The state GOP’s new leader insists her party — currently lacking any declared candidate for U.S. Senate — doesn’t need a big-name heavyweight to compete against the high-profile Democrats now lining up in the special election, claiming “a fresh face” can follow Scott Brown’s footsteps all the way to Washington, D.C.

“I don’t think there’s pressure to find a name,” new MassGOP chairwoman Kirsten Hughes told the Herald yesterday. “If you think back, Scott Brown wasn’t a name, he was a state senator who worked his way up. I think what GOP candidates have to offer voters in Massachusetts is a fresh face and a new direction, and I think that’s the take-away from our candidates, whether they be a name or not.”

Hughes said Bay State Republicans will offer a stronger alternative to Democratic U.S. Reps. Edward J. Markey and Stephen F. Lynch, who she said are simply “stepping up the next rung on the ladder.”

So far, no titan with the power to seismically shake up the GOP race has emerged. Brown and Charlie Baker have ruled it out, and sources close to former Gov. William F. Weld have said he won’t run.

That leaves candidates with serious name-recognition gaps to overcome in a short amount of time — not just to win the election, but to merely gather the 10,000 signatures needed to qualify for the ballot.

The potential GOP field so far consists of candidates who are either unknown or have never launched a statewide campaign.

Those said to be pondering runs include Tagg Romney, the son of former Gov. Mitt Romney; state Rep. Daniel Winslow (R-Norfolk), a former general counsel to ex-Gov. Romney and to Brown’s U.S. Senate campaign; Worcester County Sheriff Lew Evangelidis; and ex-Navy SEAL Gabriel Gomez of Cohasset.