Gabriel Gomez, the Republican nominee for Senate in Massachusetts, called out fellow Republican Sen. Rand Paul at a debate Tuesday night, saying that in a battle of the bladders, he would put the Kentucky Senator to shame.

In March, Paul staged an old-style filibuster to protest the Obama administration’s policy on drones. For 12 hours and 52 minutes, Paul stood on the Senate floor, not leaving for food or water, until finally, in the wee hours of the morning, he left to heed nature’s call.

“I would go for another 12 hours to try to break Strom Thurmond’s record,” he said, to laughter. “But I’ve discovered that there are some limits to filibustering, and I’m going to have to go take care of one of those in a few minutes here.”

Gomez scoffed at Paul’s 12 hours and 52 minutes.

“I’ve gone much longer than that with my time in the SEAL team,” the former Navy SEAL said.

Gomez is vying with Democratic Rep. Ed Markey in a special election to fill the seat vacated by John Kerry when he became Secretary of State. The special election is June 25.

Follow Alexis on Twitter