In the congressional primary, Barham had sought to succeed U.S. Representative John Cooksey of Monroe, who made an ill-fated run in 2002 for the U.S. Senate against Mary Landrieu. Barham entered the primary against two other major Republican candidates, former U.S. Representative Clyde C. Holloway of Louisiana's 8th congressional district, since disbanded, a businessman from Forest Hill in Rapides Parish, and Lee Fletcher, a young Monroe businessman who had been Cooksey's former chief of staff. Barham ran fourth in the primary, with 34,522 votes (19 percent), a relatively strong showing in a multi-candidate field.