MANCHESTER--Mayor Frank Guinta decided to pass on a question about whether he will run for re-election in 2009 but said that he would make an announcement "at the appropriate time."

Guinta, mayor of the largest city in New Hampshire, is often mentioned by Republicans as a potential statewide candidate, or congressional candidate, in 2010. If Guinta decided to run in 2009 he would be running for his third-term as mayor.

"Right now I'm putting my energy into being mayor of Manchester but at the appropriate time I'll make known my intentions for the future," Guinta told PolitickerNH.com.

Over the past two weeks Guinta has held a fund-raiser for his political action committee, Granite State Leadership PAC, and is hosting a meeting of Republicans on December 15th to talk about the future of the party.

"From the Republican Party perspective I've offered my assistance to look at how we can build our party for the future," Guinta said. "I'm happy to be a party of the get together on the 15th where we'll talk about how to move forward."

Guinta also praised former Gov. John H. Sununu's decision to run for chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party.

"I think Governor Sununu deeply cares about the Republican Party and wants to do something about it," Guinta said. "I'm grateful to Governor Sununu for stepping-up."