Seth Moulton

For a US Senate primary that has spent months simmering at low heat, Saturday’s Massachusetts Democratic Party convention finally produced something closer to a boil.

On and off stage inside Worcester’s DCU Center, Senator Ed Markey and US Representative Seth Moulton hurled their most direct hits at each other. For Markey, it was repeatedly, if indirectly, framing Moulton as willing to use trans kids as a political football. For Moulton, it was a Biden-sized swipe at Markey’s age.

“It’s time for the generation that grew up with the internet, and will have to live for decades with AI, to lead our way through it,” Moulton told the more than 4,000 delegates before again challenging Markey to participate in “more than one debate before voting begins.”

The Salem Democrat has been banging the debate drum for months — going so far as to agree to one with the de facto GOP nominee, John Deaton, for later this month. What he hadn’t done is try to tie his debate campaign and argument that Markey is too old to former President Joe Biden’s disastrous 2024 debate performance that laid bare Biden’s weakened public speaking abilities.

Asked Saturday whether that’s the subtext, Moulton played coy.

“I just think that Democrats in Massachusetts deserve ... a vigorous debate about the future of our party,” he said. “And that’s not one debate in August.”

His campaign, however, seemed perfectly happy to help voters connect the dots.

“Why — or what — is the Senator hiding?" Taylor Hebble, a spokesperson for Moulton’s campaign, said in a statement that included this link to a story about Jill Biden’s concerns about her husband’s debate debacle.

The generational change argument seems to be helping candidates in Democratic primaries elsewhere. See last week’s results in Texas or the results of Connecticut’s state Democratic convention.

And it has clearly landed with some party loyalists who came to support Moulton on Saturday.

“I just turned 80 myself, and I would not vote for me,” said Carolyn Hebert, a Moulton delegate from New Bedford.

Markey notably didn’t gaggle with the press after his speech and appeared to spend less time than Moulton post-speech mingling with delegates. He also kept trying to power through his speech after his mic was cut when he ran over his allotted 20 minutes. His wife, Susan Blumenthal, came to walk him off stage.

Still, delegates who said age is a legitimate consideration insisted it doesn’t apply to Markey, at least right now.

Markey “looked very vibrant, and I trust that he can do the job,” said David Oxton, a Beverly Democrat who nonetheless is supporting Moulton.

The 79-year-old senator, first elected to the chamber in 2013, used some of his time to address Moulton’s main message. The “real generational change” Markey said, is a progressive Senate that “embraces boldness and isn’t scared to create lasting power.”

And while he didn’t mention Moulton by name, he launched his most direct attack since the race began: Massachusetts, he said, “deserves better than a Senator who scapegoats trans kids to score political points” — an allusion to Moulton’s much-debated comments about trans student-athletes after the 2024 election. (The line earned Markey one of the loudest rounds of applause of the afternoon).

“As an out trans person, Ed Markey has never made us choose between our community and his ambition, like Seth Moulton has,” said Dallas Ducar, an executive at Fenway Health and openly transgender activist who appeared in Markey’s convention walk-out video.

The overall results were predictable: Markey handily won the party’s endorsement with 73 percent of the delegate vote, while Moulton comfortably made the ballot with 27 percent. Where the attacks go from here are less so.The Globe’s Samantha J. Gross and Anjali Huynh have the full rundown from Saturday here.

Here’s what else you might’ve missed from the weekend in the Woo:

— Democratic elected officials here say they loathe President Trump, but they sure love to talk about him. Governor Maura Healey, who accepted the state party’s endorsement in a speech Friday, had planned to mention the president 20 times in her prepared remarks before an apparent teleprompter malfunction forced her to stop her speech, grab a physical copy of her remarks from backstage, and speak a bit more off script. The Globe’s Chris Van Buskirk has the story from night one of the convention.

— State Senator John Cronin became the first state lawmaker to publicly back Moulton over Markey in the Senate primary over the weekend. Cronin, whose purple-ish district covers Fitchburg, Leominster and a handful of towns north of Worcester, nominated Moulton for the party’s Senate endorsement ahead of his speech.

— Markey still isn’t name-dropping Moulton, but he did shout-out Alex Rikleen, the former teacher and one-time Democratic US Senate hopeful who ended his bid last week and endorsed Markey.

— Spotted behind the bar pouring drinks at state Senator Robyn Kennedy and Julian Cyr’s afterparty at Femme Bar on Friday night: Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll.

EXIT SIGNS: The latest indicator that Healey’s reelection campaign is kicking into high-gear: Corey Welford, who joined the governor’s office as a senior strategist in 2024, quietly left the administration last month. He’s returning to CTP, the Boston-based advertising and public relations company, where he’ll also serve as an advisor to Healey’s campaign.

HOT AIR: Healey’s campaign shelled out at least $600,000 to reserve TV air time starting in September, Federal Communications Commission records show. That’s likely one of her biggest campaign expenses so far this election cycle. (We may know for sure when June campaign finance reports roll in this week.) But it’s still a fraction of what Mike Minogue, one of her potential GOP opponents, has already spent on broadcast this cycle.

ENDORSEMENT ALERT: Former Biden White House aide Dan Koh is rolling out another endorsement from one of his former colleagues Monday morning. Former Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, also Rhode Island’s former governor, is endorsing Koh in the open Democratic primary in Massachusetts’ Sixth Congressional District.

OUR NEW LEAST FAVORITE GAME: In this round of ‘Is That AI or Not?’: this photo state Representative Marcus Vaughn posted on Facebook last week of what appears to be himself, state Representative Dan Cahill, and someone who bears a somewhat passing resemblance to state Representative Andy Vargas, if you squint. Vaughn, a Wrentham Republican, didn’t respond to questions about the picture Sunday night, but Facebook added an “AI info” note flagging the post might’ve been generated with AI.

It’s the second example (we’ve seen) in recent weeks of a state legislator or legislative candidate appearing to use AI to enhance or alter a photo. Brewster Democrat and school committee member Steve Leibowitz posted a photo on social media last month alongside an AI-ified state Senator Jamie Eldridge, but has since taken the photo down.

The Massachusetts House in February passed a pair of bills that would regulate how AI is used in campaigns. (Vaughn voted for both of them.)

GIVE ME A BREAK: Mayor Michelle Wu is considering tax breaks to jump start apartment construction, the Globe’s Catherine Carlock scooped. But many developers say it’s too little, too late.

SWING STATE SWING: Senator Elizabeth Warren isn’t expected to run for president in 2028, but she is making her way to a swing state this summer. Warren is set to headline the North Carolina state Democratic Party’s “Unity Dinner” in August, where tickets range from $250 for individuals to $10,000 for a full table, per the invite.

WHAT RUINED JANET MILLS’ WEEKEND: This story from the Wall Street Journal’s Tarini Parti and Aaron Zitner, who report that Graham Platner’s wife flagged his campaign about sexually explicit texts the oysterman and de facto Democratic nominee for US Senate in Maine sent to “several” women in 2025. Read here for the Globe’s Sam Brodey’s coverage.

Thanks for reading The Scrum.

This newsletter was edited by Matt Stout and produced by Diamond Naga Siu.

Have a question for the team? Email us at [email protected].

Delivered Monday through Friday.