Your (least) favorite ducky-pajama-wearing Republican representative has resigned from his seat in Congress amid growing allegations of sexual harassment and verbal abuse. “I’d never served in public office before,” U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Corpus Christi, admitted in a video posted last Thursday. “I had no idea how to run a congressional office and, as a result, I allowed a workplace culture to take root in my office that was too permissive and decidedly unprofessional. It accommodated destructive gossip, offhand comments, off-color jokes and behavior that in general was less than professional.”
Following Farenthold’s Dec. 14 decision to resign after his current term finishes, the Texas GOP filed suit against the Secretary of State to ensure his name goes nowhere near the ballot come primary time in March, since Farenthold technically stepped down the day before a candidate can officially withdraw. (It doesn’t seem like missing the deadline was intentional sabotage: The suit notes that Farenthold asked his party not to include him.) But the SOS doesn’t really have much authority over enforcing that rule, as attorneys discovered after a Dec. 19 federal court hearing. Later that night, GOP Chairman James Dickey formally submitted a list of primary candidates that omits Farenthold’s name, meaning we can now get back to celebrating a Farenthold-less future.
This article appears in December 22 • 2017.