Senate Candidate Geoff Diehl Has Won Statewide Before [OPINION]

State Representative Geoff Diehl is asking Massachusetts voters to support him and oust Senator Elizabeth Warren. He already has won statewide victory.

Geoff Diehl is a nice guy with significant political accomplishments for a Republican in the Massachusetts state legislature. Being a Republican member of the legislature means you can't get much done formally, so you have to use your entrepreneurial instincts and experience to move the agenda in your direction.

Diehl, along with his wife, is a small business owner with just that type of entrepreneurial experience and 1776-like rebel instincts to make something happen that the powers that be say can't be done.

A few years ago, Diehl traveled all over Massachusetts to lead a rollback of the automatic gasoline tax increase. He battled the state lawmakers, the road contractors, and the unions to win this statewide campaign. He succeeded by calmly explaining to the people what the facts were, and by giving them an option at the ballot box.

By successfully leading the ballot question to repeal the automatic tax increase on gasoline, Diehl saved the consumers of Massachusetts over $2 billion. That is particularly important for the working class people who don't have access to the taxpayer-subsidized commuter rail service.

The people of New Bedford, Taunton and Fall River would have paid more to the government for the "privilege" of driving to work because of the state's bipartisan failure to extend the commuter rail to those communities. Likewise for the working class folks on Cape Cod, who only get commuter rail service during the tourist season.

The repeal of the gasoline tax was successful because Massachusetts Democrats agreed with Diehl. If he didn't convince enough Democrats to agree with him on this issue, we would have an automatic sales tax increase scheme in place today.

The people of Massachusetts overwhelmingly agreed with Rep. Diehl and his small band of volunteer supporters on Election Day 2014. He won 53 percent of the vote with a margin of more than 120,000 people supporting him over his tax-raising opponents. He won the majority of the counties in our Commonwealth that day.

Diehl is the underdog in this race for the Senate, but he has won statewide before in a midterm election year. Elizabeth Warren defeated Sen. Scott Brown six years ago when President Obama was on the top of the ballot. Obama was extremely popular in Massachusetts, and he had long coattails for the entire Democrat ticket in Massachusetts. President Obama isn't on the ballot this year, and he hasn't shown up to campaign in Massachusetts for Warren.

Since becoming a senator, Elizabeth Warren has become a national leader and a top contender for president. She is the odds-on favorite in the race with Rep. Diehl this year. I have written favorably about her bipartisan leadership on states rights regarding marijuana, assisting members of our military with gambling issues, and using the free market to lower the cost of hearing aids. I genuinely enjoyed the interview I had with her on my radio program.

Four years ago, Diehl went all over Massachusetts and explained his reasons for supporting a repeal of the automatic gasoline tax and then he gave the voters on an option on Election Day. Four years ago, the majority of citizens listened to Rep. Diehl and voted with him.

Will they do it again this year?

Chris McCarthy is the host of The Chris McCarthy Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon. Contact him at chris.mccarthy@townsquaremedia.com and follow him on Twitter @Chris_topher_Mc. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.