Martin rules out campaign for mayor

Former DA accepts law firm promotion

RALPH C. MARTIN II

Former Suffolk district attorney Ralph C. Martin II ended his flirtation with a campaign for mayor yesterday, accepting instead a promotion to run the Boston office of his international law firm, Bingham McCutchen.

Martin was among several notable Bostonians exploring a 2009 candidacy amid a backdrop of political uncertainty: Mayor Thomas M. Menino, who had once pledged to serve no more than two terms and is about to complete his fourth, shows no signs of stepping aside.

Martin's exit removes a charismatic candidate with the proven ability to attract votes and enliven the mayor's race after embarrassingly weak showings in two prior elections from City Council challengers.

Two current councilors, Michael F. Flaherty of South Boston and John M. Tobin Jr. of West Roxbury, are considering running next year, but if the mayor stays in the race, they would face difficult odds, as Martin would have.

"Mayor Menino is invincible at this point," Jeffrey Berry, a professor of political science at Tufts University. "There is no candidate on the horizon who can effectively challenge him."

Martin's promotion at Bingham McCutchen appears to make him the first black managing partner of a major Boston law firm, a historic milestone in the city's legal community, where minorities have traditionally struggled to rise in the ranks.

Bingham's management committee voted Tuesday to name Martin managing partner and announced the decision internally Thursday afternoon.

"I've been joking with Ralph that I see his new job as mayor of the firm's Boston office," said Jay S. Zimmerman, Bingham McCutchen's chairman, "What that means is he's charged with listening to people, understanding their needs and concerns, and making sure our Boston office remains a vibrant internal community."

In opting out of a campaign, Martin, 55, said he could not get past concerns that politics would consume the next decade of his life, crowding out other interests.

"I'm way too ambivalent about it, and if you're ambivalent, you shouldn't do it," said Martin, who is married and has three children.

Once a rising star on the political scene, Martin left nearly a decade of work as district attorney for a lucrative post at the law firm in 2002 and, later, the chairmanship of the board of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. But with his impressive credentials and atypical profile for a Boston politician - an African-American with ties to the business community who was first elected as a Republican - he was always eyed for a comeback. Martin, who is now an independent voter, often said that the mayoralty would be the job that could lure him back into the political arena.

But after months of exploring a campaign, studying poll results, and talking to an estimated 100 people about a potential candidacy, Martin remained uneasy, not just about entering what could be a bruising race, but also about the prospect of governing.

"A very close friend of mine asked me, 'If someone could appoint you to the job, would you take it?' " Martin said. "And I said no. Because of where I'm at in my life. It's still the same time commitment."

Martin has taken a poll on his chances, but has not released the results; he said yesterday the poll did not influence his decision to shun the race. But some city observers were skeptical that Martin would be able to resist the chance to become mayor if he had a clear shot. Though Martin said he was not discouraged by the results of his poll, he declined to release numbers.

"If he was offered the appointment, he'd be picking out the drapes," said Michael McCormack, a former city councilor and a close observer of Boston politics. "I think he assessed his chances and just said, 'This mayor cannot be beaten.' "

In his new job, which is effective immediately, Martin will be responsible for a sweeping array of administrative duties, including overseeing the firm's move later this spring from 150 Federal St. to new offices at One Federal St. He will continue to practice law - his specialties are business litigation, white collar defense, and internal corporate investigations - and he will remain the managing principal of Bingham Consulting Group, which does government relations work.

Otherwise, he is effectively ending his political career a second time. "Am I shutting the door on politics? Yeah, I think I probably am," Martin said.

He declined to disclose his salary in his new position. But in 2007, average profits per partner at Bingham were $1.333 million, according to the firm. The mayor of Boston earns $175,000.

Zimmerman said he concluded several months ago that Martin would be ideal for the job, but didn't make the offer because Martin was still weighing a run for mayor. It was only when Martin told him he would not be a candidate, Zimmerman said, that he raised the idea of Martin running the Boston office.

"I was not going to do it unless it was the right person," Zimmerman added, "and I can honestly say that if Ralph had made the decision to run for mayor, I wouldn't be filling the job right now."

Bingham McCutchen's 270-lawyer Boston office is the firm's largest and also its administrative headquarters, but it has not had a managing partner since Zimmerman became chairman of the firm in 1994. With the firm's rapid growth, Zimmerman now travels so much that he is in Boston only about five business days a month.

Menino did not directly address Martin's elimination as a potential challenger but said that Martin has been a friend for years and that he understood how Martin's concerns for family and his law career could trump political aspirations.

"I told him I'll keep on asking him to help us make this city a better city," Menino said.