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Sen. Edward “Ed” Markey

Senator for Massachusetts

pronounced ED-werd // MAHR-kee

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Markey is the junior senator from Massachusetts and is a Democrat. He has served since Jul 16, 2013. Markey is next up for reelection in 2026 and serves until Jan 3, 2027.

He was previously the representative for Massachusetts’s 5th congressional district as a Democrat from 2013 to 2013; and the representative for Massachusetts’s 7th congressional district as a Democrat from 1975 to 2012.

Markey has cosponsored 1 bills introduced in the current Congress by Republican legislators who fomented the terrorist attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 by calling for entire states to be disenfranchised in the 2020 presidential election.
Photo of Sen. Edward “Ed” Markey [D-MA]

Analysis

Legislative Metrics

Read our 2020 Report Card for Markey.

Ideology–Leadership Chart

Markey is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the Senate positioned according to our ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).

The chart is based on the bills Markey has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2017 to May 13, 2021. See full analysis methodology.

Ratings from Advocacy Organizations

Human Rights Campaign: 100% Planned Parenthood Action Fund: 100% League of Conservation Voters: 94% The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws: A United States Chamber of Commerce: 40% The Club for Growth: 10%

Committee Membership

Edward “Ed” Markey sits on the following committees:

Enacted Legislation

Markey was the primary sponsor of 27 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:

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Does 27 not sound like a lot? Very few bills are ever enacted — most legislators sponsor only a handful that are signed into law. But there are other legislative activities that we don’t track that are also important, including offering amendments, committee work and oversight of the other branches, and constituent services.

We consider a bill enacted if one of the following is true: a) it is enacted itself, b) it has a companion bill in the other chamber (as identified by Congress) which was enacted, or c) if at least about half of its provisions were incorporated into bills that were enacted (as determined by an automated text analysis, applicable beginning with bills in the 110th Congress).

Bills Sponsored

Issue Areas

Markey sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:

International Affairs (26%) Transportation and Public Works (18%) Health (14%) Science, Technology, Communications (10%) Crime and Law Enforcement (10%) Energy (9%) Environmental Protection (7%) Armed Forces and National Security (6%)

Recent Bills

Some of Markey’s most recently sponsored bills include...

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Voting Record

Key Votes

Markey voted Not Voting

Markey voted Aye

Passed 285/144 on Jan 23, 2013.

Markey voted No

Markey voted No

Passed 304/117 on Jun 23, 2011.
The Leahy–Smith America Invents Act (AIA) is a United States federal statute that was passed by Congress and was signed into law by President Barack ...

Markey voted No

Passed 386/41 on Jul 8, 2009.
The Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 (H.R. 2965, S. 4023) is a landmark United States federal statute enacted in December 2010 that ...

Missed Votes

From Jul 2013 to May 2021, Markey missed 101 of 2,497 roll call votes, which is 4.0%. This is much worse than the median of 1.6% among the lifetime records of senators currently serving. The chart below reports missed votes over time.

We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses and major life events.

Show the numbers...

Primary Sources

The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including: