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WRENTHAM - Former Gov. Mitt Romney Friday declared that Washington is being run by "neo-monarchists" and the country needs a second revolution to restore power to the people.

Romney, speaking at a fund-raising event for state Sen. Scott Brown, urged those in attendance to send Brown to Washington to help the revolution along.

The Republican and former presidential candidate compared the current political situation to the conditions that existed in 1776.

Back then, he said, monarchists believed in a "strong central leader" while revolutionaries wanted to hand government over to the people.

The people won and the result was a "stronger nation and the land of opportunity," he said. Currently the country is being run by those who believe in "government telling us what to do," including government-run health care and deficit spending.

Romney said the first signs of change may come Tuesday in races for governor in New Jersey and Virginia.

Republicans are running well in both races, he said.

"We'll win there if there is no cheating," he said after repeating a joke that the races "are within the margin of cheating."

The former governor spoke at Luciano's at Lake Pearl in Wrentham to help raise money for fellow Republican Brown, who is running to replace the late U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy.

More than 200 people attended, some paying $75 for a general reception and others shelling out $1,000 for a private meeting with Romney.

Romney also attended an event for Brown earlier in the day in Needham.

Brown said the Senate needs more Republicans because Democrats now have the 60 votes they need to "ram through anything they want."

He acknowledged his underdog status in heavily Democratic Massachusetts, saying "I'm running against the machine."

But, he said, he has shown in his state Senate races that he is a Republican who can attract independents and Democrats. He asked the crowd for donations of time and money, saying his Republican opponent Jack E. Robinson recently spent $100,000 hiring people to collect signatures on his nomination papers.

Brown said he relied on volunteers.

The event helped boost his campaign fund, which is much smaller than his Democratic opponents who all have $1 million or more in the bank. Brown reported raising about $160,000 on his first campaign finance report.

Despite the disadvantages, Brown predicted victory for himself and his hometown in the Dec. 8 Republican primary.

"Come Dec. 9, Wrentham will become the most famous place in the country," he said.