This November, voters in Massachusetts will decide on a senate race that pits incumbent Democrat Ed Markey against Republican challenger John Deaton.
Deaton is once again trying to unseat a Democratic senator after running against Elizabeth Warren two years ago.
Speaking with WAMC, the attorney-turned-candidate says he knows there’s a lot of ground to cover and polling gaps to fill, but, there’s a path - one that became more clear after the Democratic primaries.
INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT
John Deaton: I've spent a lot of time trying - to be candidate - ignoring Republicans as much as I can, because I'm the nominee and trying to reach the 67% unenrolled [voters]… let’s say the disenfranchised Democrats - the center-left JFK-type Democrats - who believe that [the party] went too far left in adopting socialism and they're just too extreme.
And what I've realized is that most people - when you get outside of the activists of a party - most people are not looking for ideology.
They really are looking for solutions to their problems, and I think that the real challenge for me is - will they get out to vote or have they given up here in Massachusetts, [saying] “it never changes - one party's in control. It's a deep-blue state…”
If that happens, Ed Markey will win re-election. But if everyone says “The status quo is broken and we need some real balance in Massachusetts,” then I'm going to win.
James Paleologopoulos: I realize there's been a lot of time for message sharpening, meeting folks without having a primary opponent over your shoulder - what did you make of the Democratic primary race? I know you actually debated Seth Moulton earlier this year - now Markey's the Democrat you'll be facing.
Deaton: I realized something that Seth Moulton clearly didn't before their primary and that is, you can't out-left Ed Markey. He is one of the most far left United States senators in the Senate, and … Seth's message was that he agreed with Markey just about on every issue, but he was younger and, basically, he was saying to the voters “it's all about age.”
And I think they … decided that “Well, if you agree with him on everything and he's older, [that means] he's got more seniority, he'll be chairman of certain subcommittees - let's just go with the progressive we know.”
At the same time, I encourage every voter in Massachusetts to watch their debates because watching those two debate is the greatest advertisement for me.
It really was - and I'm not exaggerating - it really was watching two career politicians argue over which one was more corrupt than the other. They were accusing each other of insider trading, of taking money, hiding taxes, trading stocks on companies [with] insider information, being in the Epstein files: it was wild, and they weren't offering real policy solutions to people.
It was nothing but a slogan-fest: a Green New Deal, Medicare for All, Abolish ICE, and when they got asked questions of how you're going to reduce energy costs for Bay Staters, they had no answers.
How are you going to enforce federal immigration law if you abolish ICE? No answers, and so, it's a primary and so, obviously, the more activist voters are involved. But I'm hoping that when we get to this general election, that people are really paying attention because that's going to separate us - when Markey's up there saying “Medicare for All,” which, by the way, two-thirds of Senate Democrats don't support - it'll never get a vote out of committee - versus my solution to break up the three big insurance companies and things of that nature.
James Paleologopoulos: Mr. Deaton, A lot of folks remember you from your bid against Elizabeth Warren back in 2024. What have you been up to over the last few years?
John Deaton: I was working in my law firm, I was doing some charity work - I became a member of the Ronald McDonald House Charity Board … and I didn't know if I would run again.
You know, my daughters … they were like, “Maybe, Dad, it's time for you to relax. – you’ve had a challenging life and maybe you should just relax.”
But, I just feel compelled, to be honest with you. When you learn my life, James, I really am the embodiment of the American dream and what's [possible] in a great country like ours, if you're given an opportunity and you're really willing to work hard for it. And I just see it getting harder and harder and harder for people to make it.
Everything is just getting so much more expensive - the only people that are doing well are people who have owned assets because of inflation and skyrocketing asset prices, and I don't know if a poor kid could do what I did because of it and so, I tell my daughters that, before I check out of this world, I just want to be able to say, “Listen, I tried to not help myself and my family, but help working people in this state,” and so, that's why I felt compelled to run it.
It may sound corny, but it really is the truth.
James Paleologopoulos: Looking at recent polling… a number of surveys have pointed to a sizable gap between yourself and Markey - about a 19 percent gap, according to an August poll from UNH. What do you think when you see those numbers?
Deaton: That's a great question. The reality is, I'm not delusional. I know what the uphill battle is for me here in Massachusetts, and I tell everyone the truth, which is there is a narrow, uphill path to victory.
It is not the widest path and it is uphill, but there is one. I wouldn't be running if [there] was a zero [percent] chance of winning. I'm not interested in going from 40.4% to 47% and being like, ‘Oh, look, I improved!’
I’m really in it to try to win, and the only way you can is not just by… independents/unenrolled in Massachusetts, but… trying to reach even some Democrats. I took pictures with Moulton voters voters on primary day [who] were standing out… I talked to them and I took pictures with them and I said, “You know, I respect what you're doing…” and they told me that “Hey, we may vote for you if Seth Moulton doesn't make it” and that's important because if you look at the numbers in the primary – Republican primary voters [totaled about] 250,000.
300,000 [other] voters voted for Seth Moulton, and he lost by 30 points - even Seth got more votes than what showed up for the Republican primary.
Sometimes Republicans will be scratching their heads at something I might say… if I get on stage and say “F the Republican Party” or “F the Democratic Party.” It's because the voters have been disenfranchised with party leadership.
It's not the voters I'm saying that to - but to party leadership … both sides that are not solving the problems that we're having.
I'm trying my best to reach them. If they come out, the center-left voters who think they went too far, and the Republican voters who've had enough and the independents who say the status quo is broken, then we're going to win.
We have polling - one poll showed me edging Markey out in a … consent ballot and one poll had me down five, with 15% undecided.
It’s different than it was with Warren. It was insurmountable because I was in a contested primary, but this time I think I’ve got a real shot because everywhere I go, I've yet to run into someone that says “Ed Markey deserves six more years, 50 is not enough.”
I've run into “You're a Republican, I won't vote for you, even if I like you and what you say.” I've run into that, but I haven't run into the people who really think that Ed Markey deserves another shot of six years. What’s he going to do in these next six years that he hasn't done in 50? Nothing is the answer.
Paleologopoulos: I do want to ask about your platform. Inflation comes up. The “Clean Hands Act” comes up - I know that was unveiled earlier this year. What is the platform this time around?
Deaton: The platform really is about solutions, and everyone talks about the affordability crisis, and you hear a lot of candidates talk about the problem, but you don't hear candidates talking about the solutions.
There really are common sense solutions to our problems. For example, energy is something we could absolutely alleviate the prices of by expanding natural gas, ending some of these mandates. I have solar panels in my house - Ed Markey doesn't. Solar works, but it doesn't work when there’s a foot of snow on top of them or it's pitch-dark January at 4 o'clock.
But nuclear - these small modular reactors - are incredibly efficient, and they're great for the environment. Markey and others won't even consider nuclear, and I don't know why.
But I have a plan: four small modular reactors in the Commonwealth that would power 40% of our 2.9 million homes at far cheaper, better for the environment.
I would amend the Jones Act so that we wouldn't have to buy 60% of our natural gas from foreign nations. I’ve got a specific energy plan [and] healthcare reform plan.
Republicans complain about Obamacare, but a lot of them don't offer solutions. We have three vertically-integrated insurance companies that control over 95 percent of America's healthcare - that is not real capitalism, that's monopolistic capitalism.
We need a Teddy Roosevelt-type revolution. He came in and he took on the oil barons and the railroad tycoons and he bust the trusts. I’ve got a plan that breaks those three companies up.
They have three PBMs - pharmacy benefit managers … [affecting] over 80% of every prescription drug in America, we're putting independent pharmacies out of business. We've got to break that up, cut them out of the middlemen, expand telehealth and get the prices under control because there's no transparency.
I’ve got a five-year housing plan - specific plans on housing, healthcare, and energy, and but the first bill would be the Washington Clean Hands Act, a multi-purpose act which gets rid of the grift and the corruption that we see in Washington.
It calls for constitutional amendment on term limits, but it calls for single-issue bills.
No longer should we be having a thousand-page omnibus spending bill that mixes Ukraine funding and Haiti funding with social security benefits and education.
One single issue: it should be 10-15 pages. The Ukraine funding bill should be called the Ukraine funding bill, and it should survive on its own.
[The act] would eliminate lobbying in Washington. You don't get to go there, be a congressman for two years, and then become a career lobbyist. It would end being the FDA chairman on Friday, resigning and being on Pfizer's board Monday - it would clean all of this grift we're seeing in Washington.
Paleologopoulos: As we speak, I've been getting push alerts from news outlets like WCVB from MassLive on this - a shadow being cast on Republican candidates in Massachusetts due to President Trump.
The President has not really been having the best approval numbers - some have been in the lower 30s - is that something that weighs on you? Does that factor in at all?
Deaton: Listen. I mean, President Trump just yesterday was asked about the Massachusetts Senate race, and he you know he didn't mention me, and I'm not complaining. But he was happy that Markey won, and happy that it was … such a big deal.
And of course, Markey is leading the impeachment of Donald Trump.
The point that I try to make to everyone is just: imagine a U.S. senator who only applied one test – is it good for Massachusetts in America, despite who the president is?
Both Moulton and Markey's entire message is that they would fight Trump harder than the other. Well, he's only going to be president two out of the next six years. Two-thirds of the next [senate] term: he won't even be there.
So, your entire message is you're going to fight against someone who's not going to be there four out of six years - how about a message of fighting for people, working families? What are you going to do to improve their lives?
And that message will resonate with folks. And so, the challenge is, do they come out to vote? And I will say it again: If the people in Massachusetts who say the status quo is broken … I'm going to win.
And a polljust ... showed 71% of Bay Staters say Massachusetts needs new leadership, including Markey.
So that's promising.
