Former Rep. Barney Frank (D., Mass.) announced Friday morning on MSNBC that he would like to fill the vacant Massachusetts Senate seat once Sen. John Kerry resigns, assuming his successful nomination as secretary of state. The Boston Globe reports:
Former Representative Barney Frank said today he has asked Governor Deval Patrick to appoint him to the interim Senate seat that would need to be filled if Senator John F. Kerry resigns to serve as secretary of state. He said the governor was "noncommittal" in reply.
"The first months of the new Senate will be among the most important in American history. I may be a little immodest, but I called the governor and said I think I can be a help in reaching a fair solution to some of these issues," Frank said.
Asked for the governor’s reaction to his offer, the former congressman said: "He said, ‘Thank-you for telling me.’ As you expect, he was noncommittal."
Frank's addition to the Senate could get in the way of former Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel's possible appointment to secretary of defense. Hagel has recently come under fire for his anti-gay statements, and as an openly gay Congressman, Frank has stated that he would not support a Hagel nomination.