Robert Barnes: A fixture in S.F. politics

By Tim Redmond and Savannah Blackwell

Robert Barnes, the swashbuckling political consultant who died Aug. 9, fought with us constantly on a long list of issues and political campaigns. But like any true San Francisco character, he was as fascinating as he was infuriating – and in the end, he was a decent guy with a good sense of humor who could leave his partisan politics at the barroom door.

Barnes, who was 42, died of complications from Guillain-Barre syndrome, a neurological disease. He'd been in the hospital since the San Francisco Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Pride weekend, which friends said he was angry he was forced to miss.

Barnes used to tell us that his politics were "gay first," meaning his primary mission in life was promoting what he saw as the interests of the queer community. His firm, Barnes Mosher Whitehurst Lauter and Partners, credits him with electing more gay and lesbian candidates to office than any other campaign manager in California.

A flamboyantly gay man who once told us, "Don't call my politics sleazy – sleaze is what I do south of Market on Saturday nights," Barnes also helped move the center of gravity of gay politics several big steps away from the left. He helped build the Alice B. Toklas Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Democratic Club – the more mainstream and moderate of the two major gay organizations – into one of the city's most influential political operations. He was close to Mayor Willie Brown's political machine and was instrumental in creating the political action committee that put Alice at the center of the soft-money expenditure effort that helped Brown win reelection in 1999.

Barnes was a fifth-generation San Franciscan, the son of machinist and union activist Bob Barnes, who in 1977 lost a bid for supervisor to Dan White, who went on to assassinate Sup. (and gay rights pioneer) Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone.

Young Barnes was out of the closet and into politics early, helping organize a gay student group at Lowell High School. One of his classmates was Katrina Perez, daughter of Bay Guardian editor and publisher Bruce B. Brugmann.

Perez told us that Barnes "was one of those characters you remember. One of those who made high school interesting." She said he was "really friendly, flamboyant, and loud."

Barnes briefly worked for the Bay Guardian, selling subscriptions over the telephone, in the late 1970s. He ran for BART board in 1982, at the age of 22, and after losing that race, moved to New York to study theater. He moved back to San Francisco a few years later, lost another campaign (for school board), and soon his desire to run for office was replaced by a desire to influence politics through lobbying and campaign consulting. He loved his growing notoriety: he used to joke that every time we blasted him in print, he got more clients.

"He was a brilliant strategist – someone who could look down the road and see the future consequences of building alliances today," remembered Jim Rivaldo, a campaign consultant who knew Barnes for years. "At the core he was a militant queer advocate who also had the connections that enabled him to use the resources of other campaigns, the more establishment corporate interests that other gay political consultants didn't have access to, to advance gay candidates and the gay political agenda."

Added Ross Mirkarimi, the Green Party activist and progressive campaign manager who often clashed with Barnes: "For many years Robert and I were on the opposite sides of issues. And whether I won or lost, I always found myself cursing him and respecting his abilities."

Barnes is survived by his partner, Carlos Molina, his father, and his sister, Mauri Barnes Luna.

The Castro flag was lowered to half-staff for Barnes Aug. 10.

A memorial for Barnes will be held Aug. 26, 6 p.m., City Hall rotunda, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, S.F. (415) 241-9913.