Rep. Barton After Nude Pic Leaks: 'It's Time to Step Aside'

Texas congressman says he won't run for 18th term
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 30, 2017 1:24 PM CST
Rep. Barton After Nude Pic Leaks: 'It's Time to Step Aside'
In this June 14, 2017 file photo, Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington.   (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

"I've been listening to a lot of people the last week in Texas," Rep. Joe Barton says. "There are enough people who lost faith in me that it’s time to step aside." The longtime Republican congressman told the Dallas Morning News on Thursday that he won't seek re-election after more than 30 years in Congress. Barton made headlines recently when a nude photo he sent to a woman he was in an extramarital relationship with was leaked on Twitter. Barton later admitted to having multiple sexual relationships with women while he was married to his second wife; they divorced in 2015. Barton says he still believes he could win an 18th term, "but it would be a nasty campaign, a difficult campaign for my family." He says his 12-year-old son asked him not to run for re-election.
(More Joe Barton stories.)

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