Republican leaning toward Senate run National News EagleTribune
Senate election.
Secretary of State William Galvin's office confirmed yesterday that a representative for Cohasset businessman Gabriel Gomez requested nomination papers.
Gomez, a former Navy SEAL and newcomer to state politics, hasn't returned repeated phone calls seeking comment on a possible run for the Senate seat left vacant by John Kerry's resignation to become secretary of state.
Norfolk state Rep. Daniel Winslow became the first Republican to announce his candidacy last week. A candidacy by Gomez would force a GOP primary.
The first major hurdle facing both candidates is collecting where can i get a cheap north face jacket the 10,000 voter signatures needed to get their names on the ballot. The deadline for submitting the signatures is Feb. 27. Sen. Scott Brown and former Gov. William Weld, have decided not to run. That has opened the field for lesser known candidates.
Other Republicans are still weighing a run, including Gloucester state Sen. Bruce Tarr and Governor's Council member Jennie Caissie. Reps. Edward Markey and Stephen Lynch have already announced their candidacies. Marisa DeFranco, who ran in last year's Senate race but failed to make the primary ballot, is the north face jackets on sale also considering running on the Democratic side.
Massachusetts Democrats quickly focused their criticism on Gomez, trying to tie him to failed Republican presidential candidate, former Gov. Mitt Romney.
They also faulted Gomez's association with a group that faulted President Barack Obama for taking too much credit for the death of Osama bin Laden.
The group Special Operations OPSEC Education Fund Inc. produced a 22minute video during last year's presidential election criticizing Obama.
During an interview last year on MSNBC, Gomez credited Obama for giving the green light for the special operation to kill bin Laden but defended the video. Gomez, pointing to past presidents, said Obama should have given more credit to the troops and taken less credit for himself.
"The only time that these presidents, Lincoln and Eisenhower and other wartime presidents, ever used the word 'I' was when they said 'I thank you' to the troops," Gomez said during the interview.
In announcing bin Laden's death, Obama credited "the tireless and heroic work of our military and our counterterrorism professionals" for disrupting terrorist attacks and strengthening homeland defenses.
Gomez said he donated to Obama's primary campaign in 2008.
Massachusetts Democratic Party Chairman John Walsh criticized Gomez for "hanging out last year with a secretive group that tried, and failed, to damage the president for his handling of bringing justice to Osama bin Laden."
"Massachusetts voters, who overwhelmingly voted last fall to support the president's ideas and agenda, won't be swayed by Gomez's attempt at running the Romney Campaign 2.0," Walsh said Monday in a written statement.
The primary is April 30. The special election is June 25.
AP Photo/File photo In this March 6, 1966 file photo, Astronaut Neil Armstrong, pilot for the Gemini VIII mission is shown. The family of Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, says he died yesterday at age 82. A statement from the family says he died following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures. It doesn't say where he died. Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon July 20, 1969. He radioed back to Earth the historic news of "one giant leap for mankind." Armstrong and fellow astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin spent nearly three hours walking on the moon, collecting samples, conducting experiments and taking photographs.