Cellucci's return raises issue of Senate run

Former governor Paul Cellucci of Massachusetts said yesterday that he will resign from his position as US ambassador to Canada in January and return to his native state, sparking speculation among Republicans eager to find someone to run for the US Senate if John F. Kerry wins the White House.

But a Cellucci spokeswoman at the US embassy in Canada and Cellucci's confidants in Massachusetts knocked down the notion that he was positioning himself to run for Kerry's seat, and Republicans said it was unseemly to consider that Kerry would beat President Bush this fall.

"He plans to go back home, to go back to Hudson," said Beth Poisson, the embassy's press attach.

Cellucci told a former aide yesterday that he did not plan to run for the US Senate. "While he'd be a great candidate and a strong candidate, he has no interest whatsoever in the Senate seat," said the aide, who asked not to be identified.

Republican officials were hesitant to discuss publicly a potential Senate bid by Cellucci, because it could only happen if Bush loses the November election to Kerry. But the prospect of Cellucci, 56, returning to his home state, where he served as governor from 1997 to 2001, had some GOP operatives talking about his political future this week.

Jody Dow, vice chairwoman of the Republican National Committee for the Northeast, insisted that Cellucci was probably "toying with the idea" of a Senate run.

"I would think he'd think along those lines," Dow said. "He must be thinking about what the next step is for him. He's too young to retire, and he's been in politics a long time."

Ron Kaufman, a member of the Republican National Committee, said that the party was focused on the president's reelection and that any speculation about Cellucci was premature and unwarranted. But a Senate race in 2008, at the end of Kerry's current term, is not so far-fetched for Cellucci, Kaufman predicted.

"Paul would be a very good candidate for any statewide office," he said. "He finished here as a popular governor, and he served the president very well."

Democrats are already eyeing Kerry's Senate seat. The Legislature has passed a bill changing current state law that would require that a special election be held in the spring if Kerry wins the White House.

Bush appointed Cellucci as ambassador to Canada in 2001. He was the first ambassador confirmed by the US Senate, shortly before the Summit of the Americas. He presided at the US Embassy in Ottawa during a tumultuous period in US-Canada relations, strained by security disagreements and differences between the two governments on the cause for war in Iraq.

It is not uncommon for ambassadors to serve one presidential term before moving on, often to the private sector. The former aide to Cellucci said that was certainly a strong option for the former governor, but that "when you're ambassador, it would be unseemly to be shopping for another job while you're in the embassy."

Cellucci has only $22,417 in his campaign account. Potential competitors, including US Representatives Edward J. Markey and Martin T. Meehan, both Democrats, have raised more than $1 million this year.

Christy P. Mihos, a Republican who is on the board of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, is also flirting with a potential run.

Former governor William F. Weld, who shared a ticket with Cellucci in 1990 and 1994, said Republican legislators were probably urging a Cellucci candidacy, but downplayed its likelihood.

"I spoke to him about his plans, and they are not to run for Senate," said Weld.

Benjamin Gedan can be reached at gedan@globe.com.