Frank Announces He Won't Run Again, Cites New District as Factor

U.S. Rep. Barney Frank said Monday he will not seek re-election to his Fourth Congressional District seat, citing new boundaries and the likelihood of an arduous, costly campaign.

The Congressman (D-Newton) announced his plans at a news conference about 1 p.m., saying he was torn about the decision, but decided he didn't want to run a costly, hard campaign in an altered district that would include some 350,000 new constituents.

The new district was an important consideration, Frank said, in his decision to not seek another term.

Hopkinton will fall under the congressional district now represented by Frank, .

The Fourth District shifted from southeastern Massachusetts toward Central Mass, after legislators mapped out the state's new congressional districts, giving more Worcester and Norfolk county towns to Frank, including Hopkinton and Milford. At the same time, Frank would lose the New Bedford area, whose commercial fishing industry he long represented.

"I can't say, 'I've gotta go work on the Blackstone Valley, I don't have time for you'," Frank said, at the press conference, which was televised live by several Boston news stations.

On Monday, Frank said he was torn about engaging in a campaign to represent the new district, which would have diverted his attention from the current district. He said he expected he would have had to begin immediately raising money, perhaps as much as "a couple million dollars."

Frank, a 16-term Congressman, first was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1981. He said he does not plan to retire from public life, but will not become a lobbyist. Instead, he said, he would like to spend the remainder of his career as a lecturer and writer.

In rejecting the idea of becoming a lobbyist, Frank explained: "One of the advantages of not running for office is I don't ever have to pretend to be nice to people I don't like."