[5] The family moved to Barstow, California when Joe was young, where he shined shoes at age 10, delivered newspapers, and later worked as a laborer for the Santa Fe Railroad, until he was drafted in 1966, serving in the United States Army until 1968.

[6][7] Following military service, Baca attended Barstow Community College and went on to receive his bachelor's degree in sociology from California State University, Los Angeles.

Rep. Baca also served on the House Agriculture Committee, where he was the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Departmental Operations, Oversight, Nutrition and Forestry.

[11] In March 2012, Baca and Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) introduced a bill that would force video game companies to put warning labels on their products.

[citation needed] A few months after Baca was elected to the State Senate, Congressman George Brown, Jr. died after a long illness.

Baca finished first in a seven-way primary, but fell far short of a majority due to the presence of two minor Democratic candidates.

After the 2010 United States Census, the Citizens Redistricting Commission significantly redrew California's congressional map.

His nearest opponent, State Senator Gloria Negrete McLeod, took 34 percent; under the new "top two" primary rules, both advanced to the general election.

A few weeks before the general election, Negrete McLeod's campaign benefited from $3.2 million in independent expenditures from the Federal Super PAC of billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who was Mayor of New York City at that time.

[15][4] In 2022, Baca made a political comeback after an eight-year retirement, as he was elected to a seat on the Rialto City Council.

[5] In January 2007, fellow Hispanic Caucus members including Loretta Sanchez, Nydia Velázquez, Hilda Solis, and Linda Sánchez wrote a letter to Baca asking for a new election with a secret ballot.

Minutes later he apologized, saying he was upset because he felt it was a disservice to the voters that she had announced the day before that she would not seek re-election to the congressional seat after holding it for only two years.