DeFranco seeks to unseat Tierney

LYNN – Calling herself a “Franklin Delano Roosevelt Democrat,” congressional candidate Marisa DeFranco said the 20th-century president inspired her belief in giving people “opportunity, not a handout.”The 43-year-old immigration attorney and Middleton resident supports a modest minimum wage boost, thinks the Affordable Care Act was badly planned and executed and wants to see the United States get tough with Russian President Vladimir Putin.DeFranco’s name will appear on the Sept. 9 state primary ballot next to Democrats Seth Moulton and John Tierney. The primary winner is slated to run against Republican congressional candidate Richard Tisei in the Nov. 4 final election.DeFranco; Moulton, an Iraq War veteran; Tierney, the incumbent congressman; and Tisei, a former state legislator; are running to represent the 6th Congressional District, stretching from Saugus to Amesbury.DeFranco said helping small businesses is one of her campaign priorities. She said small businesses need tax breaks and proposed reducing the tax rate for businesses earning $335,000 to $1 million from 34 percent to 26 percent. She also wants a tax reduction for businesses earning over $1 million.”I know this will create jobs. Small business is the engine of our economy,” DeFranco said.She predicts federal health insurance reforms will create an “even larger monopoly of insurance companies” leading to higher insurance rates. DeFranco said Americans need a “public option” for health insurance allowing them to choose between “government Medicare-type” insurance or private insurance.”Then they will have to compete with each other,” she said.She supports a $9-an-hour federal minimum wage – not a proposed hike from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour. She said she formerly worked in a minimum-wage job and said minimum wage should serve as a motivation for people to set goals and complete education required to get higher-paying work.The United States must inject an element of fear, DeFranco said, in its foreign policy dealings in order to get the attention of world leaders seeking to expand their territorial ambitions. Although her clients include immigrant small business owners and family law clients, DeFranco also represents people seeking asylum from politically intolerant countries.She has practiced law in Peabody, Salem and currently in Middleton and ran for public office previously in 2001, when she unsuccessfully sought a Peabody City Council seat, and in 2012 when she ran in the U.S. Senate race.”This is the Democratic Party, but there is a dearth of women candidates,” she said.DeFranco blames Democrats and Republicans alike in Congress for what she called “hyperpartisanship,” including making strides to improve the economy.”I’m not going to make the excuse, ?Oh, it’s the Republicans,'” she said.She said congressional immigration reform must involve “putting people on a path to legalization” that allows them to obtain federal “green card” status while helping people willing to follow proper procedures to become a citizen.A green card, according to the federal Immigration and Naturalization Service website, gives the holder “lawful permanent resident” status in the U.S.She said American trade policies from 15 years ago devastated Mexican farmers and triggered “a giant uptick in illegal immigration.”DeFranco said her congressional campaign is relying on financial support “from regular people” and called herself “a clean money candidate.””Big money is killing our democracy,” she said.