Ben Barnes

Ben Barnes has been an influential player on the American political scene for four decades. Elected Speaker of the Texas House at 26 and lieutenant governor at 30, today he is a major presence in Washington -- a powerful lobbyist and fundraiser, as well as a confidant of top Democrats. The scope of his influence once led Senator Tom Daschle to dub him the “51st Democratic Senator.” The founder and CEO of Ben Barnes Group, with offices in Austin and Washington, Barnes sits on a number of corporate boards. In 1995, he was named a Distinguished Alumnus of UT Austin, an honor also bestowed on such luminaries as Lady Bird Johnson and Walter Cronkite. He and his wife Melanie live with their daughters Blaire and Elena in Austin.