Joseph Linus Barton (born September 15, 1949) is an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, he represented Texas's 6th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1985 to 2019. The district included Arlington, part of Fort Worth, and several small towns and rural areas south of the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex. He was also a member of the Tea Party Caucus. In 2014, Barton became the longest-serving member of the Texas congressional delegation.
Barton described himself as "a constant defender of conservative ideals and values". He advocated for deregulation of the electricity and natural gas industries, and served as vice-chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committees. He denied that manmade carbon emissions had contributed to global warming, was a proponent of the use of fossil fuels, voted in favor of the May 2017 GOP plan to replace Obamacare, supported President Donald Trump's ban on immigration from certain predominantly Muslim nations, and supported the death penalty for people caught spying. Barton led a successful effort to repeal the oil export ban in the House in 2015. His environmental record of defending industries against tighter pollution controls earned him the nickname "Smokey Joe."
Barton came to national prominence after telling a citizen at a town hall meeting to "shut up." He came to national attention again when sexually explicit photos that he had shared with women were leaked without his consent in 2017. In November 2017, Barton announced that he would not seek re-election in 2018 following this specific sex scandal.
Early life, education, and early career
Barton was born in Waco, Texas, the son of Bess Wynell (née Buice) and Larry Linus Barton. He graduated from Waco High School. He attended Texas A&M University in College Station on a Gifford-Hill Opportunity Award scholarship, and received a B.S. in industrial engineering in 1972. An M.Sc. in industrial administration from Purdue University followed in 1973.
Following college, Barton entered private industry until 1981, when he became a White House Fellow and served under United States Secretary of Energy James B. Edwards. Later, he began consulting for Atlantic Richfield Oil and Gas Co., before being elected to the United States Congress in 1984.
Barton made his first run for elected office in 1984, when he entered the Republican primary for Texas's 6th congressional district after three-term incumbent Phil Gramm left his seat to run for the United States Senate that year. He finished first in the five-candidate field with 42%, and very narrowly defeated Max Hoyt in the runoff with 50%. He then defeated Democratic nominee and former State Representative Dan Kubiak 57%–43%. Barton was one of six freshmen Republican U.S. congressmen elected from Texas in 1984, known as the Texas Six Pack.
In 1986, Barton won re-election against Democratic candidate Pete Geren, who was later elected to Congress from a neighboring district. Barton defeated Geren 56%–44%.
During this period, Barton won each re-election with 60% of the vote or more. His worst general election performance was in 2006, when he defeated Democratic candidate David Harris 60%–37%, a 23-point margin. The 2008 election was his second-worst performance, defeating Democratic candidate Ludwig Otto by a 26-point margin, 62%–36%.
He was only challenged in the primary twice in this time period: in 1992 and 1994. In 1992, he defeated Mike McGinn 79 to 21%. In 1994, he defeated Jerry Goode 89%–11%.
Because of increasing controversy surrounding his record in office, election battles became increasingly contentious. In 2011, a Super PAC was formed by Texas conservative groups to remove him and several other long-time incumbents from office.
The Democratic National Committee used Barton's comments in political ads, shown nationally against all Republican candidates. Several websites were created and dedicated to simply removing Barton from office. DefeatJoeBarton.com/ was created by Democratic challengers. All content was later removed, though the site is still owned.
Barton drew three primary challengers: Joe Chow, Mayor of Addison; Itamar Gelbman, a security consultant; and Frank C. Kuchar, a Dallas businessman and former preacher. Chow is Texas' first Asian-American mayor. He called Barton "the most corrupt congressman in the State of Texas." At the end of March 2012, Barton had $1.3 million in cash on hand, compared with $28,800 for Chow, $178,000 for Gelbman, and $463 for Kuchar.
In the Republican primary on March 4, Barton won re-nomination to a 16th term in the U.S. House. He polled 32,579 (72.7%); his 2012 primary opponent, Frank Kuchar, trailed with 12,260 votes (27.3%). On November 4, Barton handily won re-election over Democratic opponent David Cozad.
Barton polled 55,197 votes (68.7%) in a three-candidate field for the Republican House nomination in the March 1 primary election. The runner-up, Steven Fowler, received 17,927 votes (22.3%). To win his 17th consecutive term in the House, Barton then defeated in the November 8 general election the Democrat Ruby Faye Woolridge (born 1948) of Arlington, who had polled 22,954 votes (69.7%) in her earlier three-candidate Democratic primary. Barton finished with 159,444 votes (58.3%) to Woolridge's 106,667 (39%); the most any Democrat had received against Barton in his three-decade career. The remaining 7,185 votes (2.6%) went to the Green Party candidate, Darrel Smith, Jr.
Texas's filing deadline for the House seat held by Barton was December 11, 2017. The primary was held March 6, 2018. Barton initially said that he would run for reelection, but announced on November 30, 2017, that he would not seek reelection in 2018.
If Barton resigned from his seat (as predicted by Austin Republican strategist Matt Mackowiak), there would be a special, open primary election in 2018, in which candidates from all parties would appear on a single ballot; if no candidate received more than 50% of the vote, then the top two vote-getters (regardless of party) will advance to a runoff.
Democrat former educator Ruby Faye Woolridge had indicated she would run for the seat, as did Democrats Jana Lynne Sanchez (endorsed by the New Democrat Coalition and the environmental group Climate Hawks Vote), party activist Justin Snider, Levii R. Shocklee of Arlington, and lawyer John Duncan. Republicans Jake Ellzey (a retired U.S. Navy fighter pilot and commissioner on the Texas Veterans Commission) and Dr. Monte Mark Mitchell (a Fort Worth physician, attorney, and custom home builder) filed to oppose Barton, and other Republican candidates for Barton's seat may include State Representative Tony Tinderholt, State Senators Brian Birdwell and Konni Burton, Ellis County Commissioner Paul Perry, and former Tarrant County Tax Assessor-Collector Ron Wright (Barton's former chief of staff and district director).