FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 7, 2026

Press Contact:

Vincent Errichetti

(617) 922-1824

Press@johndeatonforsenate.com

IF HE COULD DO IT SEVEN TIMES IN A PANDEMIC, HE CAN DO IT NOW!

BOSTON — John Deaton, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, today called on Sen. Ed Markey to stop hiding from Massachusetts voters and agree to a full slate of general-election debates. 

In 2020, during COVID, Markey debated Joe Kennedy seven times. There is no excuse now. “If Ed Markey could stand on a

debate stage seven times in the middle of a pandemic, he can stand on one now,” Deaton said. “Massachusetts families are paying some of the highest electric bills in the country. Young people raised here can’t stay here. After 53 years, he should have to answer for that record in public; not from Maryland.

On the night of the Massachusetts Primary, while appearing on NightSide with Dan Rea on WBZ News Radio1030, the host asked, "I assume that if Ed Markey would be willing to engage in a debate here on NightSide you would be more than happy to take up that challenge?"

And Deaton replied, "Absolutely! I would welcome it!"

He continued, "I know that four media outlets, now yours would be the fifth, have inquired about debates, and I have accepted all of them."

Deaton, a Marine veteran and small-business owner who raised three daughters paycheck to paycheck, said the contrast is simple: lived experience versus a career in the same seat.

“I grew up in one of America’s toughest neighborhoods. I never quit. I built a business and a family the hard way,” Deaton said. “Markey has had 53 years. Tenure without results is just tenure. Let’s debate energy. Let’s debate housing. Let’s debate the cost of staying in Massachusetts. If he’s proud of his record, he should defend it."

Deaton has already shown up. Markey declined the June WBZ debate that Deaton attended. Deaton is prepared to debate Markey anywhere in the Commonwealth, as many times as voters deserve, before November.

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