A brief debate between Massachusetts Treasurer Deb Goldberg and Republican challenger Elizabeth Dionne put competing approaches to oversight in focus, from unclaimed-property returns to pension investments and the state's new online lottery. The 12-minute debate aired Sunday, ahead of Tuesday's election, and was their only agreed-upon meeting. It was moderated by Jon Keller after weeks of disagreement over whether, and how, the candidates would debate on camera.
Goldberg, the incumbent Democratic treasurer, is seeking a fourth term, according to NBC10 Boston. Dionne, a former Belmont Select Board chair and attorney, has pushed for more debate time throughout the race, and as reported by the Boston Herald, she expressed frustration about the limited opportunities to debate Goldberg, arguing that the incumbent's refusal to agree to a longer format showed an inability to defend her record. Goldberg had earlier declined a GBH debate, with her campaign saying, according to State House News Service, “We ended up declining because they were not doing fact-checking like we had asked.”
An Apology Over a Campaign Ad
Before turning to policy, Dionne used part of her brief airtime to demand an apology for an attack ad she said falsely accused her of opposing gay marriage and gay rights, per the Herald's account of the debate. Dionne, who has a gay son and a gay campaign manager, pressed Goldberg directly on the ad. Goldberg said she had nothing to do with the ad Dionne referenced but apologized if it had hurt Dionne's son or campaign manager.
The exchange underscored how personal the race has become even as the candidates spent most of their limited time on treasury operations. Dionne argued the office's scope demands scrutiny, saying it manages nearly 20 percent of the state budget and oversees hundreds of billions of dollars in taxpayer assets and liabilities. She said her select board experience prepared her to understand how the office's 13 departments interact with local government and residents — a figure that aligns with WWLP's reporting that the treasurer's office has oversight responsibilities involving 13 departments and agencies, including the Massachusetts Lottery, the Unclaimed Property Division and the Massachusetts School Building Authority.
Dueling Numbers on Unclaimed Property
The candidates disputed both the scale of unclaimed property and how quickly it should be returned. Dionne cited a citizen's estimate of roughly $5 billion, compared with the $3.4 billion figure from Goldberg's office. The difference follows an October dispute in which unclaimed-property watchdog Ron Lizzi told the Boston Herald the office was “hiding” $450 million in unclaimed money from public view. Dionne repeated that $450 million figure during the debate, attributing it to the same citizen estimate. She also said the state sent letters about returning property only in the two weeks before the election and that 26 states return unclaimed property automatically, a point Lizzi had made to the Herald.
Goldberg said the citizen had not tried to contact her office and that the total amount of unclaimed property changes from year to year. She said Massachusetts ranks first in New England for returning unclaimed property and that her office returned $1 billion over the previous five years. Goldberg also said the office had been developing a technology-enabled pilot for some time, adding that returning property is more complicated in Massachusetts than in other states.
Pension Fund Performance and Political Pressure
On pensions, Goldberg said her department had doubled the pension fund and that investments earned 11 percent returns over the past five years, well above the 7 percent return she said is needed for the fund to be fully funded on schedule. The Massachusetts pension fund has $129 billion under management and invests in 11,000 companies, and Goldberg pointed to a sustainability and stewardship committee within her office that examines companies' decision-making and policies to support profitable long-term investments. She also said the fund remains short of full funding by between $33 billion and $40 billion, and claimed Dionne had previously believed investing in the pension fund would yield better returns at a lower rate.
Dionne argued the pension fund should be insulated from political considerations, warning that any funding shortfall must ultimately be covered by taxpayers or investment returns. She pointed to a proposal from the governor to take $100 million from the pension fund for grants over the summer, saying the plan had no mechanism to return the money to the fund and that Goldberg was absent from the issue at the time.
Children and the New Online Lottery
Dionne's concerns about the online lottery centered on the distinction between child-oriented games and wagering. She said the advocacy group Stop Predatory Gambling had criticized the children's games because they could be played without verification, unlike games involving bets, which require age and identity checks. Dionne argued that the difference could groom children to become lifelong customers, a concern she had previously raised with WCVB. The online lottery drew 187,000 registered users and $119 million in wagers in its first month, according to the Boston Globe, which also reported that at least three of the platform's more than 20 new games use cartoon or child-oriented imagery. The share of high school students reporting they played the lottery rose from 28 percent in 2021 to 37 percent in 2025, the Globe reported.
Goldberg responded that she would abhor children having access to any form of gambling and said the lottery's games are not available to children, noting that the lottery requires an age and identity verification screen. She also said her office had saved taxpayers billions of dollars overall and pointed to the lottery's broader fiscal role, saying it distributed $5 billion in local aid. The Globe has reported the lottery generated $5.9 billion in revenue last fiscal year, delivering over $1 billion in local funding.
How returns and online safeguards work
The treasurer's office has said it cannot simply issue automatic payments: Assistant Treasurer Mark Bracken told the Boston Herald that requirements set by the state Comptroller's Office prevent the office from making them. A separate approach is the Claim Mass Money pilot, which WBUR reported was starting with around 5,000 people matched to unclaimed property worth up to $2,500. For online lottery purchases, officials told WWLP that accounts are age-verified using a nine-digit Social Security number; free demonstrations do not require age verification. The platform also lets players set play limits: GBH reported that stricter limits take effect immediately, while increases are delayed for 48 hours.
A Short Debate After a Long Standoff
Dionne has pledged to order an independent audit of all 12 Treasury departments if elected, according to WCVB, while also telling NBC10 Boston she would push for a local aid increase of at least $2 billion next year spread across the state's 351 cities and towns. Goldberg has pointed to her BabySteps children's savings program and mandatory financial education in schools as initiatives she wants to continue, per NBC10 Boston. The race has also been shadowed by a separate controversy over Goldberg's handling of former Cannabis Control Commission chair Shannon O'Brien, whom a court ordered reinstated after finding no evidence she had committed gross misconduct, as detailed in a Boston Globe editorial.
Dionne has committed to participating in at least three debates in 2030 if elected, according to State House News Service, a pledge offered in contrast to this year's single, brief matchup. Goldberg has pointed to her years in a leadership position with the National Association of State Treasurers as evidence of her standing in the field. Whether voters reward the incumbent's tenure or the challenger's call for more scrutiny will be decided Tuesday.
