Disgraced former congressman Blake Farenthold tells Texas governor he won't pay for his replacement election

Last week, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) urged former Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Texas) to use the $84,000 he's not returning to taxpayers to fund the special election Abbott forced through to fill Farenthold's Corpus Christi-based seat. On Wednesday, he got his answer: No.

"A special election was not warranted and should not have been called," Farenthold wrote in a letter to "Gregg" Abbott. "Since I didn't call it and I don't think it's necessary, I shouldn't be asked to pay for it." Most of the letter was spent defending his decision to resign in April and addressing the allegations that led him to settle sexual harassment charges by his former communications director, denying sexual misconduct and claiming he merely ran "a more informal office than some people may have expected from a career politician." Then he got a little personal:

An Abbott spokeswoman, Ciara Matthews, said Farenthold's decision is "disappointing" but "it's not surprising that his last act would be to stick taxpayers with the bill at the worst possible time." The special election will cost an estimated $200,000. "While Mr. Farenthold may consider this resolved, we're not closing the case on this issue," Matthews added.

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