He also worked in radio. Up until his House race, he served as Jim Lago's co-host on Lago in the Morning, a conservative talk-radio program on Corpus Christi's 1360 KKTX station.

2010 House race

In 2010, on the last day before the filing deadline, Farenthold decided to challenge Democratic Rep. Solomon Ortiz in Texas's 27th Congressional District, a heavily Hispanic seat that covers a strip in deep South Texas from Corpus Christi down to the Rio Grande Valley.

Farenthold called for smaller government, lower taxes and increased border security. While finished slightly behind fellow political novice James Duerr in the Republican primary in March, neither captured the 50 percent of the vote necessary to avoid a runoff. In the May runoff, Farenthold eked out a 244-vote victory, narrowly clinching the right to face Ortiz in the general election.

It suddenly become apparent in mid-Octover that the GOP's national wave was threatening to submerge an unprepared Ortiz, leading panicked Democrats to search for last-minute solutions.

The campaign took a bizarre turn when Ortiz released a political ad featuring a December 2009 photo of Farenthold wearing duck-printed pajamas with a woman in lingerie at a nightclub. Farenthold defended his actions, saying he was at a pajama party raising money for charity. The Republican unleashed attacks of his own, accusing Ortiz of securing government stipends for costly trips. He also focused his campaign on Ortiz's support for Democratic policies like health-care reform.

Farenthold emerged with a 799-vote edge on Election night, one of the contest;s most stunning results. Ortiz called for a manual recount and only conceded three weeks later after a district-wide canvass narrowed the gap only slightly.

Within weeks of Farenthold's victory, Democrats had already targeted him in 2012.Redistricting could also change the shape of Farenthold's district.

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