In June 2015, Baca switched his affiliation to the Republican Party, citing his "core Christian" and pro-business beliefs.
16 Facts About Joe Baca
2.
Joe Baca was born in Belen, New Mexico in 1947, the youngest of 15 children in a primarily Spanish-speaking household.
3.
The family moved to Barstow, California when Joe Baca was young, where he shined shoes at age 10, delivered newspapers, and later worked as a laborer for the Santa Fe Railroad, until he was drafted in 1966, serving in the United States Army until 1968.
4.
Joe Baca worked for 15 years in community relations with General Telephone and Electric.
5.
Joe Baca was elected to the State Assembly in 1992, and to the State Senate in 1998.
6.
Joe Baca served on the House Financial Services Committee, where he was a member of the Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises, and the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit.
7.
Joe Baca served on the House Agriculture Committee, where he was the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Departmental Operations, Oversight, Nutrition and Forestry.
8.
Joe Baca was the Chair of the CHC Corporate America Task Force, which aims to increase Hispanic representation in corporate America.
9.
Joe Baca finished first in a seven-way primary, but fell far short of a majority due to the presence of two minor Democratic candidates.
10.
Joe Baca was handily reelected from this redrawn district in 2002, and did not face another close contest again until 2012.
11.
Joe Baca opted to run in the 35th, and finished first in the all-party primary with 46.7 percent of the vote.
12.
The Super PAC ran negative advertisements in newspapers, radio, and television accusing Joe Baca of being soft on crime and causing perchlorate water contamination in drinking water.
13.
Joe Baca lost in a landslide and subsequently announced his retirement from politics.
14.
Joe Baca had paid his daughter $27,000 from campaign funds and donated more than $20,000 to his sons' political campaigns from his own campaign funds.
15.
In January 2007, fellow Hispanic Caucus members including Loretta Sanchez, Nydia Velazquez, Hilda Solis, and Linda Sanchez wrote a letter to Joe Baca asking for a new election with a secret ballot.
16.
Joe Baca said that Baca confirmed the comments to her sister Linda Sanchez the day before Loretta Sanchez confronted him over the accusation.