Future tense – Predicting what Ambrosino’s next job will be has become something of a sport in Revere

Mayor Ambrosino (left) has been linked to a variety of posts in recent months, including State Transportation Secretary.

By Seth Daniel

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It seems that these days, when anyone talks about Mayor Tom Ambrosino, the last thing on anyone’s mind is his duties as mayor.

For the past year, every month or so there has been discussion about whether or not the mayor might be considering leaving the city’s highest office to take a job elsewhere in state or federal government.

This week was no different.

After the sudden news that State Transportation Secretary James Aloisi was getting shooed out the door later this year, many people pointed to Ambrosino as one of a handful on the list to succeed Aloisi when transportation reform takes effect and a new boss of that system is instituted.

The mayor said this week that he would certainly be interested, but he hasn’t been approached by anyone, nor has he made any phone calls to lobby for the position.

“I wouldn’t say I’m not interested,” he told the Journal. “I just don’t think I’m anyone who is in the running for a position of that significance. I’ve never discussed it with anyone.”

A potential run for Congress was thwarted this week when Revere’s congressman, Ed Markey (D-Malden), announced he wouldn’t run for the late Ted Kennedy’s U.S. Senate seat.

Instead, Markey will continue on in his role at the U.S. House of Representatives as the dean of the state’s federal delegation.

“I have had the honor to serve the people of the Seventh Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives for 33 years, and am now the eighth most senior Democrat,” Markey said in a statement issued last Friday. “I believe that my leadership positions and seniority in the House allow me to accomplish more for my congressional district and for Massachusetts. I have therefore decided not to become a candidate for the Senate.”

Ambrosino had indicated a few weeks ago that if Markey ran for Senate, he would make a run for Congress, a position and challenge he has been very interested in pursuing for the last several years.

It doesn’t appear the time is now for such a run.

So as the talk continues and the mayor is admittedly looking for a new challenge sooner rather than later, he continues to put in his long hours at City Hall and finish the remaining two years of his term.

Barring any of those rumor checks being cashed, the mayor will most likely be found in City Hall rather than the State House for the time being.