Ben Barnes (Maryland politician)
American politician from Maryland
Benjamin Scott Barnes (born March 30, 1975) is an American politician who has served as a Democratic member of the Maryland House of Delegates representing the 21st district since 2007.
Background
Barnes was born in Peoria, Illinois, on March 30, 1975. Raised by a single mother, Barnes grew up in Prince George's County, Maryland, graduated from Eleanor Roosevelt High School in 1993 before enrolling at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and political science in 1998.
Barnes says he first got involved with politics as a child, attending pro-choice marches in Washington, D.C., with his family. He began working in politics shortly after graduating, first at People for the American Way as an organizer from 1999 to 2000. Afterwards, Barnes worked as a political and legislative advisor to Senate President Thomas V. Miller Jr., later earning a promotion to deputy legislative director. During his time with Miller, Barnes attended night classes at the University of Baltimore School of Law, graduating with a Juris Doctor in 2003. Barnes was admitted to the Maryland Bar in 2004, and clerked for Judge James J. Lombardi in the Prince George's County Circuit Court, 7th Judicial Circuit until 2005. Afterwards, he worked as an attorney in the Law Offices of Donna L. Crary until 2011, when he started his own law firm, Butler, Macleay & Barnes LLC.
In the legislature
Barnes was sworn into the Maryland House of Delegates on January 10, 2007. He has served as the chief deputy majority whip since 2013, as the chair of the House Appropriations Committee since 2022, and as a member of the Spending Affordability Committee since 2020.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q16215176. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1975, 2007, 1993 and 1998.
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This entry incorporates text from “Ben Barnes (Maryland politician)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.