FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Saturday, August 15, 2026

Media Contact:
Jonathan Ng
Communications Director
jonathan@edmarkey.org

HOLYOKE, Mass. – On Saturday, U.S. Senators Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren held a cost-of-living town hall at Holyoke Community College, where more than 250 Western Massachusetts residents packed the room to talk directly with both senators about the affordability crisis hitting working families.

For more than an hour, residents asked questions of Senators Markey and Warren on the rising costs of housing, groceries, utilities, college, and student debt – and what it will take to make life more affordable for families across Western Massachusetts.

Senator Warren connected those kitchen-table pressures to an economy that increasingly works for the wealthy and well-connected, pointing to rising costs for groceries, gas, utilities, housing, and health care, as well as Donald Trump’s illegal tariffs. She also made clear that Senator Markey has been a consistent partner in the fight to lower costs and take on powerful corporate interests.

“I have the best possible partner in the United States Senate in this fight, and that is Senator Ed Markey,” Senator Warren said at the town hall. “So I want to say how pleased I am to be here today with a man who fights from the heart. A man that you never have to wonder which side he is going to be on. A man who doesn't conveniently switch from one side to the other because it seems – more politically – maybe you get a few votes more.”

“He has been fighting to lower costs for American families – on what they pay on utilities, on groceries,” added Warren. “They all head in the same direction, and that is making this country work better for our families and our kids, instead of a country that's working great for the billionaires and the Donald Trump insiders. So that's why I'm here for Ed Markey. He didn't come to this in the last hour and a half. Ed Markey has been in these fights, and he's made a real difference. And that makes him a great partner in this fight, and I'm grateful for that.”

Senator Markey pointed to what delivering for Western Massachusetts looks like, including the Fair Share Amendment that he and Warren championed in 2022 and the billions in investments it has helped make possible – including free community college for Massachusetts students at institutions like Holyoke Community College. Markey also highlighted the clean energy and infrastructure investments he helped secure and pledged to keep fighting for communities like Holyoke and Springfield.

“We have to do it all. Families are hurting. The price of food is too high. The price of energy is too high. The price of health care is too high,” said Markey. “So we need to win the election this year – and then next year, in the House and the Senate, we will pass an agenda that helps people at their kitchen table, to take care of all of the problems which they're suffering from right now. They need people who are going to be there fighting for them, and not for the most powerful corporations.”

The town hall was livestreamed exclusively through a community access television partnership between Holyoke Media, Easthampton Media, and Hadley Media. The full recording can be viewed here.

Following the town hall, Senator Markey traveled to Northampton, where he rallied supporters at Northampton City Hall and made his closing case with just over two weeks remaining before the September 1 primary. Supporters then headed into the community to canvass and organize for the final stretch of the campaign.