Roy Barnes | |
|---|---|
 Barnes in 2010 | |
| 80thGovernor of Georgia | |
| In office January 11, 1999 – January 13, 2003 | |
| Lieutenant | Mark Taylor |
| Preceded by | Zell Miller |
| Succeeded by | Sonny Perdue |
| Member of theGeorgia House of Representatives from the 33rd district | |
| In office November 3, 1992 – November 3, 1998 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency established |
| Succeeded by | Don Wix |
| Member of theGeorgia State Senate from the 33rd district | |
| In office November 5, 1974 – November 6, 1990 | |
| Preceded by | Jack Henderson |
| Succeeded by | Steve Thompson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Roy Eugene Barnes (1948-03-11)March 11, 1948 (age 77) Mableton, Georgia, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | University of Georgia (BA,JD) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Army |
| Unit | United States Army Reserves |
Roy Eugene Barnes (born March 11, 1948)[1] is an American attorney and politician who served as the 80thgovernor of Georgia from 1999 to 2003.[1] As of 2025, he is the most recent Democrat to serve as governor of Georgia.
ADemocratic member of theGeorgia Senate from 1974 to 1990, Barnes ran unsuccessfully for governor in1990, losing toLieutenant GovernorZell Miller in the Democratic primary. Barnes then served in theGeorgia House of Representatives from 1992 to 1998. He ran for governor again in1998, handily winning the primary and general elections.
In 2003, Barnes was awarded theProfile in Courage Award by theJohn F. Kennedy Library for his success while governor of minimizing theConfederate battle emblem on theGeorgia state flag despite the political fallout.[2] It is widely believed that his support of the flag change significantly contributed to his re-election defeat in2002.[2][3]
After his defeat, he resumed the practice of law and co-chaired theAspen Institute Commission onNo Child Left Behind Act. He returned to politics when he ran for governor againin 2010, losing to RepublicanNathan Deal.[4] A decade later, he declined the invitation to act as special counsel in theGeorgia election racketeering and fraud case involving former presidentDonald Trump,[5] and stated, "I told DA Willis that I lived with bodyguards for four years and I didn’t like it, and I wasn’t going to live with bodyguards for the rest of my life."[6]
Roy Barnes was born on March 11, 1948,[1][7] inMableton, Georgia. His family owned a general store, which gave him his first exposure to politics as he listened to the conversations of the store patrons.[1][7][8]
Upon his graduation fromSouth Cobb High School, Barnes enrolled at theUniversity of Georgia.[1][2][7] He was active on the debate team;[7] and spent his summers returning home to work in the family store.[1] He graduated with a degree in history in 1969;[1] and one year later married Marie Dobbs ofMarietta, Georgia, with whom he has had three children.[1][7][8]
After college, Barnes enrolled in theUniversity of Georgia School of Law.[1][2][7] While there, he was elected president of the student bar association, and was named outstanding senior.[1][7] He graduated from law school in 1972 with honors,[1] and returned toCobb County to work as a prosecutor in theCobb CountyDistrict Attorney's Office[1][7][8] after serving four months in the Army.[1]
Barnes’ political career began in 1974, when he was elected by the citizens ofMableton to theGeorgia State Senate.[1][8] Upon his election, Barnes became the youngest member of theGeorgia Senate at age 26.[1][2][9] Barnes went on to serve eight terms in the Georgia Senate.[1][2][7]
After his second term, he was named floor leader to GovernorJoe Frank Harris,[1][2] and was appointed chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.[2][7] During his tenure in the Georgia Senate, he also served on the Senate Appropriations, Rules, and Transportation committees, and had a major leadership role in rewriting theGeorgia constitution as chair of the Select Committee on Constitutional Revision.[2][9]
After eight terms in the Georgia Senate, Barnes entered the1990 gubernatorial election.[2][7] He facedAtlanta MayorAndrew Young andLt. GovernorZell Miller[7] in the Democratic Primary.[10] Barnes was defeated by Miller,[1] who later won theelection and became an ally of Barnes.[7]
Barnes returned to politics in 1992, when he was elected to theGeorgia House of Representatives.[2] He was appointed vice chair of the Judiciary Committee, and chair of the Subcommittee on General Law.[2] During his tenure in the Georgia House, he also served on the Rules and Banks, and Banking Committees.[7]
Barnes was a founding board member of Georgia State Bank located in Mableton, Georgia. He served on the bank's board of directors from 1986 until 1997 when he resigned to run for governor. In addition to Georgia State Bank, Barnes has been involved with other community banks in Georgia.[11]
In 1998, Barnes ran for governor again, this time defeatingSecretary of StateLewis A. Massey to win the Democratic primary.[12] Running on the themes of education reform and health care reform,[7] he defeatedRepublican businessmanGuy Millner in thegeneral election with a victory of 52% to 44% to become the 80th Governor of Georgia.[2][13]
The Democrats retained control of both houses of thelegislature[14] and retained all but two state level offices (Republicans were electedInsurance Commissioner andSchool Superintendent).[13]
In January 1999 after being elected governor, Barnes’ first act of his new administration was to sign an order banning all lobbyist gifts to the 56,000 employees working in the state government's executive branch.[1]
Barnes also took executive action to change the flag of the state of Georgia, despite vocal opposition.[1][15] Thestate flag had featured theConfederate battle emblem since 1956.[15]
Barnes' education reform measures[1] included eliminating tenure for newly hired teachers[16][17] and endingsocial promotion by requiring students to pass a test before advancing to the next grade.[18] Teachers did not support his proposals for ending tenure and other protections for new teachers,[17] but Georgia's Department of Education supported his calls for ending social promotion.[18]
Georgia's Child Advocate Office within Georgia's Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) was established by Barnes as a result of the death of five-year-oldTerrell Peterson, whose care was under state supervision at the time of his death.[19] Barnes signed theTerrell Peterson Act to protect children at risk of death due to abuse, also as a result of Peterson's death.[19]
Barnes proposed highway safety measures to curb teen driving in an attempt to save lives of young drivers who are killed in automobile crashes.[18] Barnes proposed a curfew for teens at 10 p.m., a limit on passengers riding in their vehicles, and a ban on 16-year-olds driving without adult supervision in 18 metropolitan Atlanta counties.[18]
Further, Barnes supported the building of theNorthern Arc, an outer perimeter north of Atlanta, which met with opposition from locals.[1]
During most of his tenure, State SenatorCharles B. Tanksley, served as his floor manager in theGeorgia Senate.
Facing re-election, Barnes lost[2] in an upset in November 2002 as part of a larger Republicanmidterm sweep.[20] Although some commentators have pointed to the ire of voters opposing the flag change[2] and him upsetting teachers as leading to his defeat, the cause was finally attributed toward a strong shift to GOP within that election cycle across many offices in the State of Georgia, at that time.[7] Barnes was defeated bySonny Perdue, the first Republican to be elected Governor of Georgia sinceReconstruction.[7][20]
According to the February 2004 issue ofGeorgia Trend, "Democrat Roy Barnes was one of the most powerful governors in history.[15] His nickname 'King Roy' was an affectionate term accorded him by supporters because he knew how to pull the levers and make things happen in the legislature."[15] Barnes was also known as a powerful 'suburban governor.'[1]
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Following his defeat, Barnes decided to lend his talents to a legal aid organization,[7] the Atlanta Legal Aid Society, Inc., working for six months as a full-time volunteer. During this time, he provided legal advice to indigent clientspro bono, and established a website outlining the rights of consumers: www.myconsumerrights.com.[8]
For his leadership in minimizing theConfederate battle emblem on theGeorgia state flag despite the political fallout,[7] Barnes was awarded the 2003Profile in Courage Award by theJohn F. Kennedy Library.[3][15]
Upon completing his service at Atlanta Legal Aid Society, Barnes founded the Barnes Law Group with his daughter, Allison Barnes Salter; son-in-law, John Salter; and long-time law partner,Charles Tanksley.[21] The Barnes Law Group continues Barnes' private law practice[21] which began in 1975 when he formed his first law firm.[9]
The Georgia Supreme Court, on June 11, 2007, unanimously dismissed a legal challenge to the state'svoter ID law.[22] Barnes argued before the court that the voter identification law was unconstitutional because Plaintiff Rosalind Lake - a first-time voter after having moved to Georgia - did not have a driver's license, and was therefore excluded in a discriminatory manner.[22]
The state's highest court, however, stated that Lake, the only plaintiff in the case, had photograph identification through MARTA,[22] the area's mass transit system, as a result of needed disability access to it, that would have qualified her to vote in July 2006, so she did not have legal standing to file suit.[22] Justice Harold Melton wrote that since Lake had photograph identification that was acceptable for voting, in-person, under the 2006 Act, she did not have standing to challenge the state's voter identification law as an unconstitutional restriction on her voting rights.[22]
Previously, Georgians could show one of 17 forms of identification, including those without photos, such as utility bills, to check in at the polls.[22] Supporters said it would increase voter confidence through a better verification process. Legislators revised the law and made it easier for people to get free photo cards for voting, but the rules were repeatedly barred from implementation until early 2008.[23]
On February 14, 2006, theAspen Institute announced the forming of the Commission onNo Child Left Behind. Barnes, along with former Secretary of Health and Human ServicesTommy Thompson, was named co-chair of the commission.[24]
According to its mission, the commission "is a bipartisan effort to identify and build support for improvements in federal education policy to spur academic achievement and close persistentachievement gaps."[25]
Barnes announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for Governor of Georgia in the 2010 election on June 3, 2009 in his hometown ofMarietta, Georgia.[4]
Barnes’ campaign, Roy 2010, emphasized growing jobs, securing water sources, improving education, and expanding transportation options.[26]Barnes won the 2010 Democratic Primary on July 20, 2010, and faced off againstRepublicanNathan Deal andLibertarianJohn Monds.[27]
On November 2, 2010, Barnes conceded to Deal as the Republican rode a wave of GOP backing in the2010 midterm elections.[28]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Nathan Deal | 1,365,832 | 53.02% | −4.93% | |
| Democratic | Roy Barnes | 1,107,011 | 42.97% | +4.75% | |
| Libertarian | John Monds | 103,194 | 4.01% | +0.17% | |
| Write-ins | 124 | 0.00% | |||
| Majority | 258,821 | 10.05% | −9.68% | ||
| Turnout | 2,576,161 | ||||
| Republicanhold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Thurbert Baker | 85,146 | 21.7 | ||
| Democratic | Roy E. Barnes | 258,401 | 65.8 | ||
| Democratic | Bill Bolton | 3,555 | 0.9 | ||
| Democratic | Carl Camon | 4,152 | 1.1 | ||
| Democratic | Randall Mangham | 3,106 | 0.8 | ||
| Democratic | DuBose Porter | 16,499 | 4.2 | ||
| Democratic | David Poythress | 21,613 | 5.5 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Roy E. Barnes (incumbent) | 937,062 | 46.3 | ||
| Republican | Sonny Perdue | 1,041,677 | 51.4 | ||
| Libertarian | Gary Hayes | 47,122 | 2.3 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Roy E. Barnes (incumbent) | 434,892 | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Roy E. Barnes | 941,076 | 52.5 | ||
| Republican | Guy Millner | 790,201 | 44.1 | ||
| Libertarian | Jack Cashin | 61,531 | 3.4 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Roy E. Barnes | 221,651 | 82.9 | ||
| Democratic | Lewis A. Massey | 45,735 | 17.1 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Roy E. Barnes | 239,517 | 49.2 | ||
| Democratic | Morris James | 9,148 | 1.9 | ||
| Democratic | Steve Langford | 31,543 | 6.5 | ||
| Democratic | Lewis A. Massey | 135,920 | 27.9 | ||
| Democratic | Carlton Myers | 4,853 | 1.0 | ||
| Democratic | David Poythress | 65,860 | 13.5 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Roy E. Barnes (incumbent) | 8,054 | 70.2 | ||
| Republican | Michael G. Greene | 3,423 | 29.8 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Roy E. Barnes (incumbent) | 1,078 | 100.0 | ||
| Georgia State Senate | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Jack Henderson | Member of theGeorgia Senate from 33rd district 1974–1990 | Succeeded by |
| Georgia House of Representatives | ||
| New constituency | Member of theGeorgia House of Representatives from 33rd district 1992–1998 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forGovernor of Georgia 1998,2002 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forGovernor of Georgia 2010 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Governor of Georgia 1999–2003 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Former Governor | Order of precedence of the United States | Succeeded byas Former Governor |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
