Barrett Lands Endorsement from Frank in State Senate Bid

The following was provided by Lexington resident Mike Barrett's campaign for state senate.

Outgoing U.S. Congressman Barney Frank has endorsed , in the open race to replace the retiring state Sen. Susan Fargo, D-Lincoln, in the 3rd Middlesex District.

This year’s Democratic – and Republican – primary falls on Sept. 6, just three days after Labor Day. In his endorsement statement, Frank says, “Mike’s integrity, idealism, effectiveness and understanding of the legislative process combine to make him the ideal candidate – and, even more important, an ideal legislator once elected.”

In greeting Frank’s action, Barrett said, “No one in the country is better than Barney at being passionate about government’s goals but creative about achieving them. He’s blunt and he’s honest. From Chelmsford to Bedford to Carlisle to Concord – and in my town of Lexington – Democrats in the state senate district trust him all the more for his personal qualities. I’m honored to have his endorsement. “

Frank once represented four of the senate district communities – Lincoln, Sudbury, Waltham and Weston – in Congress.

Frank’s and Barrett’s association began in the late 1960s, when Barrett was an undergraduate at Harvard College and took a seminar on urban government and politics taught by Frank, then a top assistant to Boston Mayor Kevin White.

Following Barrett’s graduation from Harvard he joined Frank’s brother in 1972 to co-manage Frank’s campaign for state Representative for Back Bay/Beacon Hill, his first bid for public office.

Barrett later attended law school and won a clerkship in the federal district courts of Washington, DC, an honor given to top-performing law students. In 1978 he was himself elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives, joining Frank in that chamber.

“Mike Barrett was one of the best legislators with whom I served in the late seventies in the Massachusetts House,” Frank says today, “And I’m pleased to have the chance to endorse his return to the Legislature. I know the public interest will benefit greatly from his election.”