Texas governor wants Farenthold to pay for special election


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: Less than a minute

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is asking a former congressman from his own party who resigned following sexual harassment allegations to pay for the special election to replace him.

Abbott can't make Blake Farenthold comply.

Still, in a statement Wednesday, Abbott seized on Farenthold's promises to reimburse $84,000 from a special House fund that was used to settle 2014 sexual harassment claims.

Farenthold resigned April 6. Citing Hurricane Harvey's devastation in his district, Abbott suspended state law and called an emergency special election for June 30.

Abbott argues the $84,000 should go toward the special election. Farenthold promised to reimburse taxpayer funds months ago, but still hasn't.

Even if he did, it may not be enough. Special elections in large Texas counties can cost $100,000-plus.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Most recent Politics stories

Related topics

Politics
The Associated Press

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast