Diehl Eyes Washington, Knocks Warren's 2020 Chances

Geoff Diehl.JPG — Geoffrey G. Diehl, the Republican representative from the 7th Plymouth District in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, on the campaign trail in Sudbury, Massachusetts. He is challenging Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren for her seat in the Senate.

January 02, 2019

Former state Rep. Geoff Diehl, who recently lost a bid to unseat Democrat Sen. Elizabeth Warren and decided not to run for chair of the state’s Republican party, is setting his sights on Washington, D.C.

“I’ve been working on a chance to go down to Washington, work with the administration,” Diehl told Jim Braude on Greater Boston Monday.

Diehl did not offer specifics about which job he was pursuing and would not say if it was with the Trump administration.

The Whitman Republican recently decided not to move forward with a bid for chair of the MassGOP.

Asked about his former rival, Warren, who launched a presidential exploratory committee on New Year’s Eve, Diehl was predictably unsupportive.

“Elizabeth Warren's like a moth to a flame when it comes to more government control over corporations, health care, everything, and I don't think there's an appetite for that in flyover country,” he said.

Diehl said he believes the party is looking for a more centrist candidate to run in 2020 and predicted that California Sen. Kamala Harris could appeal to a broader swath of voters.

“I think Kamala Harris out of California will come out with a pretty strong base and I think she's already taken steps to moderate a position that's going to be acceptable across the country," he said.