How many ways can an elected official in Massachusetts dance around a question during a minute-long hallway interview?

For Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, it’s about five when asked whether he is considering running for governor as a Republican in the 2026 statewide elections.

Are you considering running for governor, the Herald asked this past week as he walked to the Senate Chamber while the body was deliberating its fiscal year 2026 budget plan.

“I think everyone is at this point,” he said.

He’s not wrong.

Many Republicans have envisioned themselves challenging first-term Democrat Gov. Maura Healey next fall. Two conservatives — Mike Kennealy and Brian Shortsleeve — have officially jumped into the race.

Tarr has also been floated as a potential candidate over the past few months, a point the Herald made to the Gloucester Republican.

“I’m flattered by the thought,” he responded.

The Herald pressed on. Is he seriously considering it right now?

“I’m seriously considering getting through the state budget, which is one of the most important debates that we have. When the state budget is done, I’ll think about things. But you know, I always say you never say never,” Tarr said.

So, the Herald posed to the long-time pol, it sounds like a gubernatorial bid is at least on his mind. Is he ruling it out?

“Well, I think there are a lot of folks that are in the Republican Party that are thinking about running for governor,” Tarr countered.

Again, fair point. But is he one of them?

“I’m working on the state budget. I would never say never,” he said.

The Senate passed its $61.4 billion fiscal year 2026 budget Thursday night.

Tarr may soon be due for another round of questions.

John Fetterman takes public stage in Boston after critical NY Mag profile…

U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, the Pennsylvania Democrat who at one point seemed like a rising star in the party with potential presidential ambitions down the line, is set to field questions in Boston from a Fox News anchor weeks after an unflattering profile ran in New York Magazine.

Fetterman is scheduled to take the stage at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute with his Senate counterpart, Dave McCormick, a Pennsylvania Republican, for a morning back-and-forth with Fox News anchor Shannon Bream.

At a point when Ben Terris, New York Magazine’s Washington correspondent, contends that former and current staffers are painting a picture of an “erratic senator who has become almost impossible to work for,” everything from the Democrat’s composure to his answers will be watched closely.

“Many of (Fetterman’s) staffers I spoke with are angry. They are troubled. And they are sad. These were some of Fetterman’s truest believers, and they now question his fitness to be a senator. They worry he may present a risk to the Democratic Party and maybe even to himself,” Terris wrote in the piece published earlier this month.

In the article, Fetterman defended himself, telling Terris that he is the “best version” of himself and even pushing the reporter to explain why the story was relevant.

Fetterman and McCormick are expected to face questions on “current political issues,” with the goal of identifying solutions and bridging divides, according to the organizers. The format will be an “Oxford-style exchange of ideas” in front of a live audience seated inside a replica of the Senate floor and in the galleries above.

The discussion is scheduled to kick off Monday at 9 a.m.

The event is hosted by the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate and the Orrin G. Hatch Foundation and is the sixth installment in their Senate Project series.

Kennedy Institute Chairman Bruce Percelay said “vigorous and open dialogue is an essential part of our democracy.”

“Having these two senators from opposite sides of the aisle discuss important issues of the day is a valuable contribution to the public discourse,” Percelay said in a statement.

Pols & Politics logo (Boston Herald)

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., talks to reporters outside the chamber during a vote at the Capitol in Washington, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)