Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Resigns to Take Business Post

Timothy Murray will resign June 2 as Massachusetts lieutenant governor to become president and chief executive of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, he announced Wednesday.

“This has been a very difficult, yet empowering decision,” Murray said late in the afternoon.

The chamber’s board, also on Wednesday, approved Murray’s selection to the $200,000 per year position, well above his current $125,000 salary. He will succeed the retiring Richard Kennedy. Murray is a former three-term  mayor of Worcester, 30 miles west of Boston and New England’s second-largest city. The chamber has 2,300 members with annual revenue of more than $1.2 million, it said on its website.

Murray, elected to his second term as lieutenant governor in 2010, will leave office with 19 months left on his second term. The state’s second-highest elected position will remain vacant until a new administration takes over in 2015.

Murray served as the administration’s liaison to cities and towns, and joined Gov. Deval Patrick in the push for new transportation infrastructure revenues.

Patrick himself will not seek re-election. Murray earlier this year said he would not run for governor.

Murray told the Associated Press that his resignation was unrelated to an ongoing investigation by state Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office into whether his campaign committee improperly accepted contributions raised by former Chelsea Housing Authority director Michael McLaughlin.

Patrick pressured McLaughlin to resign in November 2011, when a newspaper revealed McLaughlin’s annual salary was $360,000. Chelsea’s population is just under 36,000.

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Massachusetts
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