Ron Barber

Ron Barber

Democratic Party

Prior offices

U.S. House Arizona District 2

Successor: Martha McSally

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Compensation

Net worth

(2012) $1,143,981

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 4, 2014

Education

High school

Rincon High School, 1963

Bachelor's

University of Arizona, 1967

Personal

Religion

Christian: Catholic

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Ron Barber (b. August 25, 1945, in Wakefield, England) is a former Democratic member of the U.S. House representing Arizona's 2nd Congressional District from 2012 to 2015. Barber was first elected to the House on June 12, 2012, to fill the vacancy created with the resignation of Representative Gabrielle Giffords. He won election for a full term on November 6, 2012, defeating Martha McSally (R) in a race that was not called until one week after voting took place.

Barber lost his re-election bid to the U.S. House in 2014. He was defeated by Martha McSally in a race that took over six weeks to call following the election. According to a Washington Post article in December 2012, Barber was one of the 10 most vulnerable incumbents in 2014. The 2nd Congressional District was a battleground in 2014.

Prior to his service in the U.S. House, Barber was a staff member of former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords from 2007 until her resignation in 2012.

Career

Below is an abbreviated outline of Barber's academic, professional, and political career:

• 1967: Graduated from University of Arizona, Tucson with B.A.
• 1976-2006: Staff and director, Arizona Department of Economic Security, Division of Developmental Disabilities,
• 2007-2012: Staff, United States Representative Gabrielle Giffords
• 2012-2015: U.S. Representative from Arizona

Committee assignments

U.S. House

2013-2014

Barber served on the following committees:

• Armed Services Committee
  • Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces
  • Subcommittee on Readiness
• Homeland Security Committee
  • Subcommittee on Oversight and Management Efficiency Ranking Member
• United States House Committee on Small Business

2012

• Armed Services Committee
• Homeland Security Committee

Key votes

113th Congress

The second session of the 113th Congress enacted into law 224 out of the 3215 introduced bills (7 percent). Comparatively, the 112th Congress had 4.2 percent of introduced bills enacted into law in the second session. For more information pertaining to Barber's voting record in the 113th Congress, please see the below sections.

National security

NDAA

Barber voted for HR 1960 - the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014. The bill passed the House on June 14, 2013, with a vote of 315 - 108. Both parties were somewhat divided on the vote.

DHS Appropriations

Barber voted for HR 2217 - the DHS Appropriations Act of 2014. The bill passed the House on June 6, 2013, with a vote of 245 - 182 that was largely along party lines.

CISPA (2013)

Barber voted for HR 624 - the CISPA (2013). The bill passed the House on April 18, 2013, with a vote of 288 - 127. The bill permitted federal intelligence agencies to share cybersecurity intelligence and information with private entities and utilities. The bill was largely supported by Republicans, but divided the Democratic Party.

Economy

Farm bill

On January 29, 2014, the U.S. House approved the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013, H.R. 2642, also known as the Farm Bill. The bill passed by a vote of 251-166. The nearly 1,000-page bill reformed and continued various programs of the Department of Agriculture through 2018. The $1 trillion bill expanded crop insurance for farmers by $7 billion over the next decade and created new subsidies for rice and peanut growers that would kick in when prices drop. However, cuts to the food stamp program cut an average of $90 per month for 1.7 million people in 15 states. Barber voted with 88 other Democratic representatives in favor of the bill.

2014 Budget

On January 15, 2014, the Republican-run House approved H.R. 3547, a $1.1 trillion spending bill to fund the government through September 30, 2014. The House voted 359-67 for the 1,582 page bill, with 64 Republicans and three Democrats voting against the bill. The omnibus package included 12 annual spending bills to fund federal operations. It included a 1 percent increase in the paychecks of federal workers and military personnel, a $1 billion increase in Head Start funding for early childhood education, reduced funding to the Internal Revenue Service and the Environmental Protection Agency, and the protection of the Affordable Care Act from any drastic cuts. Barber joined with the majority of the Democratic party and voted in favor of the bill.

Government shutdown

See also: United States budget debate, 2013

On September 30, 2013, the House passed a final stopgap spending bill before the shutdown went into effect. The bill included a one-year delay of the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate and would have also stripped the bill of federal subsidies for congressional members and staff. It passed through the House with a vote of 228-201. At 1 a.m. on October 1, 2013, one hour after the shutdown officially began, the House voted to move forward with going to a conference. In short order, Sen. Harry Reid rejected the call to conference. Barber voted to approve the stopgap spending bill that would have delayed the individual mandate.

The shutdown ended on October 16, 2013, when the House took a vote on HR 2775 after it was approved by the Senate. The bill to reopen the government lifted the $16.7 trillion debt limit and funded the government through January 15, 2014. Federal employees also received retroactive pay for the shutdown period. The only concession made by Senate Democrats was to require income verification for Obamacare subsidies. The House passed the legislation shortly after the Senate, by a vote of 285-144, with all 144 votes against the legislation coming from Republican members. Barber voted for HR 2775.

Barber declined to accept his salary while the government was shutdown.

Federal Pay Adjustment Act

Barber voted for HR 273 - Eliminates the 2013 Statutory Pay Adjustment for Federal Employees. The bill passed the House on February 15, 2013, with a vote of 261 - 154. The bill called for stopping a 0.5 percent pay increase for all federal workers from taking effect. The raises were projected to cost $11 billion over 10 years. Barber was 1 of 44 Democrats who supported the bill, while 144 voted against it.

Immigration

Morton Memos Prohibition

Barber voted against House Amendment 136 - Prohibits the Enforcement of the Immigration Executive Order. The amendment was adopted by the House on June 6, 2013, with a vote of 224 - 201. The purpose of the amendment as stated on the official text is to "prohibit the use of funds to finalize, implement, administer, or enforce the Morton Memos." These memos would have granted administrative amnesty to certain individuals residing in the United States without legal status. The vote largely followed party lines.

Healthcare

Healthcare Reform Rules

Barber voted against House Amendment 450 - Requires Congressional Approval for Any Rules Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The amendment was adopted by the House on August 2, 2013, with a vote of 227-185. The amendment requires that all changes to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act be approved by Congress before taking effect. The vote was largely along party lines.

Social issues

Abortion

Barber voted against HR 1797 - Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. The resolution passed the House on June 18, 2013, with a vote of 228 - 196 that largely followed party lines. The purpose of the bill was to ban abortions that would take place 20 or more weeks after fertilization.

Previous congressional sessions

Fiscal Cliff

Barber voted for the fiscal cliff compromise bill, which made permanent most of the Bush tax cuts originally passed in 2001 and 2003 while also raising tax rates on the highest income levels. He was one of 172 Democrats who voted in favor of the bill. The bill was passed in the House by a 257 - 167 vote on January 1, 2013.

Campaign themes

2014

Barber's campaign website listed the following issues:

“	Standing Up For The Middle Class – Jobs And The Economy: "I have worked my whole life in Southern Arizona. My wife and I ran a small business for 22 years, and now our children are raising their families here as well. That’s why making sure that our economy improves and provides good jobs is my top priority. We can’t have a thriving America without a thriving middle class." Fiscal Responsibility: "Getting our nation’s finances under control is critically important. We can do it—but only if we also focus on growing our economy. That is why I support a balanced approach that includes spending cuts as well as making sure that the rich and corporations pay their fair share." Social Security and Medicare: "I have pledged to protect Social Security and Medicare, and make sure that it is available to future generations. Millions of Americans have paid into Social Security and Medicare expecting that it would be there when they retired. For many Americans, this is their only source of income and health care security in their senior years–and they deserve representatives who will fight to make sure its there for them." Border Security: "Southern Arizonans who live near our border with Mexico deserve the same safety and security as every American. I have spent countless hours along our border meeting with residents, business owners, and law enforcement officials, and I know what we need to get the job done." Military and Veterans: "I was raised in a military family and lived on Davis-Monthan Air Force base, so I understand what our military families sacrifice when they serve. I will be a strong voice in Congress for those who serve currently and have served."	”
—Ron Barber's campaign website, http://ronbarberforcongress.com/issues/

Elections

2014

See also: Arizona's 2nd Congressional District elections, 2014

Arizona's 2nd Congressional District was a battleground district in 2014 due to the fact that the seat was held by a Democrat, but the district had roughly even numbers of registered Democrats and Republicans and was won by the Republican presidential candidate in 2008 and 2012. Incumbent Ron Barber faced no challenger in the Democratic primary. In the Republican primary, Martha McSally triumphed over Chuck Wooten and Shelley Kais. Barber and McSally faced off in the general election on November 4, 2014, in a rematch of the 2012 general election. The election took over six weeks to decide, and McSally was crowned the winner following a mandatory recount that took place after the official canvass and certification of votes on December 1. In 2012, Barber narrowly defeated McSally by 0.8 percent of the vote.

Barber said in a statement about his re-election bid, "I am focused on doing my job, serving Southern Arizona — not re-election. There will be plenty of time next year to talk about the campaign — but let me be clear — I will be running and am putting everything in place to win." He faced no opposition in the Democratic primary on August 26, 2014.

According to a Washington Post article in December 2012, Barber was one of the 10 most vulnerable incumbents in 2014.

The National Republican Congressional Committee listed Barber's seat as one of seven early targets in the 2014 congressional elections. The seven targets matched the seven most Republican districts held by Democrats, according to FairVote's partisanship index. Barber's district ranks as the 7th most Republican (46% D).

Barber was a member of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's Frontline Program. The program was designed to help protect vulnerable Democratic incumbents during the 2014 election cycle.

U.S. House, Arizona District 2 General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Martha McSally	50%	109,704
	Democratic	Ron Barber Incumbent	49.9%	109,543
	Write-in	Sampson U. Ramirez	0%	56
	Write-in	Sydney Dudikoff	0%	48
Total Votes				219,351
Source: Arizona Secretary of State

2012

Regular election

See also: Arizona's 2nd Congressional District elections, 2012

Barber won the 2012 election to the U.S. House, representing Arizona's 2nd District. He defeated Matt Heinz in the Democratic primary on August 28, 2012. He then defeated Martha McSally (R) in the general election on November 6, 2012.

U.S. House, Arizona District 2 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Ron Barber Incumbent	50.4%	147,338
	Republican	Martha McSally	49.6%	144,884
	Libertarian	Anthony Powell	0%	57
Total Votes				292,279
Source: Arizona Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

U.S. House, Arizona District 2 Democratic Primary, 2012

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Ron Barber Incumbent	82%	51,206
Matt Heinz	18%	11,213
Charlie Manolakis (Write-in)	0%	4
Total Votes		62,423

Special election

See also: Arizona's 8th Congressional District special election, 2012

On June 12, 2012, Ron Barber won election to the United States House. He defeated Jesse Kelly (R) and Charlie Manolakis (G) in the special election.

U.S. House, Arizona District 8 Special Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Ron Barber	52.3%	111,204
	Republican	Jesse Kelly	45.4%	96,465
	Green	Charlie Manolakis	2.3%	4,869
Total Votes				212,538

Campaign finance summary

Ballotpedia currently provides campaign finance data for all federal- and state-level candidates from 2020 and later. We are continuously working to expand our data to include prior elections. That information will be published here as we acquire it. If you would like to help us provide this data, please consider donating to Ballotpedia.

Personal Gain Index

See also: Personal Gain Index (U.S. Congress)

The Personal Gain Index (U.S. Congress) is a two-part measurement that illustrates the extent to which members of the U.S. Congress have prospered during their tenure as public servants.
It consists of two different metrics:

• Changes in Net Worth
• The Donation Concentration Metric

PGI: Change in net worth

See also: Changes in Net Worth of U.S. Senators and Representatives (Personal Gain Index) and Net worth of United States Senators and Representatives

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org, Barber's net worth as of 2012 was estimated between $406,021 and $1,881,942. That averages to $1,143,981, which is lower than the average net worth of Democratic representatives in 2012 of $5,700,168.36. Barber ranked as the 192nd most wealthy representative in 2012. Between 2011 and 2012, Barber's calculated net worth increased by an average of 26 percent per year. Between 2004 and 2012, the average annual percentage increase for a member of Congress was 15.4 percent.

Ron Barber Yearly Net Worth
Year	Average Net Worth
2011	$906,357
2012	$1,143,981
Growth from 2011 to 2012:	26%
Average annual growth:	26%
Comparatively, the American citizen experienced a median yearly decline in net worth of -0.94%.

The data used to calculate changes in net worth may include changes resulting from assets gained through marriage, inheritance, changes in family estates and/or trusts, changes in family business ownership, and many other variables unrelated to a member's behavior in Congress.

PGI: Donation Concentration Metric

See also: The Donation Concentration Metric (U.S. Congress Personal Gain Index)

Filings required by the Federal Election Commission report on the industries that give to each candidate. Using campaign filings and information calculated by OpenSecrets.org, Ballotpedia calculated the percentage of donations by industry received by each incumbent over the course of his or her career (or 1989 and later, if elected prior to 1988). Barber received the most donations from individuals and PACs employed by the Retired industry.

From 2011-2014, 26.46 percent of Barber's career contributions came from the top five industries as listed below.

Ron Barber Campaign Contributions
Total Raised	$5,166,764
Total Spent	$3,666,765
Top five industries that contributed to campaign committee
Retired	$496,901
Leadership PACs	$337,278
Public Sector Unions	$188,000
Lawyers/Law Firms	$173,166
Health Professionals	$171,900
% total in top industry	9.62%
% total in top two industries	16.15%
% total in top five industries	26.46%

Analysis

Ideology and leadership

See also: GovTrack's Political Spectrum & Legislative Leadership ranking

Based on an analysis of bill sponsorship by GovTrack, Barber was a centrist Democrat as of July 2014. In June 2013, Barber was rated as a "centrist Democratic follower."

Like-minded colleagues

The website OpenCongress tracks the voting records of each member to determine with whom he or she votes most and least often. The results include a member from each party.

Barber most often voted with:

• Kyrsten Sinema
• Chris Gibson

Barber least often voted with:

• Jim Matheson
• Justin Amash

Lifetime voting record

See also: Lifetime voting records of United States Senators and Representatives

According to the website GovTrack, Barber missed 37 of 1,350 roll call votes from June 2012 to July 2014. This amounts to 2.7 percent, which is worse than the median of 2.5 percent among current congressional representatives as of July 2014.

National Journal vote ratings

See also: National Journal vote ratings

Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of Congress voted in the previous year. Click the link above for the full ratings of all members of Congress.

2013

Barber ranked 194th in the liberal rankings in 2013.

2012

Barber's vote ratings are not available for 2012.

Voting with party

The website OpenCongress tracks how often members of Congress vote with the majority of the chamber caucus.

2014

Barber voted with the Democratic Party 72.4 percent of the time, which ranked 195th among the 204 House Democratic members as of July 2014.

2013

Barber voted with the Democratic Party 82.1 percent of the time, which ranked 196th among the 201 House Democratic members as of June 2013. The website OpenCongress tracks how often members of Congress vote with the majority of the chamber caucus. According to the website, Barber has voted with the Democratic Party 82.1% of the time. This ranked 196th among the 201 House Democrats as of June 2013.

Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.

Email [email protected] to notify us of updates to this biography.

Barber and his wife, Nancy, have two children.

Recent news

This section links to a Google news search for the term Ron + Barber + Arizona + House

Ron Barber News Feed

See also

• United States congressional delegations from Arizona
• United States House of Representatives
• Arizona's 2nd Congressional District elections, 2014
• Arizona's 2nd Congressional District

External links

Suggest a link

 

• Social media:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
• Biographies:
  • U.S. Congress
  • NNDB
  • Wikipedia
• Political profiles:
  • GovTrack
  • CongressMerge
  • Project Vote Smart
  • Roll Call
• Financial (federal level):
  • FEC contributions
  • OpenSecrets.org
  • LegiStorm.com
• Interest group ratings:
  • Project Vote Smart
• Issue positions:
  • On The Issues
  • Project Vote Smart
• Legislation:
  • Congress.gov
• Public statements:
  • Project Vote Smart
• Voting record:
  • Project Vote Smart
  • Washington Post
• Media appearances:
  • C-SPAN
  • IMDb
• Media coverage:
  • New York Times
  • Washington Post

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Gabrielle Giffords	U.S. House - Arizona District 2 2012-2015	Succeeded by Martha McSally

[show]

Arizona's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Mark Kelly (D)

Kyrsten Sinema (I)

Representatives

District 1

David Schweikert (R)

District 2

Eli Crane (R)

District 3

Ruben Gallego (D)

District 4

Greg Stanton (D)

District 5

Andy Biggs (R)

District 6

Juan Ciscomani (R)

District 7

Raúl Grijalva (D)

District 8

Debbie Lesko (R)

District 9

Paul Gosar (R)

Republican Party (6)

Democratic Party (4)

Independent (1)