Two powerful political forces – Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and South Boston state Sen. Nick Collins – could be on a collision course, with speculation swirling that she would like to target Collins in next year’s election.

After crushing her opponents this year, including defeating conservative council candidate Frank Baker, Wu could turn to taking out Collins as her next big political mission.

And given Wu’s growing political power and her penchant for aggressively challenging her opponents, Collins is paying attention.

“Would she like to get him out of there? Probably,” one plugged in city insider said.

“She wants to defeat him,” another political insider with knowledge of the spat said.

Mayor Michelle Wu (Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)

Collins was responsible for Wu’s biggest and only political loss of her first term, the defeat of the mayor’s commercial tax hike plan, which stalled in the state Senate.

Collins also notably did not endorse Wu for reelection, and was seen by Wu supporters as backing her opponent Josh Kraft, though Collins never endorsed him.

So it would make sense that the politically ambitious Wu would like to get a little Boston-style revenge for Collins blocking her tax venture, which resulted in her having to hike taxes on Boston residents.

After Collins blocked Wu’s tax proposal, the Globe did a weak hit piece on him taking thousands of dollars in donations from the real estate industry. Wu herself has also accepted big money donations from the same real estate interests.

Collins also recently indirectly criticized Wu’s actions or lack of action around Mass and Cass, writing in a Boston Herald editorial in support of his bill to address the crisis.

“This one intersection has become the epicenter of a public health and public safety emergency,” Collins wrote. “Let’s stop waiting for headlines to force our hand. Let’s act now, pass this bill, and prove that we can meet this crisis with the urgency and humanity it demands.”

Collins also expressed concerns about transportation issues around Wu’s plan to rebuild White Stadium for the Boston women’s professional soccer team, asking the MBTA to review the stadium’s environmental impact.

Taking down Collins or finding an opponent to beat him could be more difficult than Wu imagines. He was overwhelmingly reelected last time, though he’s never really had a serious opponent.

A list of powerful pols sponsoring Collins’s holiday reception fundraiser includes U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch, Attorney General Andrea Campbell, District Attorney Kevin Hayden, Clerk John Powers, and state Reps. Aaron Michlewitz, Russell Holmes, Chynah Tyler and Chris Worrell. Other sponsors include City Councilors John Fitzgerald, Ed Flynn, Erin Murphy, Brian Worrell, and Councilor-elect Miniard Culpepper.

But that won’t stop Wu from trying to find a candidate to jump in the race. In the past she has recruited from within City Hall so it wouldn’t be surprising to see one of her aides take the plunge against Collins.

But while Collins, who represents not just South Boston but Dorchester and Chinatown, looks tough to beat, he could take some shrapnel from a Boston Globe story Wednesday about his twin brother, Andrew’s real estate projects.

The headline on the story was: “A sprawling Southie real estate project, a state senator’s brother, and $143 million in lawsuits.”

Describing Andrew Collins in the second paragraph, the story said, “He was charismatic, persuasive, and – left unsaid — the identical twin brother of state Senator Nick Collins.”

In the story, Senator Collins and his brother said the senator had nothing to do with the real estate business.

Collins and Wu were not always enemies, in fact they had a good working relationship when Wu was on the City Council, according to people with knowledge of their relationship. But that has obviously become strained over the last year.

The growing rivalry and potential for Wu to recruit an opponent could become open warfare at the St. Patrick’s Day breakfast, which is hosted by Collins. Wu generally goes to the breakfast and is a featured speaker, and her absence would signal a rift between her and Collins.