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.