Blake Farenthold

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Blake Farenthold
Blake Farenthold 2015.jpg
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Texas's 27th district
Assumed office
January 3, 2011
Preceded by Solomon Ortiz
Personal details
Born Randolph Blake Farenthold
(1961-12-12) December 12, 1961 (age 63)[1]
Corpus Christi, Texas, U.S.
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Debbie Farenthold
Children Morgan and Amanda Farenthold
Residence Corpus Christi, Texas
Alma mater University of Texas (B.S.)
St. Mary's University (J.D.)
Occupation Attorney/Consultant
Religion Episcopalian[citation needed]

Randolph Blake Farenthold[2] (born December 12, 1961) is an American politician who has been the U.S. Representative for Texas's 27th congressional district since 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party.

Early life and education

Farenthold was born and raised in Corpus Christi, Texas, the son of Mary Sue (née Ogg) and George Randolph "Randy" Farenthold. His paternal grandfather, George Edward Farenthold, was a Belgian immigrant who was the descendant of an aristocratic industrialist family and worked in the oil industry in Texas.[3][4] Farenthold attended Incarnate Word Academy and the University of Texas at Austin where he received a bachelor of science degree in Radio, Television, and Film. He also graduated from St. Mary's University School of Law in San Antonio.[5]

Radio career

Farenthold's pre-political career includes working as a radio disc jockey in high school and college, seven years of practicing law at the Kleberg Law Firm in Corpus Christi, and founding Farenthold Consulting LLC, a computer consulting and web design firm.

Farenthold co-hosted Lago in the Morning, a conservative talk radio program on KKTX radio, until he began his political campaign.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2010

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See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Texas, 2010 § District 27*

Farenthold defeated incumbent Democratic Rep. Solomon Ortiz by 799 votes on election night.[6] Ortiz asked for a manual recount. On Monday, November 22, Ortiz conceded the race to Farenthold. Farenthold's final margin of victory over Ortiz was 47.85 to 47.1 percent held.[7] His margin of victory was 799 votes.[8] Ortiz had represented the district since its creation in 1982.

2012

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See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Texas, 2012 § District 27

Redistricting after the 2010 census made Farenthold's district significantly more Republican. His old district had been 70 percent Latino, but the new map shifted most of the Latino areas to the newly created 34th district. To make up for the loss in population, his district was shifted well to the north and east, absorbing some heavily Republican territory near Houston and Austin.

He defeated Democratic nominee Rose Meza Harrison 57-39 percent.[9]

2014

Farenthold was not challenged in the Republican primary. In the general election, he defeated Democrat Wesley Reed.[10]

2016

Farenthold won re-nomination in the March 1 Republican primary with 42,872 votes (56 percent) to 33,699 (44 percent) for his challenger, Gregg Patrick Deeb (born c. 1964) of Corpus Christi, who formerly lived in South Carolina.[11] Farenthold now faces the Democrat Raul "Roy" Barrera in the November 8 general election. Barrera won his party nomination on March 1 with 16,140 votes (50.3 percent) over two opponents.[12]

Tenure

Farenthold has joined the Republican Study Committee, as well as the Tea Party Caucus. Since redistricting in 2011, his district runs along the middle Texas gulf coast from Corpus Christi to Bay City and inland to Luling, and includes Aransas, Calhoun, Jackson, Lavaca, Matagorda, Nueces, Refugio, San Patricio, Victoria, Wharton, and parts of Bastrop, Caldwell, and Gonzales counties.

In December 2014, Farenthold was sued by a former staffer, who accused the congressman of gender discrimination, saying that he created a hostile work environment and improperly fired her after she complained.[13]

Having used the Internet since the mid-1980s,[14] Farenthold received praise from the online privacy community when he introduced bi-partian legislation that would prevent states from forcing companies to weaken encryption for law enforcement purposes.[15]

Committee assignments

Personal life

Farenthold lives with his wife Debbie and two daughters Morgan and Amanda in Corpus Christi. He is the step-grandson of Sissy Farenthold, a long-time Democratic icon in Texas, who was married to his grandfather, George Farenthold, from 1950 until 1985.[citation needed]

In 1972, when Farenthold was ten years old, his father disappeared and was later found dead, his body having washed ashore after being weighed down with a cement block and deposited in Corpus Christi Bay.[16] The gangland-style murder was the work of enemies of the elder Farenthold, who feared he would testify against a group of con artists who had tried to defraud him out of $100,000.[17]

Controversy over pajama images

In 2010, images of Farenthold dressed in duck pajamas alongside women in lingerie emerged on the website thecrushgirls.com. Farenthold's Democratic challenger subsequently ran a political ad highlighting the unusual subject nature of the matter.[18]

Electoral history

2010 27th Congressional District of Texas Elections[7]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Blake Farenthold 50,954 47.85
Democratic Solomon Ortiz 50,155 47.10
Libertarian Ed Mishou 5,372 5.04
Total votes 106,599 100.0
2012 27th Congressional District of Texas Elections[19]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Blake Farenthold (Incumbent) 120,684 56.75
Democratic Rose Meza Harrison 83,395 39.22
Independent Bret Baldwin 5,354 2.52
Libertarian Corrie Byrd 3,218 1.51
Total votes 212,651 100.0
2014 27th Congressional District of Texas Elections[20]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Blake Farenthold (Incumbent) 83,342 63.60
Democratic Wesley Reed 44,152 33.69
Libertarian Roxanne Simonson 3,553 2.71
Total votes 131,047 100

References

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External links

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Texas's 27th congressional district
2011 – Present		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
United States order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by United States Representatives by seniority
245th		 Succeeded by
Stephen Fincher
R-Tennessee
  1. ↑ 112th Congress: Leading at Press Time: Blake Farenthold, R-Texas (27th District) CQ Politics November 3, 2010
  2. ↑ Representative Randolph Blake Farenthold (Blake) (R-Texas, 27th) – Biography from LegiStorm
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Blake Farenthold ancestry
  5. ↑ Blake Farenthold Campaign Website, Accessed on November 3, 2010
  6. ↑ Farenthold Ousts Ortiz in Tight Race, Accessed on November 3, 2010
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist.exe
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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