State Senate Candidate DeFranco Says Opponent Backed Out Of Debate

HAVERHILL, MA — Sal DeFranco, the Republican candidate for the State Senate seat in the Second Essex and Middlesex District, is calling out his opponent —incumbent Democrat Barry Finegold — for backing out of a scheduled debate next week.

An email distributed by the DeFranco team on Thursday suggested that Haverhill Community Television, in conjunction with WHAV, had a debate scheduled for Nov. 3, and that DeFranco and Finegold had "agreed to the terms."

However, DeFranco suggested that Finegold backed out of the debate on Wednesday.

"It is an outrage that Sen. Finegold is dodging the voters by refusing to participate in a
debate," DeFranco said. "This makes it abundantly clear that Sen. Finegold is afraid to defend his record of raising taxes, increasing inflation and turning a blind eye to fentanyl pouring into our district."

DeFranco continued: "Sen. Finegold cast pivotal votes to raise the sales tax, regulate home heating that drives up costs for families, and give licenses to illegal immigrants. Now, he's choosing to hide from the voters."

The DeFranco team suggested that "Finegold's refusal to debate is yet another example of Beacon Hill insiders playing politics instead of standing up for the people they serve."

DeFranco said he would "debate Sen. Finegold anywhere, anytime."

Patch reached out to Finegold's campaign several times, but did not get a response.

Along with a statement, the DeFranco team sent a letter from Frank Novak, whose show "Point of Reference" was going to host the debate on Haverhill Community Television.

Novak gave his account of the plans for the debate and how they fell apart.

In the letter, Novak said Nov. 2 was the tentative working date for the debate and was agreed upon with the DeFranco camp.

"But we did not, apparently, verify such with the Finegold camp, a point that we discovered on the night of taping the candidates' individual interviews on Monday, October 24th," Novak wrote.

At that point, Novak wrote, Nov. 3 was suggested by the Finegold team. Novak said he thought the debate was confirmed when Barry Finegold checked his phone schedule and said "Yes, that works."

However, Novak suggested that Finegold's team had a different take later in the week.

"Subsequently, letting the Finegold team know that we were now all set for November 3, we were then told by them that they did not confirm that time and that they would not be able to participate in a debate this election season."

DeFranco is a former Navy SEAL and the founder of Battle Grounds Coffee Company, with locations in Haverhill and Newburyport.

Finegold, an attorney and partner at Dalton and Finegold, held the State Senate seat from 2011 to 2015, and then was elected in 2018 and again in 2020.

The newly redrawn Second Essex and Middlesex District now includes Andover, Tewksbury, Wilmington, Merrimac, Amesbury and parts of Haverhill and North Andover.