John Deaton, a Marine Corps veteran and attorney, appeared set to declare victory Tuesday night in Massachusetts’ U.S. Senate Republican primary, as he was poised to beat two other conservatives to face Sen. Elizabeth Warren in November.
The Associated Press called the race for Deaton around 8:45 p.m. with only 2% percent of the vote counted. Deaton had so far secured 61% of the vote compared to industrial engineer Bob Antonellis’ 29% and Quincy City Councilor Ian Cain’s 8%, according to the Associated Press tally.
Deaton was expected to address reporters shortly from an event space adjacent to TD Garden.
Warren, a two-term Democrat from Cambridge faced no challenger in her primary and automatically advanced to the general election in November.
Deaton, a 57-year-old who moved to Massachusetts this year from Rhode Island, ran a well-financed campaign that was largely funded through his own personal wealth.
He loaned himself $1 million to run this election cycle and drew in another $722,908 from contributors, according to federal campaign finance data. That is still far less than Warren’s $5.2 million war chest.
Deaton has also drawn significant support from major players in the cryptocurrency world like Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, the twins of Facebook fame. The duo donated $1 million worth of Bitcoin to a super PAC backing Deaton.
Deaton has previously said he did not want to make cryptocurrency a primary issue in his campaign even though he has provided legal representation to people who own crypto. He has also heavily criticized Warren for her stances on the form of currency.
The Republican has also said he wants to address immigration at the federal level in part to combat the cost Massachusetts taxpayers have shouldered over the past year to house an influx of migrants in state-run emergency shelters.
At a debate on Cape Cod last week, Deaton said he had set up a political fund to support candidates for the state Legislature who are willing to tackle the emergency shelter system and Massachusetts’ decades-old right-to-shelter law.
“When I become a U.S. senator, you can see what I’ll do then,” he said of his approach to immigration.
The political newcomer has tapped into former Republican Gov. Charlie Baker’s network to help run his primary and general election pushes. Deaton has pointed to Baker as one of the elected Massachusetts conservatives he admired most.
“He had a 70% approval rating. He was ranked the most approved governor in America for most of the time,” he said.
As he turns his attention to the November general election, Deaton will likely have to rely on Massachusetts’ large contingent of unregistered voters as his potential path to victory. But Warren is a formidable foe and incumbents have a history of fending off challengers.
In her 2018 reelection bid, Warren easily bested Republican Geoff Diehl after securing more than 60% compared to his 36%, according to state election data.
But as the dust started to settle after Tuesday’s primary election, Deaton successfully fended off challenges from Quincy City Councilor Ian Cain and industrial engineer Bob Antonellis.
Cain, who was once a registered independent and Democrat, joined the race in April with a promise to “usher in the next generation of leadership” focused on the innovation economy and the digital world.
He raised $390,069 as of mid-August, according to federal campaign finance data.
Antonellis largely built his campaign off his support for former President Donald Trump. He had $11,204 in the bank as of Aug. 14 after raising $46,449 since April 2023.
This is a developing story…
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