If Democrats lose some seats in the House in 2010, it won't be because of Ben Barnes.
A look at the latest Federal Election Commission records tracking the "bundling" of campaign contributions -- to federal candidates, party committees and political action committees set up by congressional leaders -- shows that the Texas lobbyist pulled together the most political donations, by far. The data show Barnes getting credit for contributions worth a whopping $630,450 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee through October of this year.
That's more than twice as much as the next biggest bundler, former Rep. Bill Paxon, R-NY, now a senior adviser at Akin Gump, who packaged $244,000 in contributions to the Republican National Committee. And it dwarfs the sums put together by other well-known Democratic lobbyists-bundlers, such as Tony Podesta, who has bundled $101,200, but divided it between three incumbents' campaigns.
Barnes "biggest bundler" title comes at the same time the Center for Responsive Politics labeled Barnes and his wife Melanie the No. 1 individual political donors for the 2010 election cycle thus far, with contributions of $230,600 -- all of it to Democrats. That includes $52,000 to the DCCC, another $30,400 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, $30,000 to the DNC Services Corp and $10,000 apiece to the Connecticut and Indiana Democratic party committees.
The Ben Barnes Group has earned $2.8 million this year, with roughly two dozen clients -- the largest of which is global oil and gas exploration company Weatherford International. His reign as lobbyist-donor-bundler extraordinaire is just the latest chapter in a headline-grabbing career. He was elected Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives at 26, became lieutenant Gov. of Texas at the age of 31, was felled by political scandal and then endured bankruptcy in the 1980s. After rebuilding his fortune, Barnes made headlines during then-President George W. Bush's 2004 reelection campaign with a disputed account of having helped Bush avoid military service during the Vietnam War with an appointment to the Texas Air National Guard.
Comments
To post a comment, you must provide a name and a valid e-mail address. Messages must be limited to 400 words. By using this service you agree not to post material that is obscene, harassing, defamatory, or otherwise objectionable. Although Under the Influence does not monitor comments posted to this site (and has no obligation to), it reserves the right to delete, edit, or move any material that it deems to be in violation of this rule.