Senate nominee John Deaton says it's time to end one-party rule in Massachusetts

BOSTON – Republican U.S. Senate candidate John Deaton of Massachusetts is an underdog in Tuesday's race against Democrat Elizabeth Warren, according to polls. But in a conversation with WBZ-TV, Deaton made his case for why he believes he should be the next senator from Massachusetts.

“I have never been a Trump voter”

Deaton has conspicuously distanced himself from former President Donald Trump, a somewhat unusual move for a Republican candidate at a time of intense partisanship.

“To be honest, on paper I was excited when President Trump first announced this,” he said. “You know, someone who's an outsider, someone who's been a Democrat and a Republican, a businessman, bipartisan – would look at running the country more like a business leader would.”

But Deaton was deterred Trump's 2015 remarks that Vietnam War prisoner of war Senator John McCain “was not a war hero; he is a war hero because he was captured.”

“That really brought me back. Someone who served in the Marine Corps, that really amazed me,” said Deaton, who did not vote for Trump in 2016 or 2020. “Just too much division. And if you know my story.” “I grew up in some ways with conflict and violence and hate and all that, and that's something I try to reject in my life. That’s why I was never a Trump voter.”

In his challenge Incumbent Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Deaton, has criticized her for her divisivenessHe also said: “The fight against the rich is not the same as the fight for the working class and the middle class.”

John Deaton vs. Elizabeth Warren

As an example, Deaton cited Warren's objections to healthcare giant United Healthcare's acquisition of struggling hospital chain Steward because, in Deaton's words, United was “a large, poorly profit-making company.” But when the deal fell through, “hundreds of people lost their jobs,” he said. “So this is an example of how fighting against things is not the same as fighting for people… I've fought for 222 years against big corporations, the biggest in the world – the Dow Chemicals, the Monsantos of the world, the…” Pfizers … but I’ve always fought for my customers, and I think that just makes a big difference.”

From polls to history, Deaton's run for Senate is viewed by many as a lost cause. But when asked if we would hear from him again, he replied, “Yes, you will.”

“We need to do something about one-party rule here in Massachusetts. I think even an objective lifelong Democrat would agree with that,” he said. “We really need a healthy Republican Party because I think Massachusetts today is a case study of what happens when there's just one-party rule, and I would feel the same way if 88% of the Legislature were Republicans and everyone.” That too Executive offices were Republican.”