The senator who would be mayor?

FOR PHILLY politicos, it's never too early to speculate about the next mayor's race. The field is far from set for the 2015 bout, but the word around City Hall is that state Sen. Anthony Hardy "Tony" Williams Jr., Democrat from West Philly, has an early leg up on the competition.

Daily News reporter Sean Collins Walsh recently got lunch with Williams at Sabrina's (he ordered a Caesar salad with extra Caesar on the side), on Callowhill Street, where they talked about politics present and pending.

Q Senator, I don't want to beat around the bush. Are you running for mayor in 2015?

Well, you know we can't declare these things.

Q But as a state official (not subject to the city's "resign-to-run" rule), you are allowed to declare, right?

Actually I can, but the truth is, if I do, there's still rules. I'm an elected person, so it's how you raise money and all this stuff. It's kind of complicated. That said, I'm paying attention to it and I'm putting resources in place if I make that decision, and I clearly am interested in that possibility.

Q A lot of people say that, strategically, you're the frontrunner, as the most high-profile black politician on the radar and a state official with more leeway to build a campaign early.

Yeah, I don't know what that means. Frankly I was raised with a work ethic with my dad, and his position is: Do the work, and headlines will catch up to you. Don't worry about press, position or anything like that.

Q Speaking of your dad (former state Sen. Hardy Williams), there sure are a lot of juniors in Philly politics. Do you, Wilson Goode, Bill Green, Frank Rizzo and others have a political sons' club or anything like that?

You know what? No. Damn, that's a good idea. Wilson did call me - I was in office when he ran. Actually his dad, senior, called me and said, "You're helping my son, right?" I said, "Uhhh, yes, Mr. Mayor or reverend or my dad's best friend." Frank Rizzo Jr., we spent more time commiserating about our dads than anybody. Bill Green, not so much.

Q What do you think is the most important quality for the next mayor to have?

You have to have somebody who has a variety of skill sets.

You're going to have to have somebody who can reach out to the business community in a way that it's not them vs. us. So you're going to have to have somebody who can talk to them and who can talk to neighborhoods. There's no doubt that there's a feeling in the African-American community that they've be been sort of overlooked.

Q They've been overlooked by Mayor Nutter?

Um, overlooked by policies in the administration and not as engaged. When you look at the demographic, they probably are struggling the most economically.

They're the ones who dominate the public-school system by far. You've got to include them directly in the conversation without having other people feel like they're excluded.

Q Senator, why haven't Philadelphia schools gotten the aid they need, and what went wrong in Harrisburg this budget season?

It's not over.

Q Well, what stopped it from getting done by the June 30 budget deadline?

Right now as it sits on the table, we have the possibility of helping the schools. There were three parts: Council, state and then how they organize the structure of the District. Well, Council stepped up. The legislature stepped forward; I don't know if they stepped up. And there's enough of a financial structure to come close to the number that was asked.

Q Assuming the schools get the $45 million tied up in a power struggle over the Fiscal Code?

Yes.

Q That sounds confident. Are you confident the state will approve the new city cigarette tax in the fall?

I don't know if the word is confident, but I see a way in the fall. I've had conversations with a number of the players.

Q Now I'll give you a break. Got any hobbies?

I'm a sci-fi kind of person, so I love that kind of stuff. When 'Star Wars' came out, I saw it eight times in theaters. Also, Madden . I'm a huge Madden fan. I play in tournaments. If I go home at night, it's like my attention release. I'll go home and get online and some kid is like talking crap and I'm talking crap back.

Q Little does he know, he's talking to a state senator.

Like that would mean something to him. He'd be like, "What? So?"