Randolph Blake Farenthold (born December 12, 1961) is the U.S. Representative for Texas's 27th congressional district. He is a member of the Republican Party.

Farenthold was born and raised in Corpus Christi, the son of Mary Sue (née Ogg) and George Randolph Farenthold. His paternal grandfather was Belgian, born in Brussels. Farenthold attended Incarnate Word Academy and the University of Texas at Austin where he received a BS in Radio, Television, and Film. He also graduated from St. Mary's University School of Law in San Antonio.

Farenthold's pre-political career includes working as a radio disc jockey in high school and college, seven years of practicing law at the Kleberg Law Firm in Corpus Christi and founding Farenthold Consulting LLC, a computer consulting and web design firm.

Farenthold co-hosted Lago in the Morning, a conservative talk radio program, until he began his political campaign.

Farenthold defeated incumbent Democratic Rep. Solomon Ortiz by 799 votes on election night. Ortiz asked for a manual recount. On Monday, November 22, Ortiz conceded to Farenthold. Farenthold's final margin of victory over Ortiz was 47.85 to 47.1 percent—the original 799 votes. Farenthold's victory was viewed by many as one of the biggest upsets of an election in which Republicans gained 63 House seats nationwide.^{[citation needed]} Ortiz represented the district since its creation in 1982, and had never faced serious opposition before.

William "Bill" Maher, Jr. ( /ˈmɑːr/; born January 20, 1956) is an American stand-up comedian, television host, political commentator, author, and actor. Before his current role as the host of HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, Maher hosted a similar late-night talk show called Politically Incorrect originally on Comedy Central and later on ABC.

Maher is known for his political satire and sociopolitical commentary, which targets a wide swath of topics including religion, politics, bureaucracies of many kinds, political correctness, the mass media, greed among people and persons in positions of high political and social power, and the lack of intellectual curiosity in the electorate. He supports the legalization of marijuana and same-sex marriage, and serves on the board of PETA. He is also a critic of religion and is an advisory board member of Project Reason, a foundation to promote scientific knowledge and secular values within society. In 2005, Maher ranked at number 38 on Comedy Central's 100 greatest stand-up comedians of all time. Bill Maher received a Hollywood Walk of Fame star on September 14, 2010.