Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick has said he isn't interested in a run for the White House in 2016, but he indicated over the weekend that he conceivably might be interested after taking time off from politics.
"Maybe. Maybe," Patrick answered
Politico in an interview Sunday at the National Governors' Association meeting in Washington.
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Patrick is a Democrat, so he would likely face the heavily favored Hillary Clinton in a 2016 primary bid. Clinton has not announced she'll run, but political action committees are already raising funds on her behalf and she has a
double-digit lead in early polls.
Patrick told
The Boston Globe in July 2013 that he was not running for president in 2016.
"I'm going to go back into the private sector," Patrick said at the time. "And as Diane, my wife, says, pay some attention to our family and friends while they are still willing to have us pay some attention."
Patrick told Politico he is "looking forward to a break" when he leaves office in 2015, but said he wants to return to politics someday.
"I"d like to have another opportunity to serve. I believe in service. I enjoy it," he said. "I also like coming and going, you know, because I think that my private-sector life has contributed to how I think about public-sector challenges and what I do in the public sector."
Patrick succeeded Mitt Romney as governor of Massachusetts in 2007, becoming only the second African-American governor of a state. He made a name for himself at the 2012 Democratic National Convention, saying it was "time for Democrats to stiffen our backbone and stand up for what we believe."
He was also the face Americans saw in the
aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings as he sought to hold the city together.
Of any potential White House ambition, Patrick told Politico:
"That's a decision I have to make along with my wife of 30 years, and she’s a tough one to convince." Pressed further, he said, "Let's just see what time tells."
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