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Michael D. Barnes

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other people named Michael Barnes, see Michael Barnes (disambiguation).
Michael Barnes
Alternate Member of the Board of Directors of the Office of Congressional Ethics
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 23, 2013
Appointed byJohn Boehner
Preceded byAbner Mikva
Member of the Board of Directors of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
In office
April 2011 – 2013
Preceded byPeter Benjamin
Succeeded byMichael Goldman
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Maryland's 8th district
In office
January 3, 1979 – January 3, 1987
Preceded byNewton Steers
Succeeded byConnie Morella
Commissioner of the Maryland Public Service Commission
In office
1975–1979
GovernorMarvin Mandel
Personal details
Born
Michael Darr Barnes

(1943-09-03) September 3, 1943 (age 81)
Washington, D.C.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)Claudia Dillon Fangboner (div)
Joan Pollitt (m. 2007)
ChildrenDillon
Garrie
Parent(s)John P. Barnes
Vernon S. Barnes
ResidenceKensington, Maryland
EducationUniversity of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (BA)
George Washington University (JD)
OccupationAttorney
Military service
AllegianceUnited States
Branch/serviceUnited States Marine Corps
Years of service1967–1969
RankCorporal

Michael Darr Barnes (born September 3, 1943) is an American lawyer and politician who represented the eighth district of Maryland in the United States House of Representatives from 1979 to 1987.

Early life

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Born in Washington, D.C. to John P. Barnes former general counsel to C&P Telephone Company, and Vernon S. Barnes.[1] His grandfather John P. Barnes was a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Barnes moved to Chevy Chase in Montgomery County, Maryland at age 13.[2]

Personal life

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Barnes married Claudia Dillon Fangboner in 1970.[3] He has two daughters, Dillon and Garrie.[2]

Career

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Barnes while in Congress.

After serving in the Marine Corps (1967 to 1969), being discharged with the rank of corporal, Barnes attended George Washington University and obtained a Juris Doctor degree in 1972. Barnes served on the Maryland Public Service Commission.[4] Barnes served as executive director of the 1976 Democratic party platform committee.[4] Barnes served in both private and government practice until his election to the House of Representatives as a Democrat in 1978.[citation needed]

Tenure in Congress

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During the first session of the 99th Congress, he was the chairman of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.[5] As a member of Congress, Barnes was generally an outspoken critic of Ronald Reagan's Central America policy, although he did in 1983 call the United States invasion of Grenada "justified," after a personal trip to the island. In 1986, Barnes lost the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senator from Maryland to Barbara Mikulski and retired to private legal practice.

Later career

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Following his congressional service, Barnes was President of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, Chair of the Center for National Policy, Chair of the Governor's Commission on Growth in the Chesapeake Bay Region and a member of the Boards of Directors of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, University of Maryland Foundation, Center for International Policy, Public Voice, and the Overseas Development Council. Prior to his service in Congress, Barnes was a Commissioner of the Maryland Public Service Commission and Vice Chairman of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Commission.

From 2000 through 2006, he served as president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. Barnes was Senior Of Counsel in the Washington, D.C., law firm of Covington & Burling. He retired as senior counsel at Covington & Burling LLP in December 2010.

Barnes joined the Board of Directors of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority in April 2011 as Principal Director representing Montgomery County and the State of Maryland. He is a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy in Washington, DC. Barnes is also a member of the Inter-American Dialogue[6] and the ReFormers Caucus of Issue One.[7]

He was appointed to be a member of the Office of Congressional Ethics, a nonpartisan, independent committee charged with overseeing outside ethics complaints against members of Congress.

Education

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Barnes attended the Landon School in Bethesda, Maryland. He graduated from Principia High School in St. Louis, Missouri in 1962. He earned his B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1965, where he was a member of the Delta Upsilon fraternity. He attended the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, Switzerland from 1965 to 1966. He attained his J.D. from George Washington University in 1972.

U.S. House election history

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Maryland's 8th congressional district election, 1978[8]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Michael D. Barnes 81,851 51.27
Republican Newton Steers (Incumbent) 77,807 48.73
Total votes 159,658 100.00
Democratic gain from Republican
Maryland's 8th congressional district election, 1980[9]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Michael D. Barnes (Incumbent) 148,301 59.33
Republican Newton Steers 101,659 40.67
Total votes 249,960 100.00
Democratic hold
Maryland's 8th congressional district election, 1982[10]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Michael D. Barnes (Incumbent) 121,761 71.34
Republican Elizabeth W. Spencer 48,910 28.66
Total votes 170,671 100.00
Democratic hold
Maryland's 8th congressional district election, 1984[11]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Michael D. Barnes (Incumbent) 181,947 71.47
Republican Albert Ceccone 70,715 27.78
Libertarian Samuel K. Grove 1,903 0.75
Write-ins 4 <0.01
Total votes 254,569 100.00
Democratic hold

Further reading

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  • North, Oliver Under Fire: An American Story (ISBN 0-9717009-1-5)

References

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  1. ^ "Vernon S. Barnes". Gazette Newspapers. April 23, 1997.
  2. ^ a b "U.S. House of Representatives". The Washington Post. November 2, 1978.
  3. ^ "Turner--Price: Williams--Coley". The Washington Post. January 11, 1970.
  4. ^ a b ". . . And Some House Seats". The Washington Post. October 29, 1978. ProQuest 146866586.
  5. ^ 1985-1986 Official Congressional Directory. Washington: GPO, 1985, 87.
  6. ^ "Inter-American Dialogue | Experts". www.thedialogue.org. Archived from the original on 2020-02-02. Retrieved 2017-04-11.
  7. ^ "ReFormers Caucus - Issue One". 2023.
  8. ^ Clerk of the House of Representatives (April 1, 1979). "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 7, 1978" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
  9. ^ Clerk of the House of Representatives (April 15, 1981). "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 4, 1980" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
  10. ^ Clerk of the House of Representatives (May 5, 1983). "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 1982" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
  11. ^ Clerk of the House of Representatives (May 1, 1985). "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 6, 1984" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
[edit]
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Maryland's 8th congressional district
1979–1987 		Succeeded by
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded byas Former US Representative Order of precedence of the United States
as Former US Representative 		Succeeded byas Former US Representative
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