The Massachusetts Republican Party must build a farm system of formidable candidates to help it recover from November's election loss, its new leader said.

Party Chairman Peter Torkildsen said Republicans have a lot of work to do to revive the party's prospects.

"We're certainly in a challenging position," Torkildsen said. "We don't control the governor's office. But we have an obligation to provide an alternative view and keep the two-party system going."

Last week, the Republican State Committee elected Torkildsen, 48, the former congressman and state representative from Danvers, to head the party. In November, Republicans surrendered the governor's office after a 16-year hold and lost three seats in the 200-member Legislature.

Torkildsen is wasting no time getting going. The morning after his election as state party chairman, he jetted down to Washington, D.C., to meet with the Republican National Committee. And this week, he embarks on a listening tour of all 40 state Senate districts, where he hopes to hear from Republican activists about how to fix the party's course.

The GOP's most pressing need is grooming good candidates, Torkildsen said. Republicans, who in 2004 fielded candidates in more than 100 legislative races, left many Democrats in 2006 to run unopposed. Indeed, the Green-Rainbow Party ran more statewide candidates than the Republicans last year. Only three North of Boston legislative seats were contested by the GOP.

Torkildsen said he'll focus on finding people active in their communities to run for school committees, boards of selectman and city councils. Besides establishing a base of credible candidates for higher office, Torkildsen said, this will expand the number of Republicans with experience running winning campaigns.

"We want people active in the community because those are the people who'll make solid elected officials," Torkildsen said.

Torkildsen's history of winning against Democrats was one reason he was chosen. Torkildsen beat then-House Majority Leader Jack Murphy, D-Peabody, to win a House seat in 1984. He went to Congress eight years later by unseating Congressman Nicholas Mavroules, D-Peabody.

Focusing on the Legislature is important as the GOP shifts its attention from the governor's office to building from the grass roots up.

"One of the mistakes was putting so many eggs into winning the governor's office," said John Racho, a Republican state committeeman from Ipswich. "As a party, you're going to see us try and hit base hits instead of hitting home runs. It's the only way we can become a majority party, win state rep races one at time."

Republican candidates could benefit from what appeared to be their greatest setback, losing the governor's office.

"Everything bad they blamed on Mitt Romney," Torkildsen said of the former governor. "Well, they don't have a Republican to blame now. When something is not right, they have to take responsibility for it."

Where Torkildsen sees advantages, some Beacon Hill observers see obstacles. The GOP faces an uphill climb - and not just because it lost the Corner Office.

Julian Zelizer, a political science professor at Boston University, pointed out that demographics are against the GOP. Only 13 percent of voters are registered Republicans, while 37 percent are Democrats.

"If (Gov.) Deval Patrick is able to survive, it will be hard in a Democratic state to regain their strength," Zelizer said.

Republicans already have taken steps toward starting fresh.

They recently rolled out their legislative agenda. It is dominated by economic issues, without a trace of the conservative social stands taken by Romney that reflect of the national Republican Party. Torkildsen said the party is focused on a unifying platform.

"We need to be a big tent," he said. "Moderate or conservative, we want to get behind the candidate. That's the best way to build the party."

Torkildsen is prepared to pounce on Patrick. For instance, he criticized the governor for what he describes as a retreat on a campaign pledge of property tax relief.

Torkildsen succeeds Beverly's Darrell Crate, a business colleague of former Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey's husband. Under Crate, the state party lost the governor's office and six seats in the Legislature. Torkildsen, though, declined to disparage Romney or his predecessor as state chairman.

"By nature, I accentuate the positive," Torkildsen said. "The last two were tough election cycles. John Kerry had some coattails in 2004 and 2006 there were a lot of national implications."

Although Patrick ended a string of four consecutive Republican gubernatorial victories in Essex Country, Torkildsen thinks the GOP can use the area as a springboard for future electoral success.

"We know there are people there who'll vote Republican if they have a solid candidate," Torkildsen said.

Elected to a two-year term, Torkildsen set a simple standard for whether he's doing a good job.

"Do we have more Republican activists and elected Republicans at the end of my two-year term?" Torkildsen said.

That appears to be a relatively easy hurdle to clear. After losing the Corner Office, the GOP's presence on Beacon Hill consists of 19 representatives and five senators.

But Torkildsen points to another low point in state GOP history as a sign the party can and will come back.

"In 1986, the Republican candidate for governor (George Kariotis) lost by 36 points," Torkildsen said. "There's no way I'd have predicted we'd win four straight governors' races. We can bounce back. We've done it before."