ITEM FILE PHOTO
State Sen. Thomas M. McGee.
By THOMAS GRILLO
LYNN — Ending months of speculation, Sen. Thomas McGee (D-Lynn) will enter the race for mayor on Monday, The Item has learned.
A family friend familiar with the decision said McGee called elected officials and key supporters over the weekend to tell them he plans to pull papers in the City Clerk’s office on Monday to run for mayor.
McGee confirmed his intention to run, but declined comment.
Before his election to the Senate in 2002, McGee served four terms in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, where he represented West Lynn and Nahant.
The race comes as the city’s fiscal year 2017 and 2018 budgets are in flux. Last week, Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy asked her department heads to make cuts. Some managers may have to trim up to 8.5 percent in their personnel budgets, a measure that could lead to layoffs.
Kennedy and McGee were behind the measure that failed last week to build a pair of middle schools. Voters overwhelming rejected increasing their real estate taxes by $200 or more annually for the next 25 years to pay for them.
Kennedy declined comment on McGee’s entry into the race.
Thomas Grillo can be reached at [email protected].
