LT. GOVERNOR BEN BARNES 

    In 1968 Speaker Ben Barnes decided to run for the office of Lieutenant Governor of Texas.  Running for Governor was then Lt. Governor Preston Smith.

      Ben was elected in a landslide, becoming the first candidate in Texas history to receive 2,000,000 votes and that coming in his first state wide race.  He was re-elected in 1970.   A 1972 bid for Governor was unsuccessful when the Sharpstown scandal drew the public’s attention.

      Among his honors and memberships were:  selected the Outstanding Young Texan by the Texas Junior Chamber of Commerce in 1965; received an honorary LLD from Mc Murray University and Texas Tech University; chaired the Southern Conference of Councils of State Governments; served as Vice President of the National Legislative Conference; member of the Executive Committee of the National Conference of State Legislative Leaders; Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations.


Ben Barnes

Lt. Governor of Texas

Lt. Gov. Ben and Martha Barnes in the 1969 inaugural parade.  

Above:  Close up of Barnes taking oath.  Below:  President Lyndon Johnson and Barnes.

Governor Preston Smith administers the Oath of Office to Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes at the Texas State Capital. 

Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes applauds the Bearcat Band as it passes the reviewing stand at the 1969 inaugural parade. 

Above:  Gregg and Amy monitor the United Press International teletype machine for election results.  Gregg discussing the victory with his dad.

Inaugural invitation and official portrait of Lt. Governor Ben Barnes.

  As noted on the Speaker Barnes page, both the Speaker and Lt. Governor are provided apartments in the Texas Capitol.   The Barnes family were the first and still the only family to occupy both apartments.

    However, on January 14, 1969 the Barnes family had to vacate the Speaker’s apartment but could not move into the Lt. Governor’s apartment until the inauguration on January 20th.

    In the interim, they lived in in the Stephen F. Austin Hotel on Congress Avenue in Austin.