DiMasi case casts pall over state representatives

He's been stopped in the hallways, called on the phone. One member, he said, "bared their soul."

State Representative David L. Flynn, the most senior member of the House, said last night that five colleagues have approached him and asked him to serve as interim speaker in the event that House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi steps down as a result of the ethics controversies swirling around him.

Flynn's disclosure and the open discussion of DiMasi's future is stark evidence of declining discipline in the chamber and eroding support for DiMasi, who has been speaker since 2004 and has held an iron grip on the chamber.

"It's just getting weirder and weirder up there," Representative Brian Wallace, a South Boston Democrat, said between chuckles. "You don't know what's going to happen next. Everyone's just got to take a deep breath and figure out where we are."

Flynn, who is a golfing partner of DiMasi, said he has no intention of challenging DiMasi and plans to vote for him for another term. "Lightning would have to strike" for him to try to become the House speaker, he said.

Yet, other members continue to ask him to step up, even if it is only to serve several months to clear the way for other candidates.

"I just think there's a general malaise laying over a lot of members," Flynn said. "They would just rather let the dust settle for a little while. They're reluctant to cast a vote. There's a vacuum there and they don't know where to turn to."

The State House has been rocked in recent weeks by ethical scandals, capped last week by allegations that Senator Dianne Wilkerson was taking bribes, in one instance stuffing money down her sweater in a posh Beacon Hill restaurant.

The FBI has blanketed the State House and City Hall with subpoeneas.

In addition, DiMasi and three of his close friends and associates are the subjects of an Ethics Commission probe as well as other investigations relating to large payments the associates received from a software company that won multimillion dollar state contracts.

There has been growing unrest among House lawmakers this week after the Globe reported that the speaker was refusing to cooperate with the Ethics Commission's conflict-of-interest investigation.

On Thursday, DiMasi held closed-door meetings with members of his House leadership team and committee leaders in an effort to shore up support in the chamber.

DiMasi has been invoking a constitutional claim of legislative immunity in his refusal to cooperate with a State Ethics Commission demand for his records.

Constituents are beginning to confront lawmakers, who have said privately that they are worried about voting the reelect DiMasi as speaker in January.

Two top lawmakers - Ways and Means Committee chairman Robert DeLeo and John H. Rogers, the majority leader - have been jockeying to line up support in case DiMasi leaves. Both have said that they would not try to oust DiMasi and that they only want to be ready in case the speaker leaves.

The chamber has been bitterly divided into Rogers and DeLeo camps, but members approaching Flynn could suggest that some are thinking about coming up with a compromise candidate.

Flynn said members were also approaching Representative Daniel Bosley, a North Adams Democrat, and Representative Eugene O'Flaherty, a Chelsea Democrat. Bosley and O'Flaherty could not be reached for comment last night.

A spokesman for DiMasi, David Guarino, declined to comment.

Flynn is a 75-year-old father of nine and grandfather of 28 who is frequently spotted walking through the State House hallways with a beaming grin, shaking hands and joking with colleagues.

The news that Flynn, the House chairman of the Joint Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets, was being approached by other members was first reported yesterday by State House News. When Flynn got home last night, he said, he had 13 messages on his phone.

If he were to ascend to the speakership, it would have a dramatic impact on the question whether to install slot machines at the state's four racetracks, which he has advocated for years. Flynn's district, which is based in Bridgewater and Raynham, includes the Raynham-Taunton Greyhound Park. DiMasi has opposed any efforts to allow the tracks to install slot machines.

Flynn said he tried to talk to DiMasi Thursday to discuss the situation, but the speaker was in other meetings and the two were not able to get together. Flynn said yesterday that he sent DiMasi a message by fax saying that he still supported the speaker. He also gave him a phone number so DiMasi could contact him when he goes on vacation.

"If something happens in two weeks, I don't care. I won't be there," he said. "I'm going to Florida on vacation with my wife."

Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com.