US Senate Candidate Gabriel Gomez Visits Route 1's Red Wing Diner

The Red Wing Diner in Walpole had United States Senate candidate Gabriel Gomez as a patron Thursday afternoon, and yes, he had the fried clams.

Gomez stopped at the restaurant, which is situated on Route 1 near Sharon, as part of a number of stops throughout the state, including New Bedford, Weymouth, Worcester and Auburn.

He shook hands with diners and sat down for a bite with some of his supporters.

“We’re making a bunch of rounds in the South Shore and hitting a bunch of towns and obviously this place is one of the relics of Walpole," Gomez said. “So we’re going to meet a bunch of hopefully potential voters, introduce myself, hopefully earn their respect and get their vote on April 30.”

Gomez is competing for the Republican nomination against former U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan and state Rep. Dan Winslow (9th Norfolk District) in the special state primary for the U.S. Senate on April 30.

U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch (8th District) and U.S. Rep. Ed Markey (5th District) are running for the Democratic nomination.

Asked why Walpole voters should support Gomez, he replied: "I think it’s pretty simple. We’ve got a lot of problems down in D.C. right now. We’ve got $16 trillion in debt that we have to address. We’ve got fiscal instability. We need some politics coming out of D.C. that are business friendly.

"They don’t want another career politician going down to D.C. and I’m running against two career politicians and on the Democratic side there’s other career politicians," he added. I’m the one that’s never been in politics. I was in the Navy, I was an aircraft carrier pilot and a Navy Seal. I’ve got leadership experience and I’ve been in the private sector for 16 years helping companies grow and be successful.”