Local businessman Gabriel Gomez has filed to run in the Massachusetts special election, an official working on his campaign confirmed to The Hill, adding a contender to the small slate of candidates pursuing the Republican nomination.

Gomez joins state Rep. Dan Winslow (R) in pursuing the Republican nomination for Secretary of State John Kerry's (D) former Senate seat.

He has brought on three former Mitt Romney staffers. Bradley Crate, who previously worked as former Sen. Scott Brown's (R) campaign treasurer and as CFO of Romney's 2012 presidential bid, will serve as Gomez's treasurer, and Romney's former communications director Gail Gitcho and online rapid response director Lenny Alcivar have also joined Gomez's team.

Gomez did not respond to a request for comment.

But Massachusetts Democratic Party Chairman John Walsh pointed to Gomez's Romney connections as reason Massachusetts voters won't back him in the special election.

"Last week one big fan of Republican Mitt Romney — Republican Dan Winslow — said he was in the race and now today we see that Republican Gabriel Gomez, fresh off his trip to see Washington insiders with Republican operative Ron Kaufman, has hired key Romney staffers to run his campaign. Kaufman recently said that Massachusetts Republicans needed to stop President Obama's plans for creating jobs and moving our country forward," he said in a statement.

"Massachusetts voters, who overwhelmingly voted last fall to support the President's ides and agenda, won't be swayed by Gomez's attempt at running the Romney Campaign 2.0," Walsh added.

Brown's decision not to seek the Republican nomination sent state Republicans scrambling to find a suitable candidate for what will be a tough election.

-snip-

Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/sena...l#ixzz2KdjYzrgB
Follow us: @thehill on Twitter | TheHill on Facebook