Former member of Congress · last served 115th Congress
Joe Barton
Joe Barton was a Republican U.S. representative from Texas, first elected to Congress in 1985, who voted with most Republicans on 94% of the 112th Congress’s yes/no votes and sponsored 1 bill that became law (113th–115th Congress).
How we count: “Broke with party” is a yes/no roll call where the member voted against most of their own party on that vote (party as recorded; even splits not counted). “Pork: own share” splits each earmark shared by several members evenly among them.
5 most recent votes
- NayOn Motion to Concur in the Senate Amendments — American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012Jan 1, 2013 · Passed
- YeaOn Agreeing to the Resolution — Providing for consideration of the Senate amendments to the bill (H.R. 8) to extend certain tax relief provisions enacted in 2001 and…Jan 1, 2013 · Passed
- YeaOn Motion to Suspend the Rules and Concur in the Senate Amendment — Drywall Safety Act of 2012Jan 1, 2013 · Passed
- YeaOn Motion to Suspend the Rules and Concur in the Senate Amendment — To provide for the conveyance of certain property from the United States to the Maniilaq Association located in Kotzebue, Alaska.Jan 1, 2013 · Passed
- YeaOn Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass — Congressional Pay Freeze and Fiscal Responsibility ActJan 1, 2013 · Passed
5 most recent bills
- H.R. 7217 IMPROVE ActDec 12, 2018 · Received in the Senate.
- H.R. 6511 Strategic Petroleum Reserve Reform ActNov 29, 2018 · Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy. Hearings held. With printed Hearing: S.Hrg. 115-534.
- H.R. 3325 ACE Kids ActSep 13, 2018 · Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by Voice Vote.
- H.R. 6488 SAVE ActAug 8, 2018 · Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
- H.R. 5930 Do Not Track Kids Act of 2018May 23, 2018 · Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Top bills sponsored
- H.R. 1791 (104th) Medicaid Certification Act of 1995Became law
- H.R. 629 (105th) Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Consent ActBecame law
- H.R. 6164 (109th) National Institutes of Health Reform Act of 2006Became law
- H.J.Res. 87 (107th) Approving the site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, for the development of a repository for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel…Became law
- H.R. 2701 (100th) A bill to amend the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978 to remove certain contract duration and right of first refusal requirements.Became law
- H.R. 6 (109th) Energy Policy Act of 2005Became law
- H.R. 2749 (101st) To authorize the conveyance of a parcel of land in Whitney Lake, Texas.Became law
- H.R. 3298 (115th) Wounded Officers Recovery Act of 2017Became law
Laws first, then bills that passed a chamber, were reported from committee, or drew the most cosponsors.
Elections Rep. Barton has won
Rep. Barton has won 17 U.S. House elections (1984–2016). Of the contested races, margins ran from 11.6 to 76.2 points.
Full election history for this seat →
Source: MIT Election Data and Science Lab, U.S. House V15 / U.S. Senate V8 (CC0), retrieved 2026-10-18; winners matched to member records by seat and term. Results run through the 2024 elections; nothing from 2026 is shown until it is certified. A margin is a fact about one election, never a score of how well a member represents anyone, and PORKER does not rank members by it.
How has Texas’s 6th district done while Rep. Barton served?
2012 to 2018 in TX-6: typical household income was up 11% after inflation, the share of people below the poverty line was down 3.0 points, and the share of workers looking for a job was down 4.4 points.
Each mini chart has its own scale, fitted to its lines (it does not start at zero), so compare the numbers, not the heights. Teal = district, oxblood = state, grey = U.S.
While they served, not because of them. This shows what happened in Texas’s 6th district during Barton’s time representing it (1985 to 2019). It does not say what the member did or caused. It is not a score, and PORKER never ranks members on it.
Only one set of district lines is shown. TX-6 was redrawn in 2012 and again in 2022, and a redrawn district is a different place. So this card shows only the longest stretch on the same lines during the term, 2012 to 2018 (no 2020 yearly estimate), not the full 1985 to 2019.
Official records on bills this member sponsored
115th Congress. What Congress.gov lists for the 7 bills sponsored.
| Record | Bills | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Bills sponsored | 7 | Source: Congress.gov member record, PORKER copy of October 26, 2026 ↗ See them → |
| With a sponsor’s constitutional-authority statement | 7 | See the 7 → |
| With a CBO cost estimate listed | 3 | See the 3 → |
| With a committee report listed | 1 | See the 1 → |
Evidence
- How counted
- Bills where this member is the lead (first-listed) sponsor in the 115th Congress, read from the stored Congress.gov bill records
- Fields
- cboCostEstimates, committeeReports, constitutionalAuthorityStatementText, notes
- PORKER copy refreshed
- October 26, 2026 (nightly)
Read this first. These are counts of records Congress.gov lists. Many bills never get a CBO estimate or a report, so a zero is not a mark against a member. We never show this as a score.
Data as of Oct 26, 2026 · latest recorded House vote Sep 16, 2026 · Sources: Congress.gov, Senate.gov, House Clerk, Appropriations Committee earmark tables. PORKER is non-partisan.