Beacon Hill Rep. Livingstone Seriously Weighing Senate Campaign

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICEBeacon Hill Rep. Jay Livingstone sees a chance to jump to the Senate as a "great opportunity" and will decide "shortly" whether to launch a campaign for the seat that East Boston's Anthony Petruccelli is giving up. "I'm seriously looking at the race," Livingstone told the News Service Wednesday afternoon, adding his name to a growing list of public officials sizing up the race. Livingstone shares constituents with Petruccelli on Beacon Hill in Boston and in Cambridge. "It's a chance for future growth and to continue the good work that Senator Petruccelli did," he said, describing the response from friends and supporters to a potential Senate bid as "amazing." A former rep, Petruccelli, 43, has spent over eight years in the Senate. He plans to join Kearney, Donovan and McGee, a government relations and lobbying firm. Livingstone joined the House in 2013 after winning a special election. His predecessors in the Eighth Suffolk House district include former Reps. Martha Walz, Paul Demakis and Mark Roosevelt. - Michael Norton/SHNS