Former Navy SEAL Gabriel Gomez told reporters on Wednesday that he is mulling over the prospects of launching a Senate run against Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) in the 2018 election.
Gomez, who works in private equity and was previously a naval aviator before becoming a SEAL, said that if Republicans can develop the right strategy, then there is a "path to victory" against Warren, the Cohasset Mariner reported.
"It’s really making sure we’ve got a crystal clear strategy if we decide to go, because I do think whoever decides to take on this challenge there is a path to victory against Miss Warren," Gomez said.
"The nuts and bolts is that there’s a clear distinction on who is really prepared to serve the state in the capacity of the senatorship, and that’s as far as I’ll go on that," Gomez said, declining to discuss potential strategies.
Gomez emerged in Republican politics in 2013 when he unsuccessfully ran against his Democratic opponent Sen. Ed Markey (D., Mass.) to fill the seat vacated by former Secretary of State John Kerry.
While Gomez did secure the Republican nomination, he attributes his loss partly to the compressed timeline for the special election and believes he would fare better during a longer campaign if the political environment is right.
"I’m still thinking about that thing very hard," Gomez said while at the State House to support suspended Suffolk Probate Register Felix Arroyo.
Since defeating former Republican Senator Scott Brown, Warren has been a popular senator amongst progressive Democrats. However, her approval rating has dropped to 56 percent and her disapproval rating is at 38 percent, according to a Morning Consult poll released earlier this week.
Warren's disapproval rating in Massachusetts was the sixth highest rating among all the Senators.
Because of her vulnerable approval ratings, a couple other Massachusetts Republicans are considering a possible campaign against Warren, the Mariner reported.
Rep. Geoff Diehl, a Whitman Republican, announced last week that he was setting up a federal campaign account to explore a possible run against Warren. Wealthy Winchester investor John Kingston has also been reportedly weighing a campaign for the Republican nomination.