‘Sexting’ lawmaker will step aside
Barton won’t seek re-election after uproar over nude photo, messages
WASHINGTON — After days of growing public outcry, Texas Congressman Joe Barton, the longest-serving member of the Texas delegation, announced Thursday that he will not seek re-election in 2018, after recent revelations of a nude photo and sexually suggestive messages that appeared on the internet.
The Ennis Republican’s decision came as a growing number of Texas GOP lawmakers and party officials called on him to resign or cancel his re-election plans for a seat he has held since 1985, making him the dean of the Texas delegation.
In a statement, Barton, 68, made no reference to the sexting scandal that has enveloped him since last week, saying only that “it is time to step aside and let there be a new voice.”
Barton faced considerable pressure to bow out in recent days, at least in Texas, if not in Washington.
“It’s a decision that recognized the obvious:
Please spare us any further details of your past,” said Houston state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, chairman of the state Senate Republican Caucus, who along with other prominent Republicans had called on Barton to resign.
“I don’t think Texans want to know any more about Joe Barton’s past. It’s time to move on.”
In his statement, Barton sought to emphasize his fidelity to Texas.
“As a young congressman, my slogan was ‘listening to you in Texas, working for you in Washington.’ ” Barton said. “For me that was never just a saying, but a commitment — a way of life.”
It was the twice-divorced congressman’s private lifestyle, however, that proved his undoing.
In a statement on Wednesday, Ellis County Republican Party Chairman Randy Bellomy said the latest revelations about Barton had “deeply grieved and embarrassed” his constituents.
“His lifestyle is inconsistent with Republican ideals, and he has brought disgrace not only to Ellis County and the 6th Congressional District, but also to the people of Texas and this great nation,” Bellomy said.
Bellomy’s declaration came on the same day that GOP state Sen. Konni Burton, whose Dallas area district overlaps with Barton’s, issued a statement calling on Barton not to seek re-election “so that Tarrant County can move forward in making sure we send a strong conservative to Congress from District 6.”
Those statements came a day after Tarrant County GOP Chairman Tim O’Brien called on Barton to resign. “All elected officials should be role models,” O’Hare said. “They should be held to a very high standard. Joe Barton’s conduct falls well below that standard.”
Polling district constituents
While there were no public calls in Washington for Barton to bow out, Barton met with constituents in recent days and polled his district to assess the public relations damage — and his prospects of surviving a March 6 GOP primary challenge in his Republican-leaning district.
“I don’t have any comment on the circumstances,” Texas U.S. Sen. John Cornyn said after Barton’s announcement. “But I do respect his decision.”
With the filing deadline coming up on Dec. 11, speculation had been rampant about Barton’s next move. Several Republicans in the district have been considering primary challenges, and at least one has jumped in.
Jake Ellzey, a retired naval combat pilot and a member of the Texas Veterans Commission, filed paperwork Tuesday with the Republican Party of Texas.
Burton also said Wednesday that “many” Republicans are discussing Tarrant County Tax Assessor-Collector Ron Wright, who confirmed Thursday on Facebook that he is running.
“Ron is a man of great character and integrity, and I want to make it clear that I am one hundred percent behind him if he decides to do so,” she said.
Barton announced his re-election campaign last month, before the nude photo appeared on social media. Barton said he’s now likely to vote for Wright, but when asked whether he’ll make an endorsement, the congressman quipped that given his “current status,” he might help someone more by coming out against them rather than supporting them.
Several Democrats also are vying for the seat, which is generally regarded as a safe Republican seat.
In a statement Thursday, Texas Democratic Party Executive Director Crystal Perkins said that Texans of the 6th Congressional District will have a “real choice” in both the Democratic primary and the general election in 2018.
“Serving in elected office is one of the highest honors bestowed on a citizen,” Perkins said. “Texans are right to believe that public servants (on both sides of the aisle) should be held to the highest moral and ethical standard.”
Barton’s problems began when a frontal nude photo of him, his genitals blurred, started making the rounds on muckraking websites and Twitter last week. Barton immediately confirmed the authenticity of the photo, apologized, and explained its origin as part of a lapse of judgment during one of a number of extramarital affairs he had before his second divorce was finalized in 2015.
The Washington Post also reported at the time that Barton told a woman that he would contact U.S. Capitol Police if explicit photographs of him from their relationship were made public.
‘Revenge porn’ law
The District of Columbia, like Texas and many other states, has a “revenge porn” law against posting sexual explicit pictures of people without their consent.
In a brief encounter with Capitol Hill reporters Wednesday, Barton suggested that he could not discuss his situation because it is under investigation.
Neither the U.S. Capitol Police nor the FBI immediately returned several Chronicle requests for comment.
It is not publicly known how the photo turned up on the internet.
In a statement after the photo first surfaced last week, Barton admitted he had “sexual relationships with other mature adult women” while he was separated from his second wife.
As Barton fought for his political life, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Wednesday that another woman has shared a series of private messages — some with sexual overtones — she exchanged with Barton. The messages to the Arlington woman, identified as GOP activist Kelly Canon, included a mix of politics and questions about whether she was “wearing a tank top only ... and no panties.”
Canon also posted a message to Barton on Facebook, saying, “Joe, DO NOT RUN FOR REELECTION. Serve out your term. Retire.”
Indeed, that is exactly what Barton decided to do. As he did so Thursday, a third woman came forward, telling radio station WBAP that she had an affair with Barton.
Barton’s defenders have emphasized that his transgressions involved consensual relationships with adult women in their 60s and that there was no hint of illegality — unless he was the victim of a case of “revenge porn.”
His announcement Thursday steered clear of the scandal and focused instead on his longevity in Congress, recalling 20,000 votes over 33 years in office:
Barton’s exit means all four of the longest serving members of Congress from Texas are calling it quits. U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, and Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Plano, announced earlier they will retired in 2018. Longtime Houston Democrat Gene Green announced earlier this month he won’t seek re-election.
Others in the delegation also are heading for the exits. Dallas Republican Jeb Hensarling and Atascocita Republican Ted Poe have also announced they won’t seek re-election. U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-El Paso, is also leaving as he seeks to run for the U.S. Senate against Texas Republican Ted Cruz.