Free Republic

Despite nine candidates on the ballot, Republican Michael Cloud drew enough support to win Saturday's special election to fill former U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold's seat, sparing the GOP a runoff in the 27th District. With all percent of precincts reporting, Cloud was leading Democrat Eric Holguin 55 percent to 32 percent, according to unofficial returns. Cloud, a former chairman of the Victoria County GOP, needed to finish above 50 percent to avert a runoff later this summer.

Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Texas) announced Friday that he is resigning from Congress immediately after facing a backlash over using $84,000 in taxpayer funds to settle a sexual harassment claim. "While I planned on serving out the remainder of my term in Congress, I know in my heart it's time for me to move along and look for new ways to serve," Farenthold said in a statement. The abrupt resignation is effective as of 5 p.m. on Friday, according to his office. Lauren Greene, the congressman's former communications director, sued her boss over allegations he fostered a hostile work environment where...

WASHINGTON — When Lauren Greene, a former communications director for Representative Blake Farenthold, sued him claiming sexual harassment, among her complaints was that he “disclosed that a female lobbyist had propositioned him for ‘a threesome.’” Mr. Farenthold, in legal documents, said that Ms. Greene had it wrong. The woman wasn’t a lobbyist, he said. As allegations of sexual misconduct rock Capitol Hill — three lawmakers announced their resignations last week alone — Mr. Farenthold, Republican of Texas, stands out as the survivor. He was sued over accusations of sexual harassment three years ago, paid out an $84,000 settlement, financed by...

RUSH: Here is that sound bite from Susan Collins. She was caught on an open mic. This is following a Senate Appropriations Committee meeting yesterday. She was caught on a hot mic talking with Senator Jack Reed (Democrat-Rhode Island) about Congressman Blake Farenthold, who is a Republican from Texas. COLLINS: (muttering) Did you see the one who challenged me to a duel? REED: I know. Trust me, do you know why he challenged you to a duel? ‘Cause you could beat the s–t (bleep) out of him, trust me. COLLINS: (cackling) REED: (cackling) (muttering crosstalk) COLLILNS: That fat guy. He’s...

A U.S. senator was caught Tuesday on a 'hot mic,' telling a colleague that a congressman who had challenged her to a duel over her health care positions is 'fat' and 'unattractive.' Maine Sen. Susan Collins was one of three Republican women in the upper chamber of Congress last week who held up a GOP-led package that would have repealed and replaced the Obamacare law. Rep. Blake Farenthold, a fellow Republican from Texas, told a radio host that if she were 'a guy from south Texas, I might ask him to step outside and settle this Aaron Burr-style.' At the...

The Corpus Christi Caller reported, via Free Republic: “ Corpus Christi Republican Congressman Blake Farenthold considers the source behind the 2016 hack of the Democratic National Committee’s email server an unanswered question and believes a federal investigation is warranted. Speaking on CNN Wednesday, the fourth-term congressman refuted a widely believed conclusion that the Russian government interfered with the U.S. presidential election to aid President Donald Trump’s campaign and instead indicated a conspiracy theory about a slain Democratic National Committee staffer could be true. “My fear is our constant focusing on the Russians is deflecting away for some other things that...

As I said today on MSNBC, a pathway to legal status could pass the House only after the American people believe the border is secure. I oppose amnesty in any shape or form, as well as any reforms that reward unlawful behavior. Our broken immigration system cannot be fixed until the border is secure and we have an Administration that will enforce the Rule of Law.

When several dozen protesters lined up outside the Corpus Christi office of Texas Rep. Blake Farenthold last year, holding a petition with about 10,000 signatures in favor of immigration reform, they hoped to win the Republican's support before the 2014 midterm elections. (SNIP) According to U.S. Census figures, the 2012 remapping of Texas increased the voting-age population for whites in the district by more than 100,000 voters, while reducing the number of Hispanics who could vote there by about that same number. Recent figures show the district currently has 243,991 white voters compared to 233,071 Hispanic voters. In 2010, Farenthold...

WASHINGTON—Congressman Blake Farenthold (R-TX27), Chairman of the House Oversight Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce, introduced the Protecting America’s Civilian Employees (PACE) Act to keep America’s federal employees from facing furloughs due to sequestration cuts. The PACE Act requires the Office of Management and Budget to submit a report to Congress indicating how to most efficiently transfer funds within agencies and departments for fiscal year 2013 to avoid all furloughs or reductions in America’s federal workforce. “Our federal workforce needs to be operating at 100%. They should not be punished because the President, Harry Reid and the Senate Democrats failed to...

Police in Texas raided the home of Rep. Blake Farenthold’s sister, a local television station reported Monday. KRIS TV reported that a SWAT team searched her Corpus Christi home, looking for drugs and weapons. The police department did not immediately comment because officers were still in the field, an officer told POLITICO. “I am saddened to learn the terrible news of the situation unfolding around my sister,” Farenthold said in a statement, released by his Congressional office. “Tragedy has occurred in my family in the past, and I am saddened it has happened again. I trust that law enforcement officials...

A Southwest flight carrying 115 passengers from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to BWI Airport was diverted to Nashville International Airport due to a passenger's "suspicious behavior," an airline spokesman said.

Rep. Solomon Ortiz conceded to his Republican challenger Monday night, according to a regional representative of the National Republican Congressional Committee who is in Texas’ 27th district. The Texas Democrat called challenger Blake Farenthold, a former radio talk-show host, as the last county in his district worked toward wrapping up its recount. The Farenthold victory brings the net Republican House pickups this cycle to 62 seats, with four House races still outstanding from the midterm elections. The Republican was on Capitol Hill last week for freshman orientation. Ortiz asked for the recount, which cost him $23,500, after the original unofficial...

U.S. Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz’s petition for a recount of votes cast for the U.S. House of Representatives from District 27 has been denied. Texas Secretary of State Director of Elections Ann McGeehan said Ortiz' request was rejected because of specific defects in it. Ortiz has until Nov. 24 to amend the petition and submit a corrected one. McGeehan notified Ortiz in a letter dated today that he failed to include all precinct polls in District 27 in the requested recount and that his deposit of $11,500 was not sufficient and instead should be $23,500. Ortiz also failed to note...

SAN ANTONIO (AP) - U.S. Rep. Solomon Ortiz picked up seven votes after a bag of previously uncounted ballots was discovered in his South Texas district. But the Corpus Christi Democrat still trails Republican ex-small business-owner Blake Farenthold by seven votes. Ortiz has refused to concede a House seat he's held for nearly three decades and is mulling whether to seek a formal recount. Seven ballots, all marked for the Democrat, where discovered in Nueces County and certified at the courthouse in Corpus Christi - evidence, Ortiz says, that the race remains too close to call. The seven votes leaves...

Ortiz weighing his options; may consider recount Comments 0 November 03, 2010 1:43 PM By EMMA PEREZ-TREVINO, The Brownsville Herald U.S. Representative Solomon P. Ortiz is weighing his options following his Election Day loss to Republican challenger Blake Farenthold. One of the options Ortiz is considering is requesting a recount, his communication’s director said. Ortiz’s spokesman Jose Borjon said that a statement regarding the congressman’s plan would be released today.

Blake Farenthold (R) beats US Rep. Solomon Ortiz by 799 votes

Republican candidate Blake Farenthold, who is running for Texas’s 27th district House seat, came under scrutiny this week when images surfaced of him out for a night on the town with women in attire leaving little to the imagination. In the pictures, which were reportedly taken last year and published online by thecrushgirls.com, Farenthold is dressed in pajamas featuring a yellow ducky design. We The People News called attention to the images on Thursday with a note confirming their authenticity. CrushGirls marketing director Tony Martinez tells Talking Points Memo that the pictures were not photoshopped.