Barney Frank ended his 32 years representing Massachusetts’s fourth district in the House of Representatives on Thursday, but said on Friday that he would be interested in taking John Kerry’s interim Senate seat until a special election is held later in 2013.
“I’ve told the governor that I would now like, frankly, to do that,” Frank said about filling Senator Kerry’s vacant seat in an interview on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Friday.
Senator Kerry was nominated by President Barack Obama for the position of Secretary of State in December. Mass. Governor Deval Patrick will name someone to replace Kerry until special elections are held. Frank said he has talked to the governor about filling this post.
Governor Patrick said he has not picked a temporary successor to Kerry, but did acknowledge that he spoke to Frank about it on Thursday, but would not divulge details of the conversation.
“Congressman Frank is a gifted legislator and he would be a great Senator even on an interim basis,” Patrick said at a news conference Friday. “There are factors I am considering and he is definitely on the list.”
Frank said he would not run for the Senate seat for a full term, just for the interim period.
“It’s only a three month period, I wouldn’t want to do anything more,” he said on Morning Joe. “I don’t want to run again.”
Frank distinguished himself as a liberal legislator and the first openly gay member in Congress. He was the chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services. Joe Kennedy III took his post when the 113th Congress was sworn in on Thursday.
Frank said his plans post-Congress include writing books, giving lectures and teaching.
“Basically, [I want to] run my mouth for money,” Frank said on Morning Joe.
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