He previously held office in the Mississippi Senate for the 46th district and was the House Minority Leader during his tenure in the state legislature.

Baria later served in the Mississippi House of Representatives from 2012 to 2020, where he championed causes such as insurance reform, environmental protection, and medicaid expansion.

His district represented Bay St. Louis, Waveland, Pearlington, part of Kiln, and most of rural Hancock County.

[12] On June 26, he defeated venture capitalist Howard Sherman in a runoff to claim the Democratic nomination despite being considerably outspent.

[7] Upon leaving the Mississippi House, he joined Cosmich Simmons & Brown as a partner in their Bay St. Louis office after 28 years of experience as a trial lawyer.

[17] In 2015, Baria introduced a bill to require that 80% of the funds from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill be sent back to the Gulf Coast.

[19] In 2010, Baria proposed bills in the senate offering tax incentives for homeowners who install solar power,[20] as well as allowing net metering.

[21] After joining the Mississippi House in 2012, Baria successfully sponsored a bill to require safety enclosures for swimming pools.

[7] That same year, he introduced several other bills, including bills to increase the death benefit payable to law enforcement officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty; authorize individuals to brew beer at home; create a "Patient's Bill of Rights; prohibit smoking in certain public places and private places of employment; and create a state version of the False Claims Act to allow whistleblowers who report fraud against the government to collect part of the award.

[25] In 2018, Baria voted for a bill to exempt recent college graduates from state income taxes if they stay in the state for three years after graduation from a four-year college or university and to grant them an additional two-year exemption if they buy a house or establish a business with at least one additional employee.