|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Editor’s Note: This is the latest in a series of stories on candidates for the U.S. Senate. Read the story on Ed Markey, the Democratic incumbent, here.
NEW BEDFORD — John Deaton wants voters to understand something about his current campaign for the U.S. Senate: Don’t be confused by the party he’s affiliated with.
That may come in handy during an election year where many Republican candidates are aiming to separate themselves from President Donald J. Trump and his record-low popularity. Deaton told The Light he’s already done that: He has declined to vote for the president every time he’s been on the ballot.
“The number one thing I have against me is this R in front of my name,” Deaton, 59, told The Light in an interview. “I’m a true independent voice.”
He said he chose to run with the GOP because he is “just not far left enough” to win a Democratic primary and he thinks the two-party system makes a win as an independent near impossible.
“I won a primary this year that wasn’t contested, but I won a contested primary in 2024, not being a Trump guy,” Deaton said. “I went from independent to Republican to run.”
That independence is something he hopes will catapult him ahead of incumbent Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey this November. And he knows the battle will be uphill, but that’s something that he’s used to. And not just because he lost to Sen. Elizabeth Warren in 2024 by 20 points.
In the Sept. 1 Democratic primary, Markey decisively defeated a spirited challenge from U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, who focused on his youth compared to Markey’s 80 years.
Deaton, from Bolton, is still focused on new leadership but seems to be taking a different approach in this race compared to his 2024 run. He spoke with The Light for an hour about his politics and how his roots growing up in poverty in Detroit informed them.
“We had nothing, I mean nothing in the house to eat,” Deaton, who said he sold marijuana in his youth to supplement his family’s income. “And I could see my mom starting to cry. … I just couldn’t deal with listening to my mother cry again.”
LGBTQ Rights
Deaton served in the U.S. Marine Corps, where he was defense counsel with the Judge Advocate General Corps from 1995 to 2002. He touted his opposition to the military’s former “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy toward same-sex members (repealed in 2011), and advocacy in support of same-sex marriage before it was popular.
“I was pro-gay marriage before [Barack] Obama was,” he said. “Two adults should be able to marry who they want and love who they want.”
During the Democratic primary, comments by Moulton about transgender athletes in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s 2024 election victory became his Achilles’ heel. Deaton said that the focus on trans athletes was a distraction and the tumult around the issues is the fault of members of both parties.
“They use them as divisive reasons to drive outrage and to fundraise,” Deaton said, grouping the issue alongside abortion and immigration as wedge issues. “I have talked to transgender people. You want to know what a transgender community is really worried about? It’s not sports.
“It’s: I don’t want to lose my apartment because my landlord is a transphobic person,” he continued. “I don’t want to lose my job because my employer is a transphobic person. [As a lawyer], I fought for transgender people who were being evicted, for the reasons I fought for indigent people that were facing slumlords.”
Nonetheless, Deaton would be opposed to allowing trans individuals to use the bathrooms of genders they were not assigned at birth.
“All of a sudden, they say we’re going to do away with boys’ and girls’ bathrooms, and they’re going to just have shared bathrooms, shared sinks, all of that,” Deaton said. “Common sense would say, add a non-gender-specific bathroom. … That’s inclusive, so that no one’s feeling like they’re not included.”
Immigration
Immigration took on renewed importance in New Bedford recently when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents carried out arrests across the South Coast, detaining around 40 people, according to Gov. Maura Healey. The Light interviewed Deaton before the operation; his campaign responded to a request for comment on the raids via email.
“We cannot afford to continue a status quo that puts residents and law enforcement into dangerous situations like what we saw in New Bedford,” he said, joining Markey in condemning the operation to some extent. “It’s traumatic, violent, and needs to end.”
Contrary to his competitor, Deaton pinned blame for the operation on leaders from both parties and a lack of cooperation from local authorities.
“The extreme policies and politicians in both parties benefit by encouraging Americans to hate immigrants and hate each other,” Deaton’s statement read. “Massachusetts can lead the way by sending a new U.S. senator to Washington who advocates for common-sense solutions, such as state-federal partnerships for deporting criminals and supporting pathways to citizenship for DACA recipients.”
The reference to “state-federal partnerships” was an apparent allusion to 287(g) agreements, which deputize local law enforcement to work with ICE in immigration enforcement. There is only one such agreement in Massachusetts, with the Department of Correction. Massachusetts’ PROTECT Act, signed in August, does not outright ban them, but it does introduce hurdles for agencies to enter into such agreements.
“When you bar all communication and you say: ICE, get out of here. … Did ICE get out?” Deaton said during his interview. “Now they’re going to show up at Home Depot. And they’re going to show up at Lowe’s. And they’re going to show up in the community.”
On Friday, Deaton visited the ICE Boston Field Office in Burlington, which has been widely criticized for its detention conditions. His assessment of the facility was much less harsh than those of Markey and other members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation.
“The conditions in there are better than your typical jail,” he told WBUR after ending his 90-minute tour. He added that he does not believe in abolishing ICE, as Markey does.
Deaton said he supports reforming ICE. Speaking with The Light, he condemned the leadership and tactics of former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem after the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
Deaton also said that in immigration courts, which are civil courts, those in removal proceedings “do not have criminal due process rights.” While immigration courts are not obligated to provide those before them with legal representation, the due process clause of the Constitution does apply.
Healthcare and Crypto
Another area where Deaton bucks Republican Party orthodoxy is healthcare, where he told The Light catering to the interests of insurance companies has made reform nearly impossible. Yet he still framed it against Markey’s support for immediate “Medicare for All,” a national program that would guarantee health insurance for every American.
Deaton explained his stance by referring to the roughly 25 million Americans who are uninsured.
“How about we focus first on getting these 25 million with adequate health insurance, affordable access to health care?” Deaton told The Light. “We’re not going to just end it the way it is now and, overnight, go to a government-run, single-payer system run by the United States government.”
Nonetheless, Deaton said exorbitant healthcare costs resulted from an army of lobbyists employed by healthcare and insurance conglomerates. His solution harkened back to one of his heroes: Theodore Roosevelt.
“On average nationwide, it costs $6,000 for a woman to give birth in a hospital, including the epidural, through insurance,” he said. “The American taxpayer is getting robbed. And so the only way to do it is to use our antitrust laws that we have on the books.”
He added that he thinks Medicare for All is an inevitability, but advised prudence in moving forward.
“It’s going to happen,” he said. “Accept rationality that if two thirds of the Democrat Party doesn’t support it and none of the Republicans support it, there’s just no path.”
Deaton, who has become known as a cryptocurrency lawyer, acknowledged that most cryptocurrencies have no backing and are risky investments.
“Unfortunately, you get all these extra Snot-Nosed-Coin or whatever ridiculous coin,” he said. “Ninety-nine percent of crypto is complete garbage.”
Deaton said some reputable currencies present opportunity, such as Bitcoin. He called for greater and more up-to-date regulations to enhance their stability.
“We’re applying 1933 law to modern-day blockchain technology, artificial intelligence, robotics, automation, quantum computing,” he said. “But it’s just like anything else: we need smart, tailored regulations.”
He also said cryptocurrencies present an opportunity for the impoverished worldwide, one that could help fewer people feel they have to commit illegal acts, like he did as a youth.
“To me, it’s beautiful,” he said. “If you’re in Nigeria, you can have a smartphone, create a website, sell hats, and you can take Bitcoin. You don’t need a bank.”
An uphill battle
Deaton acknowledged that he is the underdog in the race. A poll published by the University of New Hampshire Sept. 24 puts Markey at 53% versus Deaton’s 30%.
“I come to these interviews and I admit it’s an uphill battle,” Deaton said. “There’s an uphill, narrow path to victory for me. … But I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t think there was a chance.”
He said his greatest strength before voters is his outsider status.
“I’m someone who’s a disruptor,” he said. “You’re not going to ignore me, because I’m coming with a wrecking ball.”
Contact Kevin G. Andrade at kandrade@newbedfordlight.org
