She has worked as an investment consultant at LPL Financial in Farmington Hills since 1999, and is a licensed accident, life, and health insurance agent.
She belongs to the Roosevelt Group of the Greater Detroit Chapter of Hadassah, an American Jewish volunteer women's organization.
Barnett was unopposed in the Democratic primary and faced Republican Paul Welday in the General Election.
In 2010, Barnett retained her seat with an even stronger showing against Republican Chris Atallah, garnering 61% of the vote.
Facing term limits, Barnett announced in late 2013 she was running for the Michigan State Senate's 14th District, but narrowly lost a three-way race in the Democratic primary election to the incumbent State Senator Vincent Gregory, who received 34.68% of the vote to Barnett's 34.28%.