Massachusetts Senate candidate John Deaton explains why he is running for office to oust Sen. Elizabeth Warren on ‘Fox & Friends.’

As a poor kid growing up on the frayed edges of the most violent neighborhood in Detroit, I learned to look out for myself at an early age. A warm bed at the end of the day wasn’t a guarantee; neither a safe home.

After my father left us without as much as a goodbye, my mother cycled through boyfriends upon whom she depended to make ends meet. That didn’t stop one of them from hitting her in the head with an iron fireplace poker as I watched, horrified. I never got the chance at a sheltered childhood.

Perhaps because of my rocky upbringing, I’m proud that my home state of Massachusetts gives poor kids a chance at a sheltered childhood; at least, it tried to. Inaction, elitism, and apathy at the federal level, including from senior Bay State Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., have forced state officials into a series of excruciating choices.

Republican Senate candidate John Deaton is challenging longtime Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren in the November election. (Reuters/Fox News)

Almost invariably, the losers in those decisions have been disadvantaged children.

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Since the 1980s, the state’s "right to shelter" law has mandated that pregnant women and........

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