Ralph Martin Drops Out

In the April issue of Boston magazine (you can see John Krasinski’s adorable face on newsstands now) we cited the possibility of a real mayoral race as one of the 61 reasons we love this city. The presumptive contenders for current Mayor Tom Menino’s job were City Councilors Michael Flaherty and John Tobin, and Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce boss Ralph Martin.

But now there are only two men left to possibly challenge Menino. Martin announced today that he’s taking a job as a managing partner with the Bingham McCutchen law firm, and will not run for mayor.

Not only that, but he admits he’s pretty much giving up on politics.

“Am I shutting the door on politics? Yeah, I think I probably am,” Martin said.

This is potentially bad news for Flaherty and Tobin. Martin’s presence in the race could have helped taken votes away from Menino, thus improving their chances. Now the remaining contenders are left to quietly plot their possible candidacies and see what Menino has up his sleeve.

Speaking of Menino, he couldn’t be happier. That he will be able to continue working with Martin, that is.

“I told him I’ll keep on asking him to help us make this city a better city,” Menino said.

The “because I’m going to be mayor for years to come” was implied.