State Democratic Party chairman Bill Lynch, notwithstanding recent comments by his brother, Attorney General Patrick Lynch, says his mind remains open about a possible run for AG next year. Bill Lynch made the following comment to me after taping Newsmakers this morning at WPRI/WNAC-TV:

I am seriously considering it, and part of that process has to include some thinking about what effect, if any, would there be to having two people with the same last name [on the ballot]. It would be naive, I think, to simply ignore that as being a non-issue since it's never happened before.

Patrick Lynch, touting his own intention to run for governor next year, had called it unlikely that two Lynches would be on the ballot. 

Asked about this, Bill Lynch -- a master of political communication -- says:

I'm not sure he cast a lot of doubt. What Patrick did was answer a question, which basically made complete sense. Which is, what effect, if any, would there be in Rhode Island if you had two people with the same last name on a statewide ballot at the same time, because it's never happened in Rhode Island. So everybody has reservations, I suppose, about that, and part of my thought process as I consider being a candidate for attorney general, which is all I'm doing -- I've not announced, I'm not prepared to announce, but I am seriously considering it -- [is assessing that].

Lynch says he hopes to have "a mindset" of whether or not to be candidate by some time in the fall.

The presence of some tension between the Lynches wouldn't be surprising, given Patrick Lynch's recent statements. Yet Bill Lynch gave no hint of this. He denied that what some view as Patrick Lynch's slow start in energizing his gubernatorial run was a factor in his consideration of running for AG.

During Newsmakers, Lynch noted his 11-year tenure as state party chairman is the longest in state history. He credited himself with doing "a relatively good job." Asked why Democrats -- both in the General Assembly and in general offices -- haven't done more to put Rhode Island on a better footing, Lynch expressed a view that the governor bears the lion's share of responsibility for moving the state forward.

Whether he would yield his party chairmanship if his brother wins the governor's office is part of my "ongoing process," Lynch said. (To watch Newsmakers, tune in Sunday to Channel 12 at 5:30, or 10 am to Fox 64.)

Lynch also defended division among Democrats on gay marriage. It's not wrong for such high-profile Dems as Speaker Murphy and Senate President Pavia Weed to oppose gay marriage, he said, since the subject is one of the hot buttons that sometimes defy consensus.

Lynch says whether gay marriage will come to RI is more a question of "when," yet different stances among Dem gubernatorial candidates, he says, make the outlook uncertain.