Why progressives should vote for a Republican for Treasurer

Historically, progressives and Democratic voters have been basically one and the same, and with a few exceptions the choice was clear: progressives should vote for the Democrat. But in the upcoming Treasurer race, Elizabeth Dionne, a Republican, is the best choice regardless of political leaning.

During a decade in local government in Belmont, including serving as chair of the Select Board, Dionne did the unglamorous work that actually changes how government functions. She delivered balanced budgets without draining reserve funds, created a multi-year budget advisory committee so the town would stop lurching from crisis to crisis, and moved Belmont’s retirement system into the state’s pooled investment trust to cut costs and raise returns for retirees. She also helped bring the town into compliance with the MBTA Communities Act.

She is also a mother of four, including an adult son who is autistic. That is not a detail to skim past. Raising a child with disabilities means navigating a system of schools, insurance, and services that is often confusing, underfunded and stacked against families who don’t have a lawyer on retainer. Dionne is a lawyer and works pro bono for Massachusetts Advocates for Children doing legal work for low-income children with special needs.

Progressives value transparency, accountability, and a check on entrenched, wealth-insulated power. None of that depends on the letter next to a candidate’s name. A vote for Dionne would not advance a Republican national agenda on the issues progressives care about most. The Treasurer’s office does not set tax policy or influence LGBTQ policy, abortion law or immigration enforcement, areas where progressives most often differ from Republicans. With that in mind she is a self-described “Charlie Baker Republican” and is vocally supportive of gay marriage, suggesting the party title may not say as much about these views as others on the ballot. The office manages pension funds, the lottery, local aid and unclaimed property. It does that well or poorly depending on whether the person running it is accountable to the public

Progressives should also have issues with Deb Goldberg, in office for 12 years now and seeking a fourth term. She comes from wealth — her family founded the Stop & Shop grocery chain, and she has used millions of her own money to fund her campaigns. She has refused multiple requests to debate her opponent this cycle, as she did in 2022. Her campaign has also taken more than $100,000 in donations from industries her office directly regulates, (alcohol, marijuana, and the lottery) plus tens of thousands more in inaugural donations from some of the same sources.

One of the biggest progressive critiques of American politics is that money and access calcify into permanent power, and Goldberg is a case study. Even elected officials in her own party can see her corruption. Look at her effort to fire the chair of the Cannabis Control Commission in 2024 — a Suffolk Superior Court judge since has returned Sharon O’Brien as the chair, and in March 2026 the state House voted 155-0 to take authority over the commission away from the Treasurer’s office. I argue that her behavior looks like that of an entrenched incumbent, insulated by wealth and power. How progressive is it to duck debates or to fail to keep your decisions in office insulated from industries that benefit from them? Not very.

Progressives should like what Dionne promises: She has committed to serving no more than two terms and says she will propose a two-term limit for the position while in office. She is refusing campaign and inaugural donations from any industry the Treasurer’s office regulates. She has promised an independent audit of all the Treasury’s departments on day one. She says she won’t take a state pension herself, on the grounds that she is running to serve, not to benefit financially, at a time when the state faces a $40 billion unfunded pension gap that taxpayers will have to cover. She has also gone to bat publicly for frontline union workers, opposing a legislative push to redirect pension reserve funds toward corporate economic development grants, a position pro-worker progressives should support.

Voting for Dionne isn’t a betrayal of progressive values. In this race, it might be the clearest expression of them.

A stronger

Please consider making a financial contribution to maintain, expand and improve Cambridge Day.

We are now a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and all donations are tax deductible.

Please consider a recurring contribution.

Donate now