Rikleen Takes the Slingshot: How Young Progressives Are Challenging Political Giants

Alex Rikleen speaks to BU College Democrats. Photo courtesy of Caitlin Smith. Official portrait of U.S. Senator Ed Markey. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. Edited by Julia Perian.  

Alex Rikleen, a 38-year-old former history teacher and current congressional hopeful, launched his unexpected political campaign in May of 2025, challenging seasoned incumbent Senator Ed Markey (D-MA). 

The 79-year-old Markey confirmed he will run for reelection and a third Senate term in 2026 – but Alex Rikleen tells voters it’s time for a change. Markey has no shortage of congressional experience. He has served in Congress since 1976, first as a member of the House of Representatives, and then as a senator starting in 2013. 

However, Rikleen argues that it is this very experience that demonstrates the need for new leadership. On his campaign website, Rikleen claims that Markey’s “established credibility makes his absence in this Moment of Trump all the more problematic,” pointing to Markey’s lack of action as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-MA) surrenders the Democrats' leverage, and as a Massachusetts congressional delegation member “took potshots at trans children.”

Additionally, during a Q&A session with Boston University College Democrats, Rikleen cautioned against “overstat[ing] the impact of [Markey’s] seniority,” pointing to “a lot of clues indicating that … despite his time there, he is being passed over for … less tenured members.”

In fact, Rikleen highlights his newcomer status on his campaign website, characterizing himself as a “leader willing to try even when the odds are stacked against them.”

Rikleen claimed that despite Democratic rhetoric calling President Donald Trump “an existential threat,” Democrats have largely maintained “the same strategies they used against past Republican administrations.”

“We need representatives who don’t just say the right things but do them,” argued Rikleen. He states his election will bring “dramatic action” within the Democratic Party.  

Rikleen argued Democrats are often too “focused on winning future elections,” playing a political long-game not conducive to creating change in the present.  

Rikleen’s platform includes a wide array of progressive policies, including universal healthcare, expanded child tax credits and paid family leave, reproductive justice, housing affordability, LGTBQ+ rights, student debt relief, ending gun violence, and crafting pathways to citizenship for immigrants.

While Markey’s platform features similar progressive stances on these issues, Rikleen’s approach differs in its emphasis on structural change as a basis for all other policy work. 

In other words, Markey takes an institutionalist, gradualist approach, working within the existing political system, while Rikleen argues that changing the system itself is the only way to achieve progressive goals.

Rikleen told BU College Democrats that he is focused on “immediate change,” which can be achieved only by recognizing and addressing “structural obstacles” that Democrats like Markey believe “can be worked within.”

This dialogue reflects a broader trend amongst the Democratic Party –  an increasing divide between establishment democrats and progressives seeking structural change.

Rikleens' campaign is centered on three priorities: Judicial reform, fair elections and the protection of voting rights, and an overhaul of campaign finance laws. On his campaign website, he wrote that without these structural reforms, the political system “prevents the achievement of most other policy objectives.”

Rikleen’s campaign parallels races in solid blue districts across the country. In Illinois, California, Maryland, Georgia, Tennessee, Michigan, and Indiana, young progressive Democrats are attempting to oust older Democratic incumbents. 

Many of these incumbents are prominent leaders in the Democratic Party. For instance, in 2026, 39-year-old Saikat Chakrabarti will challenge Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) will face 35-year-old Harry Jarin.

These candidates have all shared a similar rhetoric — reframing their political nascence by emphasizing shortcomings in a more established opponent's record, while arguing the Democratic Party needs new strategies and ideas.

In fact, amidst this slew of generational challenges rose a second younger Democratic candidate challenging Markey. House Representative Seth Moulton (D-MA) announced his campaign in mid-October 2025.

Moulton shares the same progressive platforms as Rikleen and Markey, although he has faced some controversy in the past for non-progressive stances, most notably his stance against transgender athletes in girls’ sports.  

Moulton has more formal political experience than Rikleen, but does not stress the structural reform Rikleen believes is vital to create change. 

In his challenge against Markey, Moulton stressed the age component of the race heavily as part of his campaign. 

In contrast,  Rikleen has not targeted his opponent’s age as explicitly as Moulton, opting to highlight his campaign’s focus on structural reform, contrasting other establishment Democrats. Despite this, Markley’s age could have a significant influence on voters. 

According to a UMass Amherst/WCVB poll, conducted in 2024 from October 3 through October 10, 72% of Massachusetts residents “support an age limit for U.S. Senators.” Respondents proposed an average maximum age of 66, which raises questions about their approval of Markey, who will be 80 by election day.

Furthermore, a poll from the Fiscal Alliance Foundation, a non-partisan non-profit, found 42% of respondents would vote for Seth Moulton over Ed Markey, while 21% said they would vote for Markey. Rikleen was not featured in the poll. 62% of respondents indicated that they did not think Markley should seek reelection in the fall. 

Rikleen's age and lack of experience pose their own set of problems for his candidacy. Rikleen told BU College Democrats his campaign strategy as a young, unestablished candidate was to “start early and meet with… and talk to as many people as [he] can.” Rikleen said his main challenge is spreading his campaign and messages, and “letting [voters] know that [he] exists[s] as an option.”

No matter who prevails in the primary, either of the young progressive challengers facing Markey, if successful, could have a rippling impact throughout the Democratic Party. 

Rikleen told BU College Democrats even his “very presence is a threat to [many Democrats],” as the success of challengers forces older, establishment Democrats to adapt to voter demands in the Trump era if they seek to keep their positions. 

As more progressive challengers emerge, and more democratic voters face frustration with the approach of current party leaders, the fate of the Democratic Party could depend on candidates’ abilities to push establishment boundaries and fight for structural reform.