With less than two weeks to go before the filing deadline for the Texas primary in March, the odds increase by the day that scandal-tarred Rep. Joe Barton will face a serious challenge from at least one fellow Republican.
Shortly before Thanksgiving, the senior U.S. Representative from Texas—after 33 years in office—was rocked by a nude picture of him someone posted on the Internet.
The veteran lawmaker, 68 and twice divorced, admitted he had “consensual” relationships with different women while separated from his second wife. He also called for an investigation into whether one of the women who possibly posted the picture is guilty for “revenge porn.”
All of this, to say the least, does not look good in Barton’s historically conservative (Arlington-Fort Worth) District.
“There’s blood in the water here,” said Ellis County Commissioner Paul Perry, who told Newsmax Saturday he was “seriously considering” a challenge to Barton.
Perry also told us that he has “always had a very friendly relationship with Joe. But right now, I’m very disappointed in him. No one in a position of responsibility should be sending intimate pictures to anyone. He is misusing technology in an age when people are questioning government and other institutions and he set himself up for future problems with his behavior.”
The two-term county official described his philosophy as “a lot of my fellow Baylor University graduate [Kentucky Sen.] Rand Paul and a lot of [Texas Sen.] Ted Cruz. I based my views on whether something is constitutional or not.”
Perry cited as an example his opinion that the U.S. Department of Education should be abolished because “a federal role for education is not in the Constitution.”
Another Republican possibility for Barton’s seat is Tarrant County Tax Assessor-Collector Ron Wright. Barton’s spokesman has said that the congressman will not resign but he has yet to formally announce his candidacy for re-election.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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