Political party Republican Spouse(s) Jan K. Barclay | Name Richard Barclay | |
Born June 5, 1937 (age 86)
Oberlin, Decatur County
Kansas, USA ( 1937-06-05 ) Residence Rogers, Benton County
Arkansas Occupation Certified Public Accountant | ||
Richard L. "Dick" Barclay (born June 5, 1937) is a Certified Public Accountant in Rogers, a city in Benton County in the northwestern corner of Arkansas, United States, who was a Republican member of the Arkansas House of Representatives from December 31, 1976 to December 31, 1992. He was also the director of the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration under Republican Governor Michael Dale "Mike" Huckabee. In 1992, he lost a primary election for the United States House of Representatives to then fellow State Representative Tim Hutchinson of Bentonville, the seat of government of Benton County.
Barclay was born in Oberlin in Decatur County in northwestern Kansas. He began work as an accountant in 1961 and is a partner in the firm Beall, Barclay, and Company. He is a member of the Arkansas Society of Certified Public Accountants and of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He is a director of the Federal Savings Bank in Rogers and United Bank. He is a former vice president of the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce. He is also a member of the board of directors of the Brokers National Life Assurance Company. He is one of sixteen commissioners of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission.
In 2000, Barclay was elected president of the Arkansas Society of CPAs. That same year, he was named "Arkansas Business Person of the Year" by Beta Gamma Sigma of Sam Walton College of the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. Mack McLarty, a former chief of staff to U.S. President Bill Clinton, won this honor in 2007.
Barclay was executive director of Legislative Affairs and Budget until tapped by Huckabee in 1999 to head Finance and Administration. He left state employment in the spring of 2002 to return to his business in Rogers and was succeeded by Richard A. Weiss, who left the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality to take the Finance and Administration position.
Barclay did not seek a ninth two-year term in the Arkansas House in 1992. Instead, he ran for the Third Congressional District seat opened by the retirement of longtime Republican incumbent John Paul Hammerschmidt. However, he lost the GOP nomination to Tim Hutchinson, who would serve in the U.S. House from 1993 to 1997 and in the United States Senate from 1997 to 2003.
In 2003, Barclay served as chairman of the Benton County Republican Party. He is married to Jan K. Barclay. He is a member of the Disciples of Christ.