State Senator Marian Walsh insists for now that she is focused on winning reelection. But that has not prevented would-be successors from jockeying to run for her post if she departs the State House for a district court judgeship.
Boston city councilor John M. Tobin took out nomination papers yesterday to run for the seat, saying that he wants to send a message that he is serious about running if Walsh leaves. Walsh has held the Suffolk-Norfolk Senate seat since 1993, but is now on Governor Deval Patrick's list of judicial candidates.
"We're trying to be respectful of the senator and the work she's done in the Senate for the last 16 years," Tobin said. "But there are rumors, and then there are hard-core rumors. This one seems to be a pretty good one."
Councilor Rob Consalvo is also weighing a run, and state Representative Michael F. Rush said he plans to run if the seat becomes vacant.
Walsh's longtime political consultant Michael Goldman said he understands the need for candidates to prepare for a potential campaign, but he said Walsh is hardly packing up her Senate office.
"I think it is presumptuous to even assume it is going to be offered until it is offered," Goldman said yesterday. "She has not been nominated by anybody, nor has she been asked. She is under consideration. Until such time as that changes, she's a candidate for reelection."
Goldman said that Walsh held a fund-raiser two weeks ago and that she has not even decided whether she would accept a judgeship if it is offered.
A spokeswoman for Governor Deval Patrick said there are five open district judgeships and that there is no timeline for filling the vacancies.
Tobin and Consalvo said they would quit the council if elected to the Senate. They also said they remain interested in running for mayor, if incumbent Thomas M. Menino declines to seek a fifth term. "I don't know what Mayor Menino's doing next year," Tobin said. "I don't know that a lot of people do, but I can't sit around waiting for what he's going to do. By no means do I think this takes us out of a future run for mayor. Actually, I think it strengthens it."
If elected, he would represent a wider swath of Boston as a state senator than he does as a district city councilor, potentially increasing his base of support in case he enters a future mayoral race. That raises the possibility that if Tobin did win a mayoral race, he would abandon his Senate seat before finishing his first term.
The Senate district includes portions of Tobin's council district in West Roxbury and Jamaica Plain, as well as portions of Consalvo's Hyde Park-Roslindale district. The Senate district also includes the suburbs of Dedham, Norwood, and Westwood.
Rush said he has worked with Norfolk County officials, because his legislative district includes Brookline, which is in Norfolk.
"I think the district's a great fit," Rush said.
While Tobin's West Roxbury district is considered one of the city's most politically potent, Consalvo pointed out that 58 percent of the Senate district is in his council district, which he said is very favorable for his potential run.
The initial deadline to file nomination papers for the seat, if it becomes vacant, would be April 29, and the state's primary is scheduled for Sept. 16.
John C. Drake can be reached at jdrake@globe.com.
