Frank Baker is eying a possible return to the Boston City Council, just two years after he decided against pursuing a reelection bid for the Dorchester-centric district seat he held for more than a decade.
Baker, a past conservative voice on a left-leaning City Council, confirmed that he is considering a run for the Council, but wouldn’t say which way he was leaning.
“I’ll neither confirm nor deny, but I’ll tell you I’m looking at it,” Baker told the Herald Tuesday.
Baker, a Democrat and lifelong Dorchester resident, wouldn’t say whether he would be seeking the District 3 seat he held for 12 years or one of the four at-large seats, if he opted to pursue a return to the Council.
“If I pull papers, I’ll answer all these questions,” Baker said.
A source told the Herald he would be leaning toward a run for one of the at-large seats, but hadn’t ruled out a District 3 bid.
Baker endorsed District 3 Councilor John FitzGerald, a moderate Democrat who replaced him on the Council in January 2024, in the fall 2023 election.
“John cares about this city and our community,” Baker said in his endorsement, which is posted on FitzGerald’s campaign website. “He has spent his life working in public service, and I believe he is the right person to be our next city councilor.”
FitzGerald, who is seeking reelection, said he hasn’t spoken with Baker about his potential bid for Council.
“He hasn’t reached out to me about anything like that,” FitzGerald told the Herald.
FitzGerald did not comment, when asked what he thought about potentially facing a challenge from Baker, in his bid for a second term.
Baker represented District 3, which includes most of Dorchester, and a portion of South Boston and the South End, for six terms. He was first elected in 2011. In an April 2023 statement, he said representing the district had “been one of the greatest honors of my life,” and the decision to step down “did not come lightly.”
At the time, Baker said he wanted to spend more time with family and mentioned that he did not have the bandwidth to devote “round-the-clock dedication,” to serving as a city councilor, which he said is what he sees the job as requiring.
Though Baker didn’t elaborate on those reasons, he was involved in contentious exchanges with his fellow councilors over his last year on the body, and was critical of the city’s mayor, Michelle Wu, who is up for reelection this year.
Baker opposed changes made to District 3 in the initial redistricting map approved by the City Council in fall 2022, and was one of two councilors who helped to fund a subsequent lawsuit filed against the city by community members.
A federal judge sided with the community members who filed suit, ruling that the Council had likely violated the Constitution when factoring race into the establishment of the city’s districting map. The map was thrown out by the courts, and the Council had to redraw district lines, and approve a new map as a result.
It appears Baker’s circumstances may have changed, given that he is weighing a return to the Council.
If he were to run for at-large, he would likely be facing all four incumbents, who have filed paperwork with the city’s Elections Department.
Larry DiCara, a former city council president and longtime observer of Boston politics, said in a recent interview that he expects two of the at-large incumbents, Council President Ruthzee Louijeune and Erin Murphy, “are in great shape.”
“The other two will have to hustle,” DiCara said, referring to Henry Santana and Julia Mejia.
Louijeune and Murphy were neck and neck at the top of the ticket in the November 2023 Council election.
Murphy, who sat alongside Baker on the Council and considers him a friend, was generally supportive of his potential run, despite facing a situation where they may be drawing from the same pool of moderate to conservative voters, if he were to pursue an at-large bid.
“Frank is a seasoned politician,” Murphy told the Herald Tuesday. “He was a city councilor for 12 years, so if anyone knows the amount of work and effort that you need to put in to run a campaign, it would be him.
“If he’s seriously considering it, all the power to him. He’s well aware of what he’s up against and he must see a path,” she added. “He must see that there’s something missing on the Council right now, and he has something to offer.”
When announcing his decision to step down in April 2023, Baker said his Council tenure resulted in “an even more thriving and vibrant community” for his district.
For example, he said at the time, there had been “substantial advancements in the expansion of the housing market, along with growth and development of our business communities.”
If he opts to jump into the race, Baker would have until next Tuesday to file his statement of candidacy with the city’s Elections Department and May 20 to gather signatures and return the relevant nomination forms.