Texas officials are fuming over the tab for the upcoming special election to replace former Republican Rep. Blake Farenthold. The cost of the June 30 election to replace Farenthold is expected to be at least $157,000 in total — and many of the 13 largely rural counties holding the election say they can’t afford their share of the bill. Worse, they argue, the special election is a pointless and needlessly costly exercise since the eventual winner will likely serve in Washington for less than 90 days.
Gov. Greg Abbott wrote the millionaire former congressman to request that Farenthold pay for the special election costs himself.
Farenthold’s response? Nope.
That has left the burden on the financially strapped counties that make up the 27th Congressional District. County officials say expenses associated with a special election are forcing them to reach into their contingency funds — accounts set up to cover government emergencies — or significantly downsize their operations.
“The governor shares the frustrations of the District in having to pay for a special election for a disgraced ex-congressman whose final act was to stick taxpayers with the bill at the worst possible time,” wrote Abbott’s deputy press secretary Mac Walker in an email. “Texans in the 27th Congressional District deserve better representation, something they have severely lacked in Washington D.C. for far too long.”
For more: Politico
