Vote Saturday, June 30, in the District 27 emergency special election. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Nine candidates are on the ballot to fill the congressional seat vacated by former Rep. Blake Farenthold (R.-Corpus Christi). Farenthold resigned in April, leaving the last eight months of his fourth term unfilled.
If one of the nine candidates receives 50.1 percent of the vote, he or she will serve out the rest of the term, which ends Jan. 3, 2019 when the person elected in the Nov. 6 mid-term is sworn in to serve a full two-year term in the 116th congressional session.
On the ballot in this order are:
• Raul (Roy) Barerra, Democrat
• Eric Holguin, Democrat (also the Democratic nominee for the Nov. 6 election)
• Mike Westergran, Democrat
• Bech Bruun, Republican
• Michael Cloud, Republican (also the Republican nominee for the Nov. 6 election)
• Marty Perez, Democrat
• Daniel Tinus, Liberaterian (and the Libertarian nominee for the Nov. 6. election)
• Judith Cutright, Independent
• Chris Suprun, Independent
The election was called as an emergency special election by Gov. Greg Abbott because so much of the district had been adversely effected by Hurricane Harvey. Abbott said residents deserved to have a voice in congress during this time to represent their needs and have their voices heard.
If no one receives more than 50 percent on June 30, an emergency special runoff election will be held Sept. 22.
The next vote after that for this seat will be Nov. 6 with four people on the ballot. Joining Cloud, Holguin, and Tinus, is James Duerr, who earned a place on the ballot via petition. Duerr ran unsuccessfully for the seat as a Republican in 2010. He collected around 500 signatures, which have been verified by the Secretary of State, to qualify. Only voters who did not vote in the primary elections in March and May were eligible to sign.
HOW WE GOT HERE
Farenthold announced last December that he would not be running for re-election. The announcement followed news stories that a sexual harassment claim against him had been settled with $84,000 in taxpayer money. More harassment charges were leveled against him by former staff members, and the House Ethics Committee began two investigations into his conduct. One dealt with the harassment complaints, while the other was about forcing staff members to work on his re-election campaigns, which is also illegal.
He resigned the following April just before the committee was set to rule against him and attempt to have him repay the $84,000. Once out of office, the House Ethics Committee has no jurisdiction over Farenthold.