John Deaton, Republican cryptocurrency advocate, launches campaign for U.S. Sen. Markey’s seat

John Deaton, an attorney and cryptocurrency advocate, launched a campaign Monday to run for the U.S. Senate seat held by Ed Markey, making Deaton one of the first Republicans to officially jump into the race.

Deaton, a 58-year-old currently living in Bolton, said Markey is “MIA” in Washington, knocked the 79-year-old Democrat’s age and argued Massachusetts is in “deep trouble” because of the high costs of housing, energy, and child care.

“Now look, you can clearly see that I am no longer a young man by any stretch. But when Ed Markey first went to Washington, I was nine,” Deaton said to a crowd of a couple hundred at his launch party in Washington.

Markey is running for his third term next year, when he will be 80 years old. Cam Charbonnier, his campaign manager, said Massachusetts needs someone in Washington who can stand up to President Trump, protect health care and defend reproductive rights.

“John Deaton already tested his message against that record and lost in a landslide. If he wants another round, fine. This state doesn’t elect MAGA yes-men. We elect leaders who actually get results — like Ed Markey,” Charbonnier said in a statement.

Deaton unsuccessfully challenged U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren during the 2024 election cycle.

In that race, Deaton ran a well-financed campaign that saw him easily glide to victory in the Republican primary over two opponents. But he then lost to Warren in the general election with 40% of the 3.5 million votes cast.

Markey is already facing a primary challenge from U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, a Salem Democrat who launched his own campaign last month. Moulton has said the Democratic Party is clinging to the “status quo” and needs to “change course.”

“Seth’s mission in this campaign is clear: families are getting squeezed, Donald Trump is dragging this country backwards, and Massachusetts needs a new generation of leadership in the Senate who will fight forward with urgency — not just talk about it,” Taylor Hebble, a spokesperson for Moulton, said in a statement.

For months, Deaton has floated his interest in challenging Markey. He started recruiting political consultants over the summer to help him run a campaign and is in talks with the Massachusetts Republican Party to secure an early endorsement that would make fundraising easier.

At his event in Worcester, Deaton referenced former Patriots quarterback Tom Brady: “As the GOAT himself once said, ‘I’m back.’ Because I will never give up on Massachusetts and I will never give up on America.”

Deaton has pitched himself as someone who rose out of poverty after being raised by a single mother in a northern suburb of Detroit. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps, studied at New England Law, and opened his own law firm.

He moved from Rhode Island to Massachusetts last year.

In his memoir, “Food Stamp Warrior,” Deaton wrote that he was once raped when he was young; sold cannabis for food stamps; and that he might have shot someone when he was 17.

Two other Republicans have said they’re considering running for Markey’s seat — Christopher Thrasher of Westport and Nathan Bech, a former town councilor from West Springfield.