CORPUS CHRISTI — Blake Farenthold, the 27th District congressman-elect, and his staff focused Wednesday on his transition into office despite not receiving a concession from incumbent U.S. Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz.
Ortiz, a Democrat, on Tuesday lost the seat he held for 28 years by 799 votes. Ortiz said Wednesday a recount of Tuesday’s 27th Congressional District election votes may be needed after his legal team completes a review of the results.
“I thank all the people who supported me with their vote in Tuesday’s general election,” Ortiz said Wednesday in a written statement. “The process of reviewing the election results continues today to ensure that every vote is counted, including those of the men and women serving abroad in our armed services. I respect the voters and our election process.”
Ortiz said a late-opening poll and an electrical problem at a voting site might have kept people from voting.
“It’s simply too early for anybody to be calling this race,” he said.
Only 12 hours after declaring victory late Tuesday night, Farenthold was back at his campaign headquarters on South Alameda Street in a suit and tie, ready for a crush of media requests.
He said his thoughts now center on the next step.
“What I worry about at this point is learning the ropes and how to be effective on the issues I need to be effective on,” he said. “Ortiz was right about one thing — I don’t have the level of experience in Congress that he has, but there is a great Texas delegation and I plan on tapping into their expertise immediately.”
The 27th District is losing a 14-term incumbent who was one of the most senior members of Congress with experience in securing federal funding.
Ortiz secured about $60 million in federal earmarks in the last fiscal year for District 27 projects, $19 million of which Ortiz sponsored alone. His solo earmark total ranked 29th of 435 representatives in the House.
About $10 million went to building a tactical equipment maintenance facility in Robstown while $4.5 million went to building a solar array panel at Naval Air Station—Kingsville.
The congressman received requests for an additional $655 million in earmarks to be reviewed during the upcoming legislation session.
“We lost a senior, veteran lawmaker in Ortiz, and they are hard to replace,” said Hugo Berlanga, a former local Democratic state representative. “Congress is driven by seniority, not performance. That’s the way the system is set up.”
Ortiz also sits on the influential House Armed Services and Transportation and Infrastructure committees, while Farenthold’s status as a newcomer leave his committee assignments up in the air.
This year, however, seniority, committee assignments and a track record for bringing federal funding to the area were not enough, Berlanga said.
“Clearly the voters felt it was time for a change and that Ortiz had worn out his welcome,” he said. “They were ready to cash in on seniority for the possibility of having someone go to Washington and be part of a movement to create jobs and get the economy going again.”
Farenthold said Texas Republican U.S. Reps. Pete Sessions, Joe Barton and Michael Burgess have promised to help after he arrives in Washington, D.C.
He will not have much time to prepare.
Farenthold will travel to Washington to attend orientation for freshman representatives and to begin assembling his congressional staff. He will be sworn in in January.
He said he will not lose sight of the fundamental differences between himself and Ortiz, which were apparent in a televised debate last week.
“Ortiz was very sincere that he felt like he was doing the right thing with Obamacare and earmarks,” Farenthold said. “I came away very clear that I was running against an ideology and not a man who was pressured into something he didn’t believe in.”
He said legislative earmarks should be used to benefit the entire country, not just local projects.
“We’ve got some real issues down here that are important to the country such as border security and our strong military presence,” he said.
Farenthold said it will be a challenge to make inroads with Democratic voters in a politically divided district.
“I’ve got a lot to do and not much time to do it,” he said. “But I want everyone in this district to know that, whether they voted for me or not, I will represent everyone, not just a select group.”
