Republican candidate for treasurer Elizabeth Dionne sailed through Tuesday’s primary as her party’s only candidate, but she said her strategy has been to “outwork” incumbent Treasurer Deb Goldberg.
Dionne, a 56-year-old attorney and former chair of the Belmont Select Board, has railed against incumbent Deb Goldberg, who is seeking a fourth term, over refusing debate requests and her handling of the treasury’s 13 departments.
“She’s hiding and hoping that by hiding, people will just let the Democratic advantage carry her over. That is totally disrespectful to the voters,” Dionne told the News Service during a primary election night party hosted by Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Minogue. “It’s totally disrespectful to her colleagues. She needs to show up and defend her performance for the last 12 years. If she can’t, then she should step aside.”
Goldberg also coasted through her primary race Tuesday night as the sole Democratic candidate. Chris Keohan, spokesperson for Goldberg’s campaign, said in a statement that “our opponents continues to run a campaign based on fiction and personal attacks.”
“As we have said consistently, the Treasurer will review all invitations for debates by reputable news organizations interested in hosting. The Treasurer has been campaigning across the state all year. She visited 6 communities to speak with voters today alone,” Keohan said. “Perhaps if our opponent spent less time running an exclusively negative campaign and more time learning about what the Treasurer’s roles and responsibilities are, she could have a more substantive conversation.”
Dionne is positioning herself as the “taxpayer’s treasurer” and said that approach revolves around “understanding that every dollar is cut from a taxpayer’s pocket.”
Dionne has consistently said her first act, if elected, would be to audit all the Treasury’s departments. Republicans this election cycle have unified around calling for a legislative audit that was enacted under a 2024 voter law, which has been a point of contention between Democratic State Auditor Diana DiZoglio and fellow state government leaders.
“The money is always their money. We need to let it belong to the taxpayers,” Dionne said.
Dionne also said she would send more local aid to municipalities as the state is in the midst of an affordability crisis.
“Another area where I want to be the taxpayer’s treasurer is the Lottery,” Dionne said. “It’s the single largest source of local aid in Massachusetts. Cities and towns are starving.”
The state Lottery’s retail revenues go toward municipalities in the form of Unrestricted General Government Aid, or UGGA, which is a key source of flexible funds for cities and towns. Revenue from the new online Lottery goes towards childcare grants.
Katie Castellani is a reporter for State House News Service and State Affairs Pro Massachusetts. Reach her at kcastellani@statehousenews.com.
