Ben Barnes: Texas lobbyist, political consultant
Ben Barnes, Austin, Texas-based lobbyist and political consultant, is more popularly known as the youngest Lt. Gov. the Lone Star State has ever elected.
Starting a political career as legislator in his early 20s, Ben Barnes moved on to being elected as Texas House Speaker in 1965 before becoming Lt. Gov. in 1969. In 1973, he retired from government service.
After his exit from the bureaucracy, Ben Barnes of Austin Texas established businesses in real estate and private sector development. Now head of The Barnes Group, a consultancy firm he founded, Ben Barnes of Austin Texas is still involved in the political process. This time he was among the top contributors to the 2004 John Kerry campaign, donating $500,000 to Kerry’s presidential bid.
A keen observer and participant of American politics, Ben Barnes was privy to some of its most significant events including the Kennedy assassination.
In 2006, Ben Barnes wrote a memoir that he called “Barn Burning, Barn Building,” which was a detailed insider’s account of some of these political events. The book also made recommendations on how the Democratic Party can reclaim the power it once had by returning to bipartisanship, which means the cooperation of both major political parties.
