HYANNIS — A 26-year-old banker who says he sees firsthand the financial strains people are under has joined the race to unseat U.S. Rep. William Keating, D-Mass.

Christopher Cataldo, of Norwell, has officially launched a campaign to run as an independent for the 9th Congressional District seat.

“What is driving me to run is that the American quality of life is deteriorating. The quality of American life is under attack,” Cataldo, a 2012 graduate of Suffolk University, said during a visit to the Cape Cod Times Friday. “Our leaders are out of touch.”

Although he is now focusing on his campaign for the House full time, working as a consumer and small-business relationship manager at Bank of America and Eastern Bank inspired his political aspirations, according to Cataldo.

“I learned about what needs to be reformed in government not in the classroom but at a desk working as a banker seeing struggles within the community,” he said. “In the aftermath of the recession is when I built my muscle in terms of motivation for running.”

Cataldo ran for a seat on the Norwell Board of Selectmen in 2014 and 2015 and lost both elections. He balked at calling the campaigns “unsuccessful.”

“I consider them victories because they brought attention to important issues that had not been brought to the forefront before,” he said.

Cataldo began his political life as a young Republican in high school, attending the second inauguration of President George W. Bush, but became a Democrat after his father was laid off during the recession.

Cataldo’s hometown of Norwell sits on the northern boundary of the 9th District, which includes most of SouthCoast as well as the Cape and Islands.

He noted that the diverse district has unique challenges and that he views the opioid crisis as the most important issue facing the region.

“The heroin epidemic is an atrocity,” Cataldo said. “A lot of people were shocked by the HBO documentary,” he said in reference to a film that focused on eight young addicts on the Cape.

Gov. Charlie Baker’s recent opioid legislation had good intentions but did not go far enough, according to Cataldo.

“It’s all about how we treat pain in this country. Opiates should be the last resort doctors should turn to when treating somebody who is experiencing pain and needs prescriptions for the first time,” he said, noting that some people truly need the drugs, but that there has to be more focus on treatment for addiction.

Cataldo commended the police chiefs in Gloucester and Manchester, N.H., for their initiatives of moving addicts into treatment programs rather than arresting them.

“We need to understand we’re not going to prosecute and incarcerate our way out of this crisis,” he said.

Cataldo also discussed Keating, the man he hopes to succeed in Washington, D.C.

“I appreciate his service to the district,” he said. “If I were in that seat, I could do more and make effective change. I have no political ball-and-chain holding me back. Thanks for your service, but it’s not enough and we’re running out of time.”

In addition to Cataldo, others hoping to unseat Keating include Republicans Mark Alliegro, of Falmouth, and Thomas O’Malley, of Marshfield. Allen Waters, of Mashpee, who withdrew from the Republican field in February before his official campaign kickoff, recently announced he was re-entering the race as an independent.