Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) received the 2026 Democracy Award from the Congressional Management Foundation in the category of innovation and modernization.
The award recognizes congressional offices that have implemented innovative strategies or tools to improve operational efficiency, constituent services and internal processes while advancing institutional modernization.
“Innovation is most meaningful when it helps an office serve constituents more effectively and make better use of its resources,” said Jen Daulby, CEO of the Congressional Management Foundation.“Rep. Moulton’s office demonstrated exactly that, thoughtfully integrating artificial intelligence and redesigning workflows to improve operations and free staff to focus on higher-value work. What they created isn’t simply a promising experiment, it’s a practical model for how congressional offices can embrace innovation while strengthening their core mission.”
The Congressional Management Foundation is a bipartisan organization that provides training, workshops, leadership development and bipartisan convenings to help lawmakers and their staffs govern more effectively and better serve constituents.
This is Moulton’s fifth Democracy Award. His office previously won the award for transparency and accountability (2018), constituent service (2020), innovation and modernization (2022) and best of constituent experience in D.C. (2025).
“In this environment, if you aren’t constantly adapting and looking for ways to improve, you’re losing,” said Moulton. “I’m incredibly proud of my staff for the work they do behind the scenes to challenge long-standing processes, refine our workflows, and implement better tools. Because of their innovative mindset, we’ve built a more efficient, strategic, and responsive office that delivers better results for our constituents. I want to express my gratitude to CMF for this award, and look forward to building on this recognition with my team moving forward.”
Moulton was the only member of Massachusetts’ House delegation honored by the Congressional Management Foundation this year. Elizabeth Amster, chief of staff to Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA), was one of four recipients of the Chief of Staff of the Year award.
Moulton is set to face Sen. Ed Markey in the Democratic Senate primary ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Moulton has called for a “new generation of leaders who listen more to the people that we represent and honestly represent their needs and concerns,” while Markey has said his bid is “about the people” and “powered by grassroots supporters from every corner of our Commonwealth.”
Polling from May suggests Markey has a five-point lead over Moulton. The Emerson College Polling found Markey leading 37% to 32%, with 29% of voters undecided.
An April 15 poll by the Suffolk University Political Research Center and the Boston Globe showed 79-year-old incumbent Markey at 47%, while 47-year-old Iraq War veteran Moulton had edged up to 30.4%.
