Originally elected in 2004, Barnes was reelected to the Senate's District 15 in 2008.
17 Facts About Clark Barnes
1.
2.
Clark Barnes ran in the 2012 election for West Virginia State Senate, District 11.
3.
Clark Barnes resigned in January 2015 when elected to become Clerk of the Senate.
4.
Clark Barnes is a past National Director of the National Board of Certification for Hearing Instrument Specialists and has served as President of the West Virginia Hearing Society.
5.
Clark Barnes is a US Army veteran who served with the Corps of Engineers at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, US Army European HQ, Heidelberg, Germany, and as a Nuclear, Biological and Chemical NCO with the US Army Reserve.
6.
Clark Barnes was elected to the West Virginia State Senate in 2004, defeating then 12-year incumbent Mike Ross in a close race that concluded after two vote recounts.
7.
Clark Barnes became the first Republican Senator to serve his home County of Randolph since 1929.
8.
Senator Clark Barnes was reelected for a second term in 2008.
9.
Clark Barnes defeated the same opponent, Ross, by several thousand votes.
10.
In 2011, Clark Barnes ran for Governor of West Virginia in a special election, placing third in the Republican primary.
11.
Clark Barnes ran in the 2012 election for West Virginia State Senate, District 11.
12.
Clark Barnes ran unopposed in the May 8,2012, primary election and was challenged by Margaret Kerr Beckwith in the general election, which took place on November 6,2012.
13.
The son of a Baptist minister, Barnes spent his younger years in the Northview section of Clarksburg and is the grandson of Erna and Cora Barnes.
14.
Clark Barnes served as an enlisted Soldier with the Army Corps of Engineers from 1973 to 1976, including an assignment as a Chemical, Biological, and Nuclear Non-Commissioned Officer.
15.
Clark Barnes then earned his BA while attending West Virginia University, located in Morgantown, West Virginia.
16.
Clark Barnes married Deborah Chewning of Coalton, West Virginia, in 1972, and has four children: Thad, Erick, Elizabeth, and Rachel.
17.
Clark Barnes remarried in 2014 to the former Debora Miller of Buckhannon, West Virginia.