Former biotech CEO Mike Minogue could be the sleeper Republican upstart in the race for governor, repositioning himself politically and possibly emerging as the strongest of the 3 GOP gubernatorial hopefuls.

In an indication the outsider Minogue is gaining traction, he is now under attack by the Massachusetts Democratic Party for his comments supporting President Donald Trump.

“I think they’re spending money attacking me because they think I can win,” Minogue said in an interview with the Boston Herald.

Minogue remains a long shot for now, but those attacks show he’s the candidate Democrats could eventually fear the most.

“MAGA Mike Minogue stands with Trump, not with us,”  the Democrats said in one post, thereby elevating Minogue to a serious player.

In another missive, Democrats clubbed Minogue for “hiding from voters, the press and his record” in an attempt to link him to Trump.

Unlike the other Republicans in the race, former T chief Brian Shortsleeve and former Housing and Economic Development Secretary Mike Kennealy, Minogue also has no public record to run on – which could be a good thing.

Minogue is truly an outsider not part of the lame Legislature or the Charlie Baker state government. He’s wisely put a lot of his money into Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s effort to audit the Legislature, which voters overwhelmingly passed. DiZoglio is a Democrat.

“I don’t think people want another politician or worse, the same one,” he said of the trio of Gov. Maura Healey, Shortsleeve and Kennealy.

Minogue just poured $2 million more of his own cash into his late-starting campaign, beating his rivals and even Healey at the fundraising game and showing he’s in the race for the long haul.

His total cash infusion of $3.5 million has allowed him to air TV ads ahead of his opponents. He is personally matching any donation that goes into his coffers – a pledge that could get expensive.

Minogue came under criticism from his opponents recently after the Army Gulf War vet shrewdly concluded he swore an oath “to my country. I don’t swear oaths to political parties.”

Minogue is known for his big dollar donations to Trump and other GOP candidates. So it seems a stretch to say he’s not loyal to the Republican Party.

“I’m specifically reaching out to people to solve problems and not be a politician that campaigns on them,” he said.

But Minogue also knows that as a Republican, he has no chance of succeeding unless he wins over the large cross section of unaligned voters who now make up about two thirds of the Massachusetts electorate.

Just appeasing Republicans doesn’t work – the math doesn’t add up. Minogue is building a base that cuts across party lines.

None of the GOP governors in this state, including most recently Charlie Baker, have been true Republicans simply beholden to the party. Baker was always more of a moderate than conservative.

That’s why conservative Minogue needs to reach out to independents who will decide whether  Democratic Gov. Maura Healey gets another term. It’s great to win the Republican nomination but not at the expense of ignoring the groundswell of voters turning away from the Republican and Democratic parties.

“Lowering the cost of living is not a political party, it’s common sense,” he said.

Minogue, who lives in Hamilton on the North Shore, is starting to generate positive feedback and turnout from conservative groups on the South Shore and Cape, another good sign for his campaign.

“I’ve got a lot of momentum with the grass roots and I’m going to stay focused on listening to the people and not the political elite,” he promised.