Ben Barnes
2007 - Present
2027
17
Ben Barnes (Democratic Party) is a member of the Maryland House of Delegates, representing District 21. He assumed office on January 10, 2007. His current term ends on January 13, 2027.
Barnes (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Maryland House of Delegates to represent District 21. He won in the general election on November 8, 2022.
Biography
Barnes' professional experience includes working as an attorney with the Law Offices of Donna L. Crary, Practicing Attorney, clerk to Judge James J. Lombardi, Prince George's County Circuit Court, 7th Judicial Circuit, and legislative aide to the Maryland State Senate President.
Committee assignments
2023-2024
Barnes was assigned to the following committees:
2021-2022
Barnes was assigned to the following committees:
2019-2020
Barnes was assigned to the following committees:
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Barnes served on the following committees:
| Maryland committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Appropriations |
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Barnes served on these committees:
| Maryland committee assignments, 2011 |
|---|
| • Economic Matters |
Note: Barnes also served on the Subcommittee on Banking, Economic Development, Science and Technology, the Subcommittee on Civil Law and Procedure and the Subcommittee on Public Utilities.
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Barnes served on these committees:
| Maryland committee assignments, 2009 |
|---|
| • Judiciary |
Note: Barnes also served on the Subcommittee on Civil Law and Procedure and the Special Committee on Drug and Alcohol Abuse.
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2022
See also: Maryland House of Delegates elections, 2022
General election
General election for Maryland House of Delegates District 21 (3 seats)
Incumbent Mary Lehman, incumbent Joseline Peña-Melnyk, and incumbent Ben Barnes won election in the general election for Maryland House of Delegates District 21 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Mary Lehman (D) | 33.6 | 22,333 |
| ✔ |  | Joseline Peña-Melnyk (D) | 32.9 | 21,821 |
| ✔ |  | Ben Barnes (D) | 32.4 | 21,531 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 1.1 | 720 | ||
| Total votes: 66,405 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Maryland House of Delegates District 21 (3 seats)
Incumbent Joseline Peña-Melnyk, incumbent Mary Lehman, and incumbent Ben Barnes advanced from the Democratic primary for Maryland House of Delegates District 21 on July 19, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Joseline Peña-Melnyk | 33.7 | 9,502 |
| ✔ | | Mary Lehman | 33.2 | 9,381 |
| ✔ | | Ben Barnes | 33.1 | 9,335 |
| Total votes: 28,218 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Malcolm Colombo (D)
2018
General election
General election for Maryland House of Delegates District 21 (3 seats)
The following candidates ran in the general election for Maryland House of Delegates District 21 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Ben Barnes (D) | 26.3 | 27,567 |
| ✔ | | Joseline Peña-Melnyk (D) | 25.7 | 26,889 |
| ✔ | | Mary Lehman (D) | 25.6 | 26,809 |
 | Richard Douglas (R) | 8.1 | 8,519 | |
| Chike Anyanwu (R) | 7.9 | 8,313 | |
| Ray Ranker (Unaffiliated) | 6.2 | 6,472 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 234 | ||
| Total votes: 104,803 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Maryland House of Delegates District 21 (3 seats)
The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for Maryland House of Delegates District 21 on June 26, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Joseline Peña-Melnyk | 30.0 | 8,770 |
| ✔ | | Ben Barnes | 25.5 | 7,449 |
| ✔ | | Mary Lehman | 18.9 | 5,538 |
| Matt Dernoga | 18.2 | 5,316 | |
 | Brencis Smith | 4.0 | 1,169 | |
 | James McDowell Jr. | 3.5 | 1,027 | |
| Total votes: 29,269 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Maryland House of Delegates District 21 (3 seats)
Richard Douglas and Chike Anyanwu advanced from the Republican primary for Maryland House of Delegates District 21 on June 26, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Richard Douglas | 53.9 | 1,492 |
| ✔ | | Chike Anyanwu | 46.1 | 1,274 |
| Total votes: 2,766 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Endorsements
- Prince George's County Educators' Association[1]
2014
Elections for the Maryland House of Delegates took place in 2014. A primary election took place on June 24, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was February 25, 2014. Incumbents Ben Barnes, Barbara A. Frush and Joseline Pena-Melnyk were unopposed in the Democratic primary. Katherine Butcher was unopposed in the Republican primary. Barnes, Frush and Pena-Melnyk defeated Butcher for three seats in the general election.[2][3][4]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic |  Barbara Frush Incumbent |
28.9% | 18,157 | |
| Democratic | Ben Barnes Incumbent |
27.4% | 17,235 | |
| Democratic | Joseline Pena-Melnyk Incumbent |
26.8% | 16,880 | |
| Republican | Katherine Butcher | 16.9% | 10,610 | |
| Total Votes | 62,882 | |||
2010
Barnes successfully won re-election in the general election on November 2, 2010. He won the first of three available seats.[5]
| Maryland House of Delegates, District 21 General Election (2010) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| Ben Barnes (D)
|
18,954 | |||
| Barbara Frush (D)
|
18,689 | |||
| Joseline Pena-Melnyk (D)
|
18,457 | |||
| Scott Dibiasio (R) | 6,131 | |||
| Jason Papanikolas (R) | 6,013 | |||
| Kat Nelson (R) | 5,822 | |||
| K. Bryan Walker (L) | 1,151 | |||
2006
On November 7, 2006, Ben Barnes ran for District 21 of the Maryland House of Delegates, winning the first of three seats, beating Barbara Frush, Joseline Pena-Melnyk, and Niel Sood.[6]
Ben Barnes raised $82,265 for his campaign.[7]
| Maryland House of Delegates, District 21 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| Ben Barnes (D) | 18,453 | 29.6% | ||
| Barbara Frush (D) | 18,279 | 29.3% | ||
| Joseline Pena-Melnyk (D) | 18,001 | 28.9% | ||
| Neil Sood (R) | 7,349 | 11.8% | ||
| Write-Ins | 206 | 0.3% | ||
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Ben Barnes did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
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Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Maryland scorecards, email suggestions to [email protected].
2023
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In 2023, the Maryland State Legislature was in session from January 11 to April 10.
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2022
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In 2022, the Maryland State Legislature was in session from January 12 to April 11.
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2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
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In 2021, the Maryland State Legislature was in session from January 13 to April 12.
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2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
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In 2020, the Maryland State Legislature was in session from January 8 to March 18.
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2019
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In 2019, the Maryland General Assembly was in session from January 9 through April 8.
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2018
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In 2018, the Maryland General Assembly was in session from January 10 through April 9.
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2017
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In 2017, the Maryland General Assembly was in session from January 11 through April 10.
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2016
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In 2016, the Maryland General Assembly was in session from January 13 through April 11.
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2015
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In 2015, the Maryland General Assembly was in session from January 14 through April 13.
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2014
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In 2014, the Maryland General Assembly was in session from January 8 to April 7.
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2013
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In 2013, the Maryland General Assembly was in session from January 9 to April 8.
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Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Barnes is a member of the Prince George's County Bar Association and Maryland State Bar Association.[8]
See also
2022 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Prince George's County Educators' Association, "2018 PGCEA-Endorsed Candidates," accessed May 25, 2018
- ↑ Maryland Secretary of State, "Official primary election candidate list," accessed March 3, 2014
- ↑ Maryland State Board of Elections, "Official 2014 Gubernatorial Primary Election results for House of Delegates," accessed December 5, 2014
- ↑ Maryland State Board of Elections, "2014 Official General Election Results," accessed April 30, 2015
- ↑ Maryland Secretary of State, "Official general election results," accessed March 4, 2014
- ↑ Maryland State Board of Elections, "Official 2006 Gubernatorial General Election results for House of Delegates," accessed March 24, 2014
- ↑ Follow the Money, "Barnes' 2006 campaign contributions," accessed March 25, 2014
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Ben Barnes' Biography," accessed March 25, 2014
