Geoff Diehl is not afraid of a challenge.

In 2009, the political newcomer started his first campaign against state Rep. Allen McCarthy in the 7th Plymouth District. McCarthy, a two-term incumbent Democrat, was expected to win walking away, but Diehl, who then worked as an account executive for a New Bedford sign company, pulled off an upset, defeating his opponent by just a few hundred votes.

In 2013, lawmakers on Beacon Hill passed a gas tax that would be linked to inflation. The result would mean automatically increased taxes every year without the Legislature having to be held accountable or casting votes. State Rep. Geoff Diehl led the fight to repeal the tax by organizing an effort to move the issue to a ballot question.

The opposition, comprised of special interest groups, lobbyists and other powerful forces, was heavily funded (they outspent Diehl’s group by $3 million). Diehl embarked on what seemed to be a fool’s errand, but off went the grassroots “Tank the Gas Tax” team, armed with their clipboards, to supermarkets and the like to gather the thousands of signatures needed.

Their work paid off and in November 2014, ballot question 1 was passed, repealing the automatic gas tax indexing.

In 2015, when the “Boston 2024” campaign to host the Olympics was gaining momentum, Geoff Diehl pushed back in the name of the taxpayers. He worked to protect residents of the Bay State from shouldering the burden by developing a ballot question shielding them from the all-but-certain cost overruns. He filed a similar budget amendment in the Legislature. The power­fully connected opponents to Diehl’s effort, poised to make millions from the event, fought him at every turn.

But he persisted, and as it became clear that taxpayers would ultimately be on the hook for much of the cost of the 2024 Olympics, Diehl formed a bipartisan coalition with an unlikely ally, former gubernatorial candidate Evan Falchuk. Together they moved to introduce a ballot question to prevent the public’s money from being spent on Boston 2024. Shortly thereafter, with no stomach for the fight, the U.S. Olympic Committee withdrew from Boston.

Again, Diehl had worked against forces bigger than himself to protect the taxpayer, and won.

State Rep. Geoff Diehl has proven to be an indefatigable defender of the taxpayer, building coalitions and listening to his constituents. As evidenced by his political career so far, there is no fight he won’t join in his advocacy for the hardworking people of the Bay State, and that is why he is the optimal choice to be the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts.

Diehl, an Eagle Scout, carries with him the core principles we need represented in the general election. He believes in border security, he supports law enforcement and has proven himself willing to go to the mat for lower taxes. He will advocate for our fishermen and is aggressive in his approach to fighting the opioid epidemic.

He supports Israel, believes in the sanctity of the Second Amendment, and wants to repeal Obama­care and offer more health care choices for families. He has a comprehensive plan to improve health care for veterans.

In 2016, as the Massachusetts Trump Campaign co-chair, Geoff Diehl worked to get Donald Trump elected, and it will be a great benefit to the commonwealth to have at least one member of our national delegation with access to the White House. A good relationship with the president of the United States, especially with infrastructure initiatives on the docket, is a good thing.

If the past is prelude, Geoff Diehl will be consistently engaged with the people who put him in office. He is accessible to the press and a fixture on local talk radio.

As the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, he will have a robust debate with the current senator, Elizabeth Warren. Each represents not only different political ideologies but also cultural ideologies, and it will be a benefit to the voters of the commonwealth to hear them clearly and coherently delineated.

The Senate race will be the battle of a lifetime for the state rep from Whitman, but it will not be his first battle.