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Gomez enters Republican race for Senate

Date: 3/7/2013

By G. Michael Dobbs

news@thereminder.com

WEST SPRINGFIELD — Positioning himself as a political outsider and a Scott Brown kind of Republican, former Navy SEAL and businessman Gabriel Gomez brought his formal announcement to the American Legion Post in West Springfield on Feb. 28.

The candidate kept his audience of about 50 potential supporters waiting for about a half hour and one campaign aide said, "It's long ride," referring to the candidate's previous stop in Shrewsbury.

A handout supplied bullet points on a number of hot-button issues to those who were waiting for him.

On the Second Amendment, Gomez's position is "as a former U.S. Navy SEAL, I am a strong Second Amendment supporter. Our freedoms make America the most unique and prosperous country in the world. The president and Congress must act now to forge consensus and compromise to close the gun show loophole and to keep weapons out of the hands of the mentally ill."

On abortion, Gomez said he is "a proud Catholic and pro-life," but he is not interested in changing the law making abortions legal.

The son of Colombian immigrants, Gomez's position on immigration is that "serious reform starts with securing our borders." He added, "Illegal immigrants with criminal records should be deported."

When Gomez did arrive, he was enthusiastically received by the crowd and after a brief introduction by Washington Selectman Michael F. Case, he launched into his speech.

Noting his parents were just like Pilgrims, only arriving 345 years later, "my family came here for the exact same reasons and that was the American dream."

He described his background as coming from a typical middle class family, adding that at a young age he decided he wanted to serve his country.

After graduating from the Naval Academy, he was a pilot, but left that field to train as a Navy SEAL, where he was a platoon commander. After leaving the Navy in 1996, he graduated from Harvard Business School and joined the Boston-based investment firm of Advent International.

Although some people might call him "naïve," Gomez believes government could and should work better than it currently is.

He added that there is one part of the country where "business is booming" and that is Washington D.C.

"The government business is booming. The lobbying business is booming. The special interest business is booming. Washington is going great, but the rest of the country is struggling," Gomez said.

He then called for legislation prohibiting former members of Congress from becoming lobbyists.

"You either can be a public servant or be a lobbyist, but you can't be both," he added to applause.

Gomez then asked his audience to go to his website, www.gomezforma.com, and sign a petition calling for the president and the members of Congress not to receive paychecks until the issues surrounding the sequester budget cuts are addressed.

Noting he is a "cup half full kind of guy," Gomez said he is sure that Congress and the president will act, but believes additional pressure needs to be applied to them by the public.

Gomez also called for term limits for members of Congress and asked if the president has a term limit why shouldn't senators and representatives?

Describing himself as a voice for "bipartisanship, common sense and reasonableness," Gomez asserted that sending "a career politician" to the Senate would be "more of the same."

"It's time for all of us to hit the refresh button," he said.

After the speech, Gomez met with reporters and said that he was "humbled and excited" at the reception of his message by voters at campaign stops.

Answering a question about the ultimate decision voters made about former Sen. Scott Brown and his position of bipartisanship, Gomez said, "Scott Brown was a very good senator. He did a great job down there." He added that he is a different candidate than Brown with a different background.

To see Gomez's entire speech go to Reminder Publications' Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ReminderPublications.