The time will be here before you know it when the mayor will be revving up her re-election effort and her opponents will be doing the same to theirs.
At this moment, Council President Tim Phelan appears to be a bonafide candidate for mayor – although very much unannounced.
In many, many ways, the next time around will be Phelan’s ideal and opportune moment to throw his hat into the ring. He seems ready for such an eventuality. He has spent a lifetime getting to this place and so it appears likely he will run.
But who else is going to run?
Senator Tom McGee is quite often mentioned as a possibility for a run at the mayoralty.
After all, it’s in his blood to be the mayor but then he’s apparently enjoying his chairmanship in the Senate and he feels comfortable going to Boston unlike former mayor Chipper Clancy who wanted to be in his beloved Lynn rather than having to travel to Boston where he had no interest in being.
Then there is Steve Walsh, our rapidly rising House representative.
Walsh is another Lynn political type destined at some time to rule the city or to go to Congress – one or both, either or.
Will he toss his hat into the ring?
Experts around here say a lot depends on the lawsuit about the former mayor’s pay and what it actually should have been or ought to be.
If the present mayor prevails over the ex-mayor, the salary will be closer to $80,000 than closer to $175,000 as it was with Clancy.
If the lower salary prevails, Phelan will likely have little interest in running as he couldn’t afford to be mayor at the lower salary.
Ditto that for McGee and for Walsh.
The mayor has said recently she will be running again.
This appears to be a sure thing although everything can change at anytime in politics.
The mayor has no ambiguity about serving at the lower salary.
She also has no ambiguity about running again.
That’s where the mayor’s race stands this week.