Gómez was born in Rosario. His father was a telegraph operator for the local rail line, and the family relocated to numerous towns within Santa Fe Province. They eventually settled in rural Berabevú, where the young man became a school teacher. His vocal support of the centrist UCR, which had been elected to power in Argentina in 1916, cost Gómez his post upon the 1930 military coup against President Hipólito Yrigoyen.