WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) – After 14 years in Congress, U.S. Rep. Martin Meehan is leaving the partisan world of Washington for a job in his hometown where he says he’ll be content to watch politics “from the sidelines.”

But the Democrat, who beat out two college administrators vying to be chancellor of the University of Massachusetts campus in Lowell, will no doubt draw on the political capital and contacts he’s built in Congress to help bolster UMass-Lowell’s budget when he takes over July 1.

“We need to make a renewed commitment to increase whatever resources we could find,” Meehan said Wednesday. “That’s going to include private fundraising and reaching out more aggressively to foundations. It’s going to include being aggressive about going after federal research dollars and looking to those private donors who can made a difference.”

Meehan, after accepting the job during a trustees meeting in Worcester, headed to the Lowell campus with UMass President Jack Wilson, who said Meehan “is a leader, an innovator and has a demonstrated passion for higher education in general and UMass-Lowell in particular.”

Meehan, 50, built a national reputation as a campaign finance reformer while also being a prolific fundraiser.

He said he’ll leave Congress in July to take the post leading his alma mater, which is a 25-minute walk from the home he has with his wife and two sons.

“We can build a first-rate, cutting-edge university that can drive the economic and social development in the region that I love, and where I grew up, for the next 50 to 100 years,” Meehan said.

His departure from the 5th District seat sets up a furious race that already has attracted eight interested candidates. But it’s a contest Meehan vowed not to take sides in.

Under state law, Gov. Deval Patrick would declare a special election between 140 and 165 days after Meehan resigns.

“When you take a job as chancellor of UMass-Lowell, it’s a job that really doesn’t lend itself to being involved in any way shape or manner with elected politics,” he said. “I’ll enjoy watching the campaign from the sidelines.”

But Meehan, who is still negotiating a contract with UMass expected to pay him between $200,000 and $300,000 a year, didn’t rule out the possibility of giving money to candidates.

His 2006 year-end fundraising report showed a $5.1 million balance, the largest of any House member nationwide. He would be free to give the money to charity or the Democratic Party – or he could retain it and earn nearly $300,000 per year in interest in the event he decided to seek political office in the future.

“I haven’t made a decision what to do,” he said. “I’m not saying I wouldn’t contribute to a candidate.”

But he added that when academic administrators get involved in partisan politics, “it ends up being a mistake.”

Patrick, who helps set spending priorities at public colleges, said in a statement Wednesday that Meehan has “the vision and commitment to bring UMass-Lowell to a new level.”

UMass-Lowell is replacing William Hogan, who has retired. The other finalists were David C. Chang, chancellor of Polytechnic University in Brooklyn, N.Y., and Nabil A. Ibrahim, vice chancellor of academic affairs at Purdue University-Calumet.

Before leaving Congress, Meehan said he hopes to finish pending projects. His Armed Services subcommittee is working on a report about Iraqi security forces, and he’s also involved in crafting an ethics and lobbying overhaul.