Ask John Deaton what kind of Republican he is, and the answer comes quickly.
“I’m a Charlie Baker-type,” Deaton, the former Marine-turned-attorney, who’s hoping to add “U.S. Senator” to the hyphenated titles he already bears, told MassLive.
If the answer evokes a very specific mental image of the trad-GOP pol who’s socially moderate and fiscally conservative, that’s the point.
But it’s also a counterintuitive one.
The prevailing political narrative is that Donald Trump’s nativist and populist remake of the GOP eight years ago killed Baker’s genteel style of New England Republicanism stone dead.
The twice-impeached, four times-indicted former president’s performance in January’s New Hampshire primary, and the Bay State’s last month, which helped send him on his way to locking up the Republican presidential nomination for a third time, was also supposed to have thrown additional dirt on the corpse.
Michigan-born Deaton, 56, spent two decades practicing law in Rhode Island before setting up house in Swansea in January with his romantic partner of nine years, Kristi. When he surveyed the political landscape, he reached a different conclusion.
The result is a candidate who melds that Trumpian appeal to the working class with a moderation on social issues — he supports abortion rights and marriage equality — that should be familiar to Massachusetts voters.
“I am tired of these presidential candidates not representing the people that I care about — that’s the working class and the poor. I got in this race because they are not being represented,” he said. “When you look at the Senate, you do not see someone who has been working 50 hours a week, and yet you feel like you can’t get ahead.”
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All of this matters because Deaton believes he has what it takes to unseat Democratic U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who’s running for a third term this fall.
And to do it, he’s relying in large part on the tale of his hardscrabble roots in a crime-ridden Detroit neighborhood — laid out in his memoir “Food Stamp Warrior” — that would seem Dickensian, if it were not already true.
“It’s time to get someone who fights for things,” Deaton said, declaring that Warren “fights for the rich and wealthy,” while he “[wants] to fight for the poor and the middle class.”
“I’m looking forward to introducing Massachusetts voters to someone like that,” he said.
But it won’t be easy, according to one veteran observer.
Deaton is “up against a nationally known, party-wide legend,” longtime Bay State political consultant Anthony Cignoli told MassLive. “Her ability to raise money is amazing. She won’t have to rely on a Massachusetts base [for fundraising].”
Indeed, Warren’s re-election campaign was sitting on a towering $3.9 million as of the end of last year, according to Federal Election Commission data.
Deaton, meanwhile, had promised to loan his campaign at least $500,000 to start, Politico reported.
And this week, major cryptocurrency executives pumped tens of thousands of dollars into Deaton’s campaign, Politco also reported.
Deaton won the industry’s admiration after waging a high-profile legal fight with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, Politico reported. Warren, meanwhile, is one of the industry’s most vocal opponents on Capitol Hill, noted by the online news site.
Deaton also likely will face a primary.
Quincy City Councilor Ian Cain has filed the requisite paperwork, and is expected to formally launch his candidacy later this month, Boston.com reported.
“What we’re doing right now is just starting this process of forming the political startup that it is, making sure that we can get on the ballot,” the 41-year-old said, according to Boston.com. “It’s a big lift to get on…
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