Deaton loans himself $1M in run against Warren
Republican Senate candidate John Deaton loaned his campaign against U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren $1 million, double the amount he initially pledged, but still far short of what is needed to match Warren’s massive campaign war chest.
Federal campaign finance records show Deaton raised more than $360,000 between Jan. 1 and March 31 while Warren brought in just over $1.1 million during the same period, making her the top raising politician among the Massachusetts Congressional delegation.
Warren reported more than $4.4 million in campaign cash as of March 31 while Deaton had just shy of $1.2 million, according to federal filings.
Deaton touted his total haul — including the dollars he handed himself — as outraising Warren this past quarter.
“This is huge, but we’re not stopping. Warren still has $4.4 million cash on hand, and after we file our report, the big money interests that protect her will undoubtedly start spending money to attack me,” he said in a fundraising email last week.
Warren, in her own fundraising email over the weekend, went after Deaton for drawing support from “special interest donors and former Trump officials.”
“Look, I first ran for Senate because I saw how the system is rigged for the wealthy and well-connected and against everyone else. I won because Massachusetts voters know it too. I’m running for re-election because there’s still more work to do — and we can’t get it done with leaders who rely on cozying up to wealthy donors or buying themselves into public office,” she said in the email.
Deaton launched his campaign in late February after moving to Massachusetts from Rhode Island earlier in the year, a point Warren has hammered him on in emails to supporters.
Quincy City Council President Ian Cain has also filed federal paperwork to challenge Warren as a Republican. Cain has previously registered as an independent and Democrat and his campaign website describes himself as an “independent thinker.”