Johnston Rep. Stephen R. Ucci says he's considering a run for House speaker.

"I am interested in running for speaker when Speaker Murphy doesn't run anymore," Ucci said in a brief interview on the House floor this afternoon. He is expected to make the same announcement on Republican Rep. Joseph Trillo's cable television show this evening.

"A lot of my colleagues know that I am doing this. But that is two years from now and we have so much going on," said the two-term representative, who works as a lawyer at Raytheon.

And if Murphy does want to run again for the job two years from now?

"Well then we'll have to reevaluate what goes on then," was Ucci's response.

For his part, Murphy said Ucci told him personally that he would be interested in running for speaker at whatever point the job opens. Murphy said such aspirations are not unexpected in what he called "the House of ambition.''

But, Murphy bristled at any suggestion that he is a lame duck. "I think it's a distraction now for anybody to talk about who the future speaker of the House will be in Rhode Island because we do have a speaker right now that was just elected, and in 2011 I look forward to being elected again.''

While the first weeks of this session have focused almost exclusively on "the fiscal condition of the state of Rhode Island," he said, "there will come a time when we shift our energies toward the 2011 election, which I will be a part of, so reports of my demise are grossly exaggerated as Mark Twain once said.''

Ucci is not the only lawmaker who has publicly -- or privately -- acknowledged interest in becoming House Speaker, arguably the most powerful political position in the state. House Majority Leader Gordon Fox, D-Providence, and Rep. Gregory Schadone, D-North Providence, have also signaled their interest.

Ucci's appearance on Issues & Ideas with Joe Trillo airs for the first time tonight at 7:30 p.m., on Cox Cable Channel 13.

-- With reports from Katherine Gregg