[2] He advocated for deregulation of the electricity and natural gas industries,[3] and served as vice-chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committees.

[4] He denied that manmade carbon emissions had contributed to global warming,[5][6] was a proponent of the use of fossil fuels,[7] voted in favor of the May 2017 GOP plan to replace Obamacare,[8] supported President Donald Trump's ban on immigration from certain predominantly Muslim nations,[9][10] and supported the death penalty for people caught spying.

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.

[33] 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.

[39] The remaining 7,185 votes (2.6%) went to the Green Party candidate, Darrel Smith, Jr.[40] Texas's filing deadline for the House seat held by Barton was December 11, 2017.

[44][2][45][46][47] 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).

[51] Tim O'Hare, the Chairman of the Tarrant County Republican Party, called on Barton "to not seek re-election and to retire from Congress by the end of [2017]," saying he is guilty of "sexual immorality.

[52][53] Brian Mayes, a Dallas political consultant, said Barton was vulnerable in his upcoming election battle "if he gets a motivated opponent", and that he risked getting lumped in "fairly or unfairly" with sexual misconduct allegations in Congress.

[60] Prompted by a February 2005 Wall Street Journal article,[71] Barton launched an investigation that year into two climate change studies from 1998 and 1999.

"[75] Upset with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's passage of global warming legislation in 2009, he said: "You can't regulate God.

[79] In 2013, when discussing the Keystone XL pipeline, he referred to the Genesis flood narrative in the Bible to argue that current climate change isn't man-made.

"[86] "Barton has made a reputation for his outspoken rejection of man-made climate change, and for his support for the oil industry," according to Suzanne Goldenberg in The Guardian.

[93] He made the accusation at the outset of a House hearing where BP's chief executive officer, Tony Hayward, appeared for the first time before Congress.

I do not want to live in a country where any time a citizen or a corporation does something that is legitimately wrong, is subject to some sort of political pressure that is, again, in my words — amounts to a shakedown, so I apologize.

[100] He has 100% ratings from socially conservative groups such as the Family Research Council and the Christian Coalition of America for his opposition to abortion and LGBTQ rights.

[103][104] The article stated that on Barton's 2008 financial disclosure statement, he inaccurately reported on the source of a natural gas interest that he bought into.

"[105] CREW also reported that Barton paid his wife Terri $57,759 in salary and bonuses, from his campaign funds in the 2006 election cycle.

[61] Barton expressed in September 2014 his full support of the U.S. lifting the 40-year-old ban on crude oil exports – an issue that sparked controversy among members of the Republican Party.

Several research reports had found that exporting the glut of shale oil would ultimately lower U.S. and global fuel prices, rather than raise them; U.S. public opinion was divided on the issue.

[9] In November 2017, Barton called on the House leadership to pass naturalization legislation for children who came across the border illegally with their parents.

[113] In 1993, Barton ran in the special election for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by the resignation of Lloyd Bentsen, who became United States Secretary of the Treasury in the Clinton administration.

Barton finished third in the contest, behind state treasurer Kay Bailey Hutchison and Senator Bob Krueger, thus missing a runoff slot.

[115][116] An anonymous Twitter user posted the photo of Barton, who had pointed his camera upward from below his genitals, next to a text message reading, "I want you soo bad.

She also shared with the Washington Post a 2015 recorded phone call in which Barton warned her against using the explicit materials "in a way that would negatively affect my career," threatening to report her to the Capitol Police if she did so.

[119] She said she came forward because: "It's not normal for a member of Congress who runs on a GOP platform of family values and conservatism to be scouring the Internet looking for a new sexual liaison.

[122] The messages included questions from Barton about whether Canon was "wearing a tank top only .. and no panties," followed by "answer me miss evasive.

[124] Similarly, columnist Jim Schutze of the Dallas Observer noted that Barton practically built his political career "on condemning the behavior of others and even on trying to make other people's private behavior against the law ...."[125] While Barton had no plans to resign immediately, according to a spokeswoman,[115] and initially had said that he would run for reelection in 2018, a number of state and local politicians indicated that they might challenge him in the 2018 election for his seat.

"[127] Outlets including Slate, NBC and CNN opined that Barton might be a victim of revenge porn, which—though not a federal crime—is a class A misdemeanor in Texas, punishable by up to one year in county jail and up to a $4,000 fine.

"[131] Brian Mayes, a Dallas political consultant, said that the sexting "is something you'd expect from a young, immature college kid, not a grandfather.

[12] His wife Terri said she filed for divorce after evidence that Barton had engaged in multiple affairs, and finding "a very sexually explicit video of one of his mistresses."