Deaton and Markey then went head-to-head in a debate Oct. 13, when Markey repeatedly tried to tie Deaton to President Donald Trump’s agenda, arguing {that a} Democratic Senate majority could be vital to supply a examine on the president. 

Deaton, who sought to distance himself from the Trump-led MAGA motion, portrayed himself as an independent-minded Republican prepared to work throughout celebration traces. He as an alternative targeted his criticism on what he referred to as Markey’s “excessive” positions and his document after almost 5 a long time in Congress. 

Markey’s marketing campaign emphasised decreasing residing prices, inexpensive well being care, strengthening gun legal guidelines, defending immigrant rights and marginalized communities, and funding in clear vitality and local weather initiatives.