Our Brian Bolduc had the first interview with Sean Bielat, but now it appears the potential candidate is sending out press releases . . .

BOSTON, MA – Sean Bielat (pronounced: Bee-lot), the 2010 Republican nominee in Massachusetts’ 4th Congressional District, would enter race as the front-runner should he decide to run again in 2012.

Bielat came closer than any other Republican to defeat Frank, earning 43% of the vote to Frank’s 53% in the 2010 general election. Frank has seen a consistent decline in electoral support over the past several years. Frank faced no opponent in 2002 and 2006; however, his 2010 performance fell drastically from 2004 and 2008 when Frank captured 77% and 64% of the vote, respectively.

“There is no doubt that looking back on the toughest race of his career played a significant role in Representative Frank’s decision to retire. Sean Bielat ran a great race against Frank in 2010, and would start the 2012 race with positive name recognition, strong support from the Republican base, a history of attracting Independent voters, and the potential to tap into his network of national donors. There is no other Republican that could come close to matching Bielat at the onset of this race,” said Republican pollster and consultant Tyler Harber.

Bielat raised more than 2.4 million dollars for his 2010 Congressional campaign from thousands of donors nationwide, making his race against Frank one of the more closely watched contests of the last election cycle.

“Barney Frank retired after realizing that he could not again defend his voting record and liberal ideals in the 4th district,” said Bielat.

“I am seriously considering running again in the 4th district, and am discussing the possibility with my family, advisors and party leaders,” continued Bielat.

“If we were to run again, we would not have to start from scratch. Our network of volunteers, supporters and donors is still intact, providing us an opportunity to start where we left off in courting the Independent voters necessary to win in November,” said Bielat.

“Frank’s retirement presents Republicans with the best chance of picking up this seat that we’ve had in two generations. I realize that running again would give Republicans an edge, but I need to weigh the potential impact of another campaign on my family,” concluded Bielat.

The press release was sent to me by the Prosper Group, an online strategy and political-consulting firm — which suggests to me that the not-quite-a-campaign of Bielat might be evolving into a campaign pretty quickly.