PROVIDENCE — Rep. John J. Lombardi said Monday that he might back away from his intended New Year’s Day bid to overthrow House Speaker Nicholas A. Mattiello if he can't nail down sufficient support from hard-to-read progressives and others in the House.

Calling the situation “in flux,” Lombardi, a Providence Democrat, said he would assess his ability to mount a “credible stand” on Tuesday.

If the support isn’t strong enough, Lombardi said, he is willing to back down to spare his supporters from political blowback.

“If there’s going to be retribution — which probably there will be — let it center on me,” he said.

But Lombardi said he also thought it was still possible to line up enough votes to make a strong showing.

In an interview Monday, he made his pitch and answered questions about his chances of becoming the next speaker at the outset of the House’s 2019 session on Tuesday.

“This is about running the state in a transparent, predictable, bipartisan, uniform fashion,” he said. “By the book.”

Lombardi’s proposals include: adoption of six-year term limits for all House leadership positions and committee chairs; selection of committee leaders by the vote of the committee rather than appointment by the speaker; letting bills that have been “held for further study” make their way to the House floor for action based on a majority vote of the House.

Lombardi made those proposals and others in a Dec. 19 letter to all members of the House, excluding Mattiello.

In the wake of a polarizing conclusion to the 2018 legislative session, as many as 21 representatives or representatives-elect announced they would not vote for Mattiello as speaker.

After that, the caucus was reduced to 19 members by the resignation of Representative-elect Laufton Ascencao from the East Bay seat he had won, and related turmoil.

Mattiello spokesman Larry Berman couldn’t be reached for comment Monday. In comments after his reelection, Mattiello made it clear that he believes he needs to protect the interests of the political majority.

On WPRO-AM on Nov. 7, for example, he called himself a "firewall" against a "minority interest" trying to control the state.

He said he looks at the House rules every year but is not expecting any major changes.

The day after he held off a Republican challenger to his House seat in the general election, Mattiello said he had the support of at least 45 representatives, a comfortable margin above the 38 votes he needs to remain speaker.

Lombardi said Monday that his ability to make a strong stand hinges on four or five key people he would not name.

He also said he regards his own record as “progressive” and he invited progressives to talk to him directly about his effort to improve the chamber’s leadership.

Lombardi said he and his closest supporters, including the person who would make a motion and the person who would nominate him, would not move forward without solid support.

“It’s ludicrous to do that if it’s only five, six, seven, eight people,” Lombardi said, adding that legislators talk about a new approach all the time but they are too afraid to rebel against Mattiello.

“I’m not afraid,” he said.