Greetings from Westside. (WMP&I)

WEST SPRINGFIELD—A rapid fire set of stops, cramming in as much as possible in the final hours of a campaign is classic. Salem Congressman Seth Moulton was here, at the Irish Cultural Center, after stops at two churches across the river in Springfield and a stop at Memo’s, a breakfast joint. With some brief remarks, he exhorted supporters to work the phones and, above all, to vote.

That plea to vote and urge others to vote sounds typical. It is. However, it also reflects some diminished enthusiasm compared to six years ago.

“The public polls are all over the place in this race, as they have been with every Senate primary across the country,” Moulton told the modest but committed gathering on the Center’s patio. “If our people show up, we’re going to win the future.”

Even as the 2020 race had begun to turn toward Senator Ed Markey and against his challenger, then-Congressman Joe Kennedy, III, the campaign trail was sizzling. in its final weeks. But even with a pandemic baring down, he and Markey drew throngs at outdoor rallies at shopping centers and schools. There was little doubt residents would vote. In places like Springfield, they blew past expectations.

Few expect that this time.

If public polls are to be believed—and they have been wrong enough that doubt is not donning a tin-foil hat—Markey again has the wind at his back. There is enthusiasm behind him, but almost every pundit reviewing this race has found a bit less voltage in the electricity of Markey’s rallies compared to 2020.

The day before Moulton’s trip to Westside, Markey held a rally with Attorney General Andrea Campbell, Boston Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley and Senator Elizabeth Warren. Another Senate colleague joined them: Vermont’s Senior Senator Bernie Sanders.

This crowd was ready for them. There were cheers and roars. Sanders, in a stemwinder of a speech, began somewhat restrained. Sanders almost seemed exhausted, as so many are, by the decade since the ride down the golden escalator. Yet, by the end, the energy returned and a full-throated endorsement of Markey as the fighter, but also Markey as the wonk came through with fiery passion.

Electrical worker? Check! As much electricity as 2020? Meh. (WMP&I)

Not a seat was empty in the hall of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 103 in Dorchester. But the standing space had lots of open space. This is not a question of fervor, but of volume. Were social distancing not a thing in 2020, Markey would have filled this room until the fire marshal barred additional entry.

Nor are there other races to gas voters up. None of the state Constitutional offices have contests in the primary. While a minimal draw, there is a race for the Republican nomination for governor that may attract some independents. There was a GOP primary for US Senate in 2020, too. However, it probably got less attention than this year’s gubernatorial primary between Mike Minogue and Brian Shortsleeve. Whoever gets the right to be flattened by Governor Maura Healey may run for governor when she is not on the ballot.

Where turnout surges it may be from the down ballot races. Patrick Roath, attorney, has put up a stiff challenge for Boston Congressman Stephen Lynch. Changes in the 8^th District’s Boston neighborhoods and an appetite for generational turnover could catapult Lynch from office and seat Roath in his place. The race for Moulton’s seat has sparked a multi-candidate brawl. Greater Boston also has some tense state senate primaries.

Why not the primary for US Senate though?

It is not that people are not arguing for Markey right now.

Sanders, essentially: Markey you ballot! (WMP&I)

“The reason that I’m here to support Ed is that at a time when we need a serious analysis of what’s going on in America, we need to treat the people as the intelligent people that they are,” Sanders told the crowd at the hall. “We need to have a discussion, as people who love our country, to determine where we are, what’s going wrong, and where do we go from here. Ed Markey is a serious guy!”

Nor are Moulton’s bakers making unimportant arguments. West Springfield Mayor Will Reichelt cited Markey’s muddled answer on what AI platform he uses as evidence of the need for “generational change.”

“Whether you use AI or not, it’s being used, and it’s a part of your life,” Reichelt said. ‘And when Senator Markey says he uses whatever’s on his phone, it just goes to show how out of touch he is with what’s happening to us.”

That push for a generational shift is happening in many Democratic primaries, especially in the aftermath of Joe Biden’s presidency. However, it is not hitting everywhere in the country evenly. At a minimum, observers do not see it prompting voters to storm their polling places. Secretary of the Commonwealth Bill Galvin expects turnout to be mid, but possibly better than 2022.

Indeed, it seems likely that for Moulton to win, it will not be by catching a surging wave but if he can turn out his supporters while hoping the former Markeyverse sleeps through September 1.

That is not as absurd as it seems. For much of the campaign, the army flowed into the streets to help Markey had seemed absent. Markey used his “age of your ideas” line a bit less. It was Andrea Campbell, Massachusetts’s elder Millennial Attorney General, speaking at the union hall Saturday, who ripped the band-aid off. She declared, almost nonchalantly, that Markey was “young and fabulous.” The crowd ate it up, and it addressed an elephant in the room.

Moulton at the pulpit at Mt. Zion. Has he redeemed himself with statewide voters, though? (courtesy Ryan McCollum)

Moulton may not have been able to overcome comments on trans athletes either. His record in Congress on trans rights remains commendable. Yet, it is understandable why the people his comments hurt would be skeptical at a time the US government is doing all it can to terrorize trans Americans and their families.

Couple with that Moulton’s relatively late start. As Moulton has noted himself, by the time he announced, Markey locked up a lot of institutional support.

All of this conspired to make the statewide primaries quieter.

The primary is the time to shine, too. None of the Democratic statewide officeholders are in acute danger in November. The national attention will shift the midterms and hopes that Democrats take Congress. This will empower several members of the Massachusetts delegation.

The generational change will come to this seat in due course. Markey, 80, says if he wins this will be his last term. Or, Moulton, 46, will win and the handoff happens early.

The 2026 Senate race had moments of heat and tension. Political junkies will remember it. However, despite the declarations about the stakes, it may not have captured the Bay State’s imagination the way other cycles had. All that is left is to cast and count the votes.