molly. >> reporter: hi, jenna, that's right, barney frank one of the most well-known liberals in the country, a long-standing democrat here in massachusetts representing massachusetts for 16 terms, for more than 30 years is expected to announce that he will not be running for re-election in 2012. he's one of the most powerful democrats in congress, particularly in recent years when he was acting as the chair of the house financial services committee, which put him in the political crosshairs. it brought him power and influence, but also he got a lot of flack in that position, a lot of criticism from conservatives, from republicans, in the run up to the housing crisis for his support of fanny mae and freddie mac. he faced just a few competitive race in 30 years. one of those was in 2010 the run up to the midterm elections when a u.s. marine, a veteran of the u.s. marine corps and also a businessman kind of gave mr. frank a run for his money. congressman frank felt compelled