Thread: Illegal Immigrant Supporter Jeff Barnhart leaving NC House

ALIPAC Note: Jeff Barnhart was also a primary sponsor of HB 1183 in 2005 which would have given in-state tuition benefits to illegal aliens. He leaves office after ALIPAC called for Republican primary challengers to remove him from office for his betrayal of the public trust on immigration issues.

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Barnhart leaving House

Veteran state legislator Rep. Jeff Barnhart is retiring, effective Sept. 30.

The Cabarrus County Republican issued a statement Tuesday explaining only that "the time has come for me to step aside and allow someone else the opportunity to serve our county."

Soon after his announcement, the consulting firm McGuire Woods announced that Barnhart will begin work for the firm Oct. 1 as a senior vice president.

Barnhart has been in the state House for 11 years, and before that he served 10 years as a member of the Cabarrus County Board of Commissioners.

Barnhart was one of the chief Republican budget writers this session, and he was instrumental in getting a series of bills passed that gave gun owners more rights. In March, Barnhart's vote against a bill outlawing the use of a Mexican consulate document as a form of identification prompted the anti-(illegal) immigration group Americans for Legal Immigration PAC to call him a "sellout" and a "traitor" to the Republican party. Barnhart ultimately voted for the bill, which later stalled in the Senate. (Held back by illegal alien supporter Senator Tom Apodoca, chair of the Senate Rules Committee)

Barnhart is the second longtime lawmaker to announce his impending retirement. Rep. Jonathan Rhyne, a Lincoln County Republican, said last month that he would leave office effective Aug. 15.

Barnhart will work out of the Raleigh and Charlotte offices of McGuire Woods, one of the state's most prominent law and lobbying firms. Its lobbyists represent companies such as Amazon.com, Edison Learning, CVS/CareMark, and Koch Companies Public Sector LLC.

State law prohibits legislators from stepping from their elected positions into jobs lobbying their former colleagues.

Barnhart will observe the waiting period before he registers to lobby, said Harry Kaplan, McGuire Woods senior vice president for state government relations. Barnhart will be able to register once the short session ends next year, Kaplan said.

During the cooling-off period, Barnhart can work with local governments, help build the national business, and work on strategic communications not related to lobbying, Kaplan said.

Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/08/10/ ... z1UdJkmam3

This is great news folks! Now we need to...

1. Make sure a non RINO rises up and takes the seat sellout Barnhart is leaving.

2. Organize to make sure that Representatives Danny McComas and Rep. McGrady are defeated by candidates that will oppose illegal immigration in 2012 along with NC Senators Phil Berger, Bob Rucho, Tom Apodaca, and Harry Brown.

W

That's great! And it seems to me that once Barnhart is out that we should pass new legislation that extends that "grace period" for former legislators to register as lobbyists to 5 years which puts them outside of at least 2 election cycles.

Good Job ALIPAC!