U.S. House of Representatives
Elections In 1980, Frank ran for the
U.S. House of Representatives in the 4th congressional district, hoping to succeed Reverend
Robert Drinan, who had left Congress, following a call by
Pope John Paul II for priests to withdraw from political positions. In the Democratic
primary held on September 16, 1980, Frank won 52% of the vote in a four-candidate field. As the Democratic nominee, he faced
Republican Richard A. Jones in the general election and won narrowly, 52–48%. For his first term, Frank represented a district in the western and southern suburbs of Boston, anchored by
Brookline and his hometown of
Newton. However, in 1982,
redistricting forced him to run against
Republican Margaret Heckler, who represented a district centered on the
South Coast, including
Fall River and
New Bedford. Although the newly configured district retained Frank's district number—the 4th—it was geographically more Heckler's district. Frank focused on Heckler's initial support for President
Ronald Reagan's tax cuts, and won with 60% of the vote. Frank did not face another serious race again for a quarter-century. From 1984 to 2008, he won re-election 12 times with at least 66% of the vote; in 1994, 1998, 2002, and 2006, this was with a more than overwhelming 97% of the vote, with no challenge from a major political party, while in 1986 and 2004 he was opposed only by
independent candidates, with the Republicans declining to field a candidate against him. In 2010, Frank ran for his 16th term. Public opinion polling showed him facing his first credible challenge since defeating Heckler in 1982. His opponent was Republican
Sean Bielat, a U.S. Marine veteran and businessman. In mid-September, an internal poll showed Frank leading 48–38%. In late October, he loaned his campaign $200,000. In early October,
The Cook Political Report changed its assessment of the district from "solid Democratic" to "likely Democratic"—meaning that while Frank was favored, a victory by Bielat could not be entirely ruled out. While Frank had a 3-to-1 advantage in terms of cash on hand, Bielat outraised him in September. On October 25, a survey by
The Boston Globe showed Frank leading 46–33%. Frank won re-election to his 16th term, 54–43%. On November 28, 2011, Frank announced at a news conference that he would not seek re-election in 2012.
Tenure Scandal In 1985, Frank was still publicly
closeted. That year he hired Steve Gobie, a
male prostitute, for sex, and they became "more friends than sexual partners." Later that year, Gobie's friends persuaded him that he had a gay male version of
Mayflower Madam, a TV movie about an escort service. The Committee found no evidence that Frank had known of or been involved in the alleged illegal activity and dismissed all of Gobie's more scandalous claims; they recommended a reprimand for Frank using his congressional office to fix 33 of Gobie's parking tickets and for misstatements of fact in a memorandum relating to Gobie's criminal probation record. The House voted 408–18 to reprimand Frank. The attempts to
censure and expel Frank were led by Republican
Larry Craig. Eventually, Frank would criticize Craig for hypocrisy after Craig's own
arrest in 2007 for lewd conduct in a public restroom. Despite the controversy, Frank won re-election in 1990 with 66 percent of the vote, and by larger margins until the
2010 mid-term elections when his victory margin went down to eleven points. In 2003, a documentary film about Barney Frank entitled ''Let's Get Frank'' was released. The documentary recounted Barney Frank's struggle coming out in public and political life as a prominent gay man, the height of which was his reprimand following the Gobie scandal, and documented Frank's dedicated defense of
U.S. President Bill Clinton during his impeachment trial in January and February 1999. At the time of its release, ''Let's Get Frank
received mixed reviews, some celebrating the film, as Ken Eisner did in Variety'',
Public image "Mr. Frank has earned a reputation during his 28 years in Congress as a sharp-tongued and quick-witted debater," summarized
The New York Times in 2008. In one quip, in he complained the
Starr Report detailing President
Bill Clinton's relationship with
Monica Lewinsky was "too much reading about
heterosexual sex." Despite being on opposites sides during the
impeachment, Frank was good friends with representative
Henry Hyde praising his efforts to keep the impeachment "personality free." In 2004 and again in 2006, a survey of Capitol Hill staffers published in
Washingtonian gave Frank the title of the "brainiest," "funniest," and "most eloquent" member of the House. In 2008, the same survey named him "brainiest" and runner-up for "workhorse" and "most eloquent." In 2010, he was declared "brainiest," "workhorse," and "funniest" member of the House. During his tenure, he was widely considered one of the smartest, most powerful members of Congress. Democratic speech writer—and later U.S. representative for New Jersey—
Josh Gottheimer, in his book
Ripples of Hope: Great American Civil Rights Speeches, describes Frank as "one of the brightest and most energetic defenders of civil rights issues."
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Frank was scrutinized for campaign contributions from
Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac.
OpenSecrets reported in 2009 that Frank received over $42,000 in campaign contributions from the two organizations since 1989. Fannie Mae also made grants in 1994 and 2001 of $75,000 to a charity cofounded by Frank's mother. In their 2011 book
Reckless Endangerment,
New York Times business reporter
Gretchen Morgenson and co-author Josh Rosner called Frank a "major recipient of Fannie Mae's largesse, albeit indirectly" and "a perpetual protector of Fannie." Additionally, in 1991, Fannie Mae hired Herb Moses, Frank's domestic partner, to a managerial position following a recommendation by Frank. While with Fannie Mae from 1991 to 1998, Moses oversaw projects "relaxing Fannie Mae's restrictions on home improvement loans and small farm mortgages", wrote Morgenson and Rosner. In 2006, a Fannie Mae representative stated in SEC filings that they "did not participate in large amounts of these non-traditional mortgages in 2004 and 2005." In response to criticism, Frank said, "In 2004, it was Bush who started to push Fannie and Freddie into subprime mortgages, because they were boasting about how they were expanding homeownership for low-income people. And I said at the time, 'Hey—(a) this is going to jeopardize their profitability, but (b) it's going to put people in homes they can't afford, and they're gonna lose them.'" The 2005 bill included Frank objectives, which were to impose tighter regulation of Fannie and Freddie and new funds for rental housing. Frank and Mike Oxley achieved broad bipartisan support for the bill in the Financial Services Committee, and it passed the House. But the Senate never voted on the measure, in part because President Bush was likely to veto it. "If it had passed, that would have been one of the ways we could have reined in the bowling ball going downhill called housing," Oxley told Frank. In an op-ed piece in
The Wall Street Journal,
Lawrence B. Lindsey, a former economic adviser to President George W. Bush, wrote that Frank "is the only politician I know who has argued that we needed tighter rules that intentionally produce fewer homeowners and more renters." Frank has been a critic of aspects of the
Federal Reserve system, partnering with some Republicans in opposition to some policies. Frank says that he and Republican Congressman
Ron Paul "first bonded because we were both conspicuous nonworshipers at the Temple of the Fed and of the High Priest
Alan Greenspan." In 2008 Frank supported passage of the American Housing Rescue & Foreclosure Prevention Act, intended to protect thousands of homeowners from
foreclosure. In an August 2007 op-ed piece in
Financial Times, Frank wrote, "In the debate between those who believe in essentially
unregulated markets and others who hold that
reasonable regulation diminishes market excesses without inhibiting their basic function, the
subprime situation unfortunately provides ammunition for the latter view." Frank was also instrumental in the passage of , the
Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights Act of 2008, a measure that drew praise from editorial boards and consumer advocates. In 2007. Frank co-sponsored legislation to reform the Section 202 refinancing program, which is for affordable housing for the elderly, and Section 811 disabled programs. Frank has been a chief advocate of the National Housing Trust Fund, During the
subprime mortgage crisis, Frank was characterized as "a key deal-maker, an unlikely bridge between his party's left-wing base and ...
free market conservatives" in the Bush administration.
Hank Paulson, the
U.S. Treasury Secretary for the Bush administration, said he enjoyed Frank's penchant for brokering deals, "he is looking to get things done and make a difference, he focuses on areas of agreement and tries to build on those." ==Political positions and votes==