McManus eyes another Lynn mayoral run

LYNN – Patrick J. McManus was one of Lynn’s longest-serving mayors. Now he’s thinking he might want to do it again, setting the stage for a potential political battle of the titans.”I’m thinking about it. If I run I’m running because I can contribute to the city. I have experience we can use now,” McManus said Friday.McManus said he has the budget crafting ability to tackle city spending challenges during a time of economic challenge and city layoffs. He also said he can renew federal ties beneficial to the city through his long-standing association with the U.S. Conference of Mayors.”I’m good with budgets. When money gets tight I handle that well,” he said.McManus’ interest in the job held by Mayor Edward J. Clancy Jr. hints at the possibility this municipal election year might be very different from past ones.A full-scale battle for the top elected municipal office has not been fought since 1995 when McManus and former City Council President James Cowdell went head-to-head with McManus emerging the victor.That win was McManus’ third hard-fought mayoral battle. His 1991 election bid was against former Mayor Albert V. DiVirgilio and Southern Essex District Register of Deeds John L. O’Brien Jr. In 1993, former Councilor Joseph Scanlon beat McManus in the preliminary election only to lose the final.McManus easily won elections during the latter half of a mayoral tenure that saw him tie former Mayor J. Frederick Manning’s stint in office from 1930 to 1939. Antonio Marino (July 11, 1972-1973, 1976-1985) is the longest serving mayor but Clancy could wrest the title away from him if he runs and wins a third four-year term.”I’m running for reelection,” Clancy said Friday, adding he has taken out nomination papers. Mayoral candidates must collect and return to city election officials 500 registered voters’ signatures with no more than 150 collected from any one of the city’s seven wards.”When someone takes out papers, gets signatures and announces a fundraiser, I’ll comment,” he added.Clancy succeeded McManus without a fight in 2001 when McManus, by his own admission, left City Hall to help his wife Debbie care for the four young children they adopted from China.Today, the four are young teenagers and McManus’ stepdaughter, Laura, recently made him a grandfather. He said family support; in fact, enthusiasm for a political comeback is spurring him on to think seriously about running.”I got out when the kids were young. Family comes first but I never said I was gone forever.”After leaving office, McManus drew on municipal water expertise he developed with the Conference of Mayors to work as a consultant. Five years ago, he joined the boards of directors of two firms with business ties to China: Harbin Electric Company and Bodisen Biotech. He is paid for the directorships and recently oversaw an extensive audit for one of the firms.Only two mayors have returned to the job after time away: Albert Cole and Arthur J. Frawley, who served in the 1940s and ’50s. Another former mayor thinks McManus’ chances of scoring a repeat are slim.”I think anyone coming back would have a difficult time,” Thomas P. Costin Jr. said Friday.Money is a factor: Clancy has close to $200,000 in his campaign war chest and McManus, according to campaign finance reports on file Friday, reported a balance in 2001 of $13,850.Competition could be another factor. Councilor Judith Flanagan Kennedy Friday acknowledged some interest in running for mayor. She is a proven comeback candidate in her own right with a 2005 council loss she reversed in 2007.”I haven’t ruled it out. It’s always good to have competition in elections,” she said.The list of other potential candidates includes School Committeewoman Donna Coppola and councilor Timothy Phelan.Coppola and Steven Walsh ruled themselves out of a mayoral race Friday.”I’m happy in the faith the speaker has placed in me,” Walsh said, referring to the more prominent role in the Massachusetts House he has ascended to with Speake