Coffee with Candidates: John Deaton

John Deaton says he's not beholden to any party or president and that will help him get things done in Washington. Deaton's an attorney who's done a lot of work for cryptocurrency, something he still advocates for. He told me and GBH's Adam Riley he's enjoying his second statewide campaign. We recently sat down at Victor's 50s Diner in Hudson. I just think it's so interesting you were like I'm not a black coffee drinker you like it quite sweet yeah I do I I do I know but everyone because of the you know the bald head and the goatee yeah yeah the marine right the alleged tough guy kind but even in the service I was hot chocolate. That's so funny. Did they make fun of you? Yes. Dean's in the hot chocolate line. It's just funny, the image. People get a certain image of you, and then you can be the complete opposite of it. I'm really kind of softy. You know, this is the second time you're running a statewide election. I saw your post on Instagram recently about the polls away from home. You're on the road. You're traveling all over the state. What is it like the second time around? This time, with experience, I'm more in charge of my campaign, I realize I just gotta be true to who I am, and it allows me to have more fun than I think I did the first time. It's challenging, I mean, I have a seven year old daughter, Layla, and so I usually drive her to school, I did this morning, but there are mornings that I'm not available to drive her to school. I don't promise much, but I have a rule as a dad. If I promise, I make it. You know, you were unknown politically, especially the last time around. Do you feel like you have more name recognition this time? Yeah, I mean, I'm not a household name, but certainly I went to the Patriots game and I didn't have a Deaton shirt on and people were coming up asking to take pictures or yelling you gotta win. If people get to know me, I think I have a real shot at winning the election because I'm a nonpartisan person, and I don't have loyalty to a president or a person or a party or an agenda. And so when they get to know me, I win votes because of that authenticity. I seem to recall that when we hosted a debate or co-hosted that debate that you did with Elizabeth Warren last time around, you had not voted for President Trump at that point, right? Correct. Have you voted for him at any point? No. I've had three opportunities, 2016 obviously, and 2020 and 2024, and I've never voted for President Trump. Have you voted for a Democrat? I voted for Joe Biden in 2020, and by acknowledging that I voted for President Biden, it cost me some Republican votes, both in the primary and in the general election. From gas to groceries, energy prices, housing, where are we at in Massachusetts? And as a senator, how can you bring the cost of living down? Your U.S. senator who isn't loyal to a party or a person or an agenda could have an absolute impact on the quality of life here in Massachusetts. I've got a real health care reform plan, a 5 million, 5-year national housing plan. I've got a specific energy plan to bring down costs. I wear an American jersey, a Massachusetts jersey. And when I stand on the stage and say, F the Republican Party and F the Democratic Party, I'm not faking it. That's how I feel because I don't think there's that big of a difference between the party establishments. And you were talking about the fact that you have kids and grandkids and that Ed Markey does not. Why do you think that's something that, if not being disqualifying for him, at least means that you're a better choice for voters than he is? Every vote I make, every bill that someone says, John, do you support this, whether it's the big, beautiful bill or this bill or that bill, I have to ask myself, how is this going to impact my seven-year-old daughter? So I get emotional. You need data centers to operate crypto. Data centers are not popular right now. We've seen a lot of moves around that at the state level. Where are you at? I mean, people do not want these in their backyard. Yeah, it's mainly AI is driving these data centers much more to crypto. Crypto's part of it. But it's part of it, right? It is. It serves them. There are ways, if we do it smartly, there are ways that we can put data centers where local communities want them If you give them the incentivize for them to want them to be there by sharing tax revenue, by making sure that the energy costs do not go on the rate payer. You talk about being solutions-based, practical, nonpartisan, a lot of things that people say that they are looking for in government in general all over the country. What are the headwinds that you think you're up against in getting that message to really penetrate? It's the R in front of my name. Why not go Ivan? Well, and I'll tell you why. Because you either have to have extreme name recognition or you can write a $20 million check to run as an independent. But do you think some people think you're a Trojan horse? You know, I'll talk the talk and then I'll get in there and I am going to get in life. I am so glad you asked that question. Two years ago, I ran a Republican primary not supporting the top of the ticket, Donald Trump. I got spit at. I got called way worse than Rhino, and I never bent the knee, and I just said, this is who I am, or how come you don't support President Trump? I don't think he has the moral compass for the job. That's my simple answer. I understand people think I'm going to buckle because others have buckled, but I haven't. You mentioned slogans that you said Ed Markey puts out there, one of them being abolish ICE. Where do you fall on this, and what do you think should happen. When I say abolish ICE, as a slogan, it is. Defund the police was the slogan six years ago that Senator Markey used to say. Okay, we didn't defund the police. So we're not going to end federal immigration law enforcement. But by God, we've got to make sure that these agents are qualified. We got to have body cams. We got to have proper training. But it's just you're appeasing to people's emotion if you say I'm going to abolish ICE. John Deaton, thank you. Thank you. Appreciate your time. Thank you, John. Appreciate you.