For the third year in a row, the entire U.S. Senate primary will be on the Republican ballot this season, with three candidates running against Senator Elizabeth Warren in the fall.
In seeking her third term, Warren – who has never faced a Democratic opponent in the primary – will face either a lawyer and former U.S. Marine from Bolton, a city councilman from Quincy or a software developer from Medford this November who accuses Warren and unnamed politicians of “teaching our children their satanic religion.”
Grew up in poverty outside of Detroit
John Deaton, who recently moved to Bolton from Swansea, comes into the race with a compelling backstory that he published last year in his memoir, Food Stamp Warrior. Growing up in Highland Park, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, Deaton recounted his childhood of poverty, physical and sexual abuse.
Deaton, 57, one of six siblings, dropped out of high school and attended a small Catholic high school, where he graduated. He graduated from Eastern Michigan University and then the New England School of Law. As a U.S. Marine, he served as a military lawyer, according to his campaign website.
Important election dates 2024
The state’s primary election is just two weeks away — on September 3, the Tuesday after Labor Day. The general election follows nine weeks later on November 5.
Primary elections on September 3
Important primary election dates for New Bedford voters:
24 August: Last day to register for the primaries.
August: 26: Last day to request postal voting in the primary elections.
24-30 August: Early voting for the primary election is available from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the New Bedford Main Public Library, 613 Pleasant St.
3 September: Primary elections. Polling stations are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Parliamentary elections on 5 November
The parliamentary elections will take place on November 5, with new deadlines.
October 26: Last day to register to vote in the November 5 elections.
October 28: Last day to apply for postal voting in the November 5 elections.
19 October to 1 November: Early voting from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Main Library, 613 Pleasant St.
5 November: Parliamentary elections. Polling stations are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Further voter information
Where do you vote? To find your exact polling place, enter your address and zip code in this online form. The list of polling places in New Bedford can be found here.
For more information on voter registration, eligibility, requirements, etc., visit the Massachusetts Secretary of Commonwealth website.
Find a list of Massachusetts candidates in the Democratic and Republican primaries.
For more information about voting in New Bedford, including absentee and mail-in ballot applications, visit the New Bedford Election Commission website.
For more information about voting in Massachusetts, visit Vote 411 from the League of Women Voters Education Fund.
He says it is his “mission” to help the poor, but he sees government programs as nothing more than a way to help people through temporary hardships.
Warren’s “class warfare” will not solve income inequality, he argues, and it promotes dependence on government programs. He supports tax incentives for small businesses opening in impoverished urban areas.
Deaton is a cryptocurrency advocate and wants to promote financial literacy while removing barriers to investing in “unregistered” securities, including IPOs and hedge funds.
Deaton describes himself as a “moderate” on social issues, supporting abortion rights but not late-term abortions except in cases of fetal abnormalities and to save the life of the mother. He supports a wide range of alternative energy technologies to combat climate change — including solar, wind, hydro and nuclear power — but not the plan proposed in Massachusetts and elsewhere to aim for net or near-zero carbon emissions by 2050. He fears that approach will cost too many jobs.
Deaton is calling for increased patrols along the southern border, an end to so-called “catch and release” practices and a reform of the asylum process.
As a supporter of cryptocurrency, Deaton has received significant financial support from investors in the space, according to Politico. According to the Federal Election Commission, as of mid-August, the campaign had more than $828,000 in cash, $931,000 in expenses, and a $1 million loan from Deaton himself.
City councillor/entrepreneur pushes for innovation
Ian Cain, 42, the youngest of the three candidates, emphasizes his understanding of the digital economy and the need for change at the federal level to clear the way for innovation. Like Deaton, he supports cryptocurrencies, although he told Politico he believes both Deaton and Warren – who hold different positions on the technology – are overstating the issue.
He argues that the key issue in 2024 will be new leadership to create opportunities in new technologies. Washington, he said on his campaign website, is “stuck in the past.”
He said the government is standing in the way of economic progress, especially in the technology sector, but he supports what he calls “responsible regulation” of cryptocurrencies. He calls for investment in infrastructure, a diversified alternative energy solution and joint public-private efforts to expand existing housing stock to reduce housing costs.
His “passion for change” led him to run for council to become its first black and openly gay member, he said. He is now in his fifth term.
Cain calls for a balanced federal budget and laws that give police more power instead of hindering their work.
On immigration, he supports the so-called “Remain in Mexico” policy, which has been the subject of legal battles since it was introduced under former President Donald Trump in 2019. He supports abortion rights, but agrees with the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision, which struck down the constitutional right to abortion and returned the issue to the states.
In its last report in August, Cain’s campaign reported cash on hand of $22,000 and expenses of $368,000.
Fire-breathing culture war
62-year-old software developer Robert Antonellis can be sure of one thing in this race: no one will overtake him from the right.
He is fully engaged in the culture war, arguing that he has a plan to prevail over the “radical left” and “end all attacks on our decency and create a healthy sense of normalcy so that Americans can finally live lives of peace again.”
On his campaign website, he said he would block school lessons that “confuse young students, often minors, and cause them to change their identities, often deliberately kept secret from their parents.” He said he would support prosecution of those who “abduct children from within.”
Antonellis, a graduate of UMass Amherst, described himself as “pro-women, pro-life and anti-abortion” in a published report.
On his campaign website, he speaks not only of cultural enemies practicing “satanic religion,” but also of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, as an “inside job.” The whole thing, he says, was designed to mobilize support for the Patriot Act.
Ultimately, Antonellis’ filing with the FEC showed cash on hand of just over $11,000, nearly $39,000 in expenses and a $54,000 loan.
Email reporter Arthur Hirsch at [email protected].
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