Barney Frank Will Not Seek Re-Election

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) announced Monday that he will not seek re-election, citing the recent redistricting in Massachusetts as a major factor in his decision. 

Frank, 71, will end a 32-year career serving the 4th District of Massachusetts. Frank told members of the media at a press conference that the new district lines weighed heavily on his decision to leave Congress. In 2010, Frank won Massachusetts’ 4th District with 53 percent support from a largely Democratic district. Following redistricting, however, Frank lost some major Democratic strongholds near his home and picked up others that include people he’s never represented before.

Frank said the past four years have been “busy and stressful” in dealing with the financial crisis and he admitted he missed the “inside” work he used to be a part of. 

“Leverage you have in the government has substantially diminished,” Frank said. “A funny thing happened on my way to retirement. A very conservative Republican majority took over the House… [and] the things I fought hardest for could be in jeopardy.”

Frank added that he wants to become a more diligent writer and plans to begin this endeavour by finishing a long overdue thesis at Harvard University that he’d been putting off for years. 

“I’m easily distracted,” Frank said referring to his thesis. 

Frank is currently the ranking member on the House Financial Services Committee and will leave behind a legacy embodied by his work for America’s gay community and his role in the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill that passed in 2010. 

“This country has never had a Congressman like Barney Frank, and the House of Representatives will not be the same without him,” Obama said in statement.