1. Roy Eugene Barnes was born on March 11,1948 and is an American attorney and politician who served as the 80th governor of Georgia from 1999 to 2003.
29 Facts About Roy Barnes
1. 2.
Roy Barnes then served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1992 to 1998.
3.
Roy Barnes ran for governor again in 1998, handily winning the primary and general elections.
4.
In 2003, Barnes was awarded the Profile in Courage Award by the John F Kennedy Library for his success while governor of minimizing the Confederate battle emblem on the Georgia state flag despite the political fallout.
5.
Roy Barnes returned to politics when he ran for governor again in 2010, losing to Republican Nathan Deal.
6.
Roy Barnes was born on March 11,1948, in Mableton, Georgia.
7.
Roy Barnes's family owned a general store, which gave him his first exposure to politics as he listened to the conversations of the store patrons.
8.
Roy Barnes was active on the debate team; and spent his summers returning home to work in the family store.
9.
Roy Barnes graduated with a degree in history in 1969; and one year later married Marie Dobbs of Marietta, Georgia, with whom he has had three children.
10.
Roy Barnes graduated from law school in 1972 with honors, and returned to Cobb County to work as a prosecutor in the Cobb County District Attorney's Office after serving four months in the Army.
11.
Roy Barnes went on to serve eight terms in the Georgia Senate.
12.
Roy Barnes was defeated by Miller, who later won the election and became an ally of Roy Barnes.
13.
Roy Barnes returned to politics in 1992, when he was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives.
14.
Roy Barnes was appointed vice chair of the Judiciary Committee, and chair of the Subcommittee on General Law.
15.
Roy Barnes was a founding board member of Georgia State Bank located in Mableton, Georgia.
16.
Roy Barnes served on the bank's board of directors from 1986 until 1997 when he resigned to run for governor.
17.
In 1998, Barnes ran for governor again, this time defeating Secretary of State Lewis A Massey to win the Democratic primary.
18.
In January 1999 after being elected governor, Roy 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.
19.
Roy Barnes took executive action to change the flag of the state of Georgia, despite vocal opposition.
20.
Roy Barnes signed the Terrell Peterson Act to protect children at risk of death due to abuse, as a result of Peterson's death.
21.
Roy Barnes proposed highway safety measures to curb teen driving in an attempt to save lives of young drivers who are killed in automobile crashes.
22.
Further, Roy Barnes supported the building of the Northern Arc, an outer perimeter north of Atlanta, which met with opposition from locals.
23.
Roy Barnes was defeated by Sonny Perdue, the first Republican to be elected Governor of Georgia since Reconstruction.
24.
Roy Barnes's 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.
25.
Roy 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.
26.
Roy Barnes announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for Governor of Georgia in the 2010 election on June 3,2009 in his hometown of Marietta, Georgia.
27.
Barnes' campaign, Roy 2010, emphasized growing jobs, securing water sources, improving education, and expanding transportation options.
28.
Roy Barnes won the 2010 Democratic Primary on July 20,2010, and faced off against Republican Nathan Deal and Libertarian John Monds.
29.
On November 2,2010, Roy Barnes conceded to Deal as the Republican rode a wave of GOP backing in the 2010 midterm elections.