five-candidate field with 42%, and very narrowly defeated Max Hoyt in the runoff with 50%. He then defeated Democratic nominee and former State Representative Dan Kubiak 57%–43%. Barton was one of six freshmen Republican U.S. congressmen elected from Texas in 1984, known as the Texas Six Pack. In 1986, Barton won re-election against Democratic candidate Pete Geren, who was later elected to Congress from a neighboring district. Barton defeated Geren 56%–44%. 1988–2010 During this period, Barton won each re-election with 60% of the vote or more. His worst general election performance was in 2006, when he defeated Democratic candidate David Harris 60%–37%, a 23-point margin. The 2008 election was his second-worst performance, defeating Democratic candidate Ludwig Otto by a 26-point margin, 62%–36%. He was only challenged in the primary twice in this time period: in 1992 and 1994. In 1992, he defeated Mike McGinn 79 to 21%. In 1994, he defeated Jerry Goode 89%–11%. 2012 Because of increasing controversy surrounding his record in office, election battles became increasingly contentious. In 2011, a Super PAC was formed by Texas conservative groups to remove him and several other long-time incumbents from office. The Democratic National Committee used Barton's comments in political ads, shown nationally against all Republican candidates. Several websites were created and dedicated to simply removing Barton from office. DefeatJoeBarton.com/ was created by Democratic challengers. All content was later removed, though the site is still owned. 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. Chow is Texas' first Asian-American mayor. He called Barton "the most corrupt congressman in the State of Texas." At the end of March 2012, Barton had $1.3 million in cash on hand, compared with $28,800 for Chow, $178,000 for Gelbman, and $463 for Kuchar. 2014 In the Republican primary on March 4, Barton won re-nomination to a 16th term in the U.S. House. He polled 32,579 (72.7%); his 2012 primary opponent, Frank Kuchar, trailed with 12,260 votes (27.3%). On November 4, Barton handily won re-election over Democratic opponent David Cozad. 2016 Barton polled 55,197 votes (68.7%) in a three-candidate field for the Republican House nomination in the March 1 primary election. The runner-up, Steven Fowler, received 17,927 votes (22.3%). To win his 17th consecutive term in the House, Barton then defeated in the November 8 general election the Democrat Ruby