# Ben Barnes

Ben Barnes is a Democratic member of the Maryland House for district 21.

- Party: Democrat
- Seat: Maryland House, district 21
- Serving since: 2007-01-10
- Current term: MD 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/0e4cb257-11b9-4772-b323-624ef28fb8b6

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/0e4cb257-11b9-4772-b323-624ef28fb8b6 (America’s Political Pulse, Polarization Research Lab), data through 2026-10-27. Data under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: Westwood, Sean J., and Yphtach Lelkes. 2024. America's Political Pulse [data set].

## Headline

Barnes has served since 2007.

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score −0.76 (standard error 0.03), from 221 donors and 1,172 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 30% of State House Democrats score lower.

## Votes (MD 2025–26 session)

2,779 roll calls. Attendance 95.8% (Maryland House 94.3%). Party unity 99.8% (97.0%). 2 votes against the party majority.

Key votes:

- 2026-08-04 · voted not voting · On Third Reading (Emerg) · HB 2101 Arbitration Reform for State Employees Act of 2026 - Withdraw and Repeal of Duplicate Proposed Constitutional Amendment · pass · https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB2101/
- 2026-08-04 · voted not voting · On Third Reading (Const) · HB 2100 Election Districts - General Assembly and Representatives in Congress · pass · https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB2100/
- 2026-08-03 · voted not voting · FLA Del. Grammer /423321/1 · HB 2100 Election Districts - General Assembly and Representatives in Congress · fail · https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB2100/
- 2026-08-03 · voted not voting · Motion to Suspend Rules from 1st to 2nd Rdg (Emerg) · HB 2101 Arbitration Reform for State Employees Act of 2026 - Withdraw and Repeal of Duplicate Proposed Constitutional Amendment · pass · https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB2101/
- 2026-08-03 · voted not voting · Committee Amendments · HB 2100 Election Districts - General Assembly and Representatives in Congress · pass · https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB2100/
- 2026-08-03 · voted not voting · FLA Del. Miller /863422/1 Ruled Out of Order Decision of the Chair · HB 2101 Arbitration Reform for State Employees Act of 2026 - Withdraw and Repeal of Duplicate Proposed Constitutional Amendment · pass · https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB2101/
- 2026-08-03 · voted not voting · FLA Del. Schmidt /413029/1 Ruled out of order Decision of the Chair · HB 2100 Election Districts - General Assembly and Representatives in Congress · pass · https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB2100/
- 2026-08-03 · voted not voting · FLA Del. Buckel /403926/1 · HB 2100 Election Districts - General Assembly and Representatives in Congress · fail · https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB2100/
- 2026-08-03 · voted not voting · FLA Del. Szeliga /633228/1 · HB 2100 Election Districts - General Assembly and Representatives in Congress · fail · https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB2100/
- 2026-08-03 · voted not voting · FLA Del. Long, R. /183623/1 · HB 2100 Election Districts - General Assembly and Representatives in Congress · fail · https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB2100/

## Legislation (MD 2025–26 session)

Sponsored 22 bills: 22 reached committee, 10 passed one chamber, 7 passed both, 7 became law. Cosponsored 0. 45.5% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Maryland House 49.4%; rank 91 of 140).

Recent sponsored bills:

- HB 1592: Education - Regional Resource Centers and County Libraries - Funding (in committee, 2026-03-18) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB1592/
- HB 1559: Children in Unlicensed Settings and Pediatric Hospital Overstay Patients - Placement (became law, 2026-04-28) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB1559/
- HB 1445: Maryland Medical Assistance Program and Developmental Disabilities Administration - Home- and Community-Based Services Eligibility Determinations (Maryland… (passed one chamber, 2026-04-13) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB1445/
- HB 1267: Patuxent Research Refuge and Beltsville Agricultural Research Center - Zoning Classification (Protecting Patuxent Research Refuge Act) (became law, 2026-05-12) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB1267/
- HB 906: Civil Actions - Punitive Damage Awards - Surcharge (in committee, 2026-02-05) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB906/
- HB 884: University of Maryland Eastern Shore - Land-Grant Institution - Funding (Land-Grant Equity and Accountability Act) (in committee, 2026-02-20) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB884/
- HB 854: School Construction - Nonpublic Special Education School Renovation Program - Established (became law, 2026-05-26) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB854/
- HB 465: Civil Actions - Immunity - Disclosure of Allegations of Sexually Assaultive Behavior (Stop Silencing Survivors Act) (in committee, 2026-01-29) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB465/
- HB 488: Election Districts - General Assembly and Representatives in Congress (passed one chamber, 2026-02-04) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB488/
- HB 444: Public Safety - Immigration Enforcement Agreements - Prohibition (became law, 2026-02-17) https://openstates.org/md/bills/2026/HB444/

## Campaign money (2026 cycle)

Itemized receipts $74.7K (State House Democrats median $40.4K). 93% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Links

- Official site: https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Members/Details/barnes
- Campaign site: https://www.21stdistrictdelegation.com/about-us/barnes

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/0e4cb257-11b9-4772-b323-624ef28fb8b6