Frank, who defended himself by noting that Democrats were not in the majority for much of the run-up to the economic collapse, won re-election with 54 percent of the vote.

Representing a heavily Democratic district that stretches from the Boston suburbs south through the city of New Bedford, Frank won his 2008 race with 68 percent of the vote against a Republican rival who raised just $40,000. In 2006 no one ran against him. Frank has nearly $390,000 cash on hand for the 2012 campaign, according to federal filings.

His support for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as well as his push for affordable housing, made him a target for Republican attacks like those Bielat deployed in the 2010 campaign.

Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker seeking the Republican presidential candidate, said during an Oct. 11 debate sponsored by Bloomberg News and the Washington Post that Frank and former Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd, also a Democrat, belonged in jail for their relationships with the mortgage firms. Dodd, the Senate's lead negotiator on the financial regulatory overhaul, didn't seek re-election in 2010.

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