His wealthy paternal grandfather, George Edward Farenthold (1915–2000), was a Belgian immigrant descended from an aristocratic industrialist family, and worked in the oil industry in Texas.

[8] Farenthold attended Incarnate Word Academy and the University of Texas at Austin where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in radio, television, and film.

Before running for office, he was a right-wing talk radio host in Corpus Christi (co-hosting Lago in the Morning) and spent seven years at the Kleberg Law Firm, where his stepfather, Hayden Head Sr., was a partner.

To make up for the loss in population, his district was shifted well to the north and east, absorbing some heavily Republican territory near Houston and Austin.

[15] Farenthold won renomination in the March 1 Republican primary with 42,872 votes (56%) to 33,699 (44%) for his challenger, Gregg Patrick Deeb (born circa 1964) of Corpus Christi, who formerly lived in South Carolina.

[16] In the general election held on November 8, Farenthold defeated the Democrat Raul "Roy" Barrera, who had won his party nomination on March 1 with 16,140 votes (50.3%) over two opponents.

Since redistricting in 2011, his district ran along the middle Texas Gulf Coast from Corpus Christi to Bay City and inland to Luling, and includes Aransas, Calhoun, Jackson, Lavaca, Matagorda, Nueces, Refugio, San Patricio, Victoria, Wharton, and parts of Bastrop, Caldwell, and Gonzales Counties.

Having used the Internet since the mid-1980s,[19] Farenthold received praise from the online privacy community when he introduced bipartisan legislation that would prevent states from forcing companies to weaken encryption for law enforcement purposes.

In particular, he criticized "some female senators from the Northeast," and stated "if it was a guy from south Texas, I might ask him to step outside and settle this Aaron Burr-style.

"[32] In 2014, Farenthold was sued by a former staffer, Lauren Greene, who accused the congressman of gender discrimination, saying that he created a hostile work environment and improperly fired her after she complained.

[5] Past co-workers and relatives have corroborated Rekola's story, some having first-hand accounts of Farenthold subjecting his staff "to a stream of angry behavior... screaming fits of rage, slamming fists on desks and castigating aides", and regularly using profane slurs to describe those who worked in his office.

[47] Farenthold's appointment was questioned because of the reasons for the resignation and because "Revolving Door" laws generally prohibit former representatives from immediately lobbying their recent colleagues.

[52] In 1972, when Farenthold was ten years old, his father disappeared and was later found dead, his body having washed ashore after being weighted down with a cement block and deposited in Corpus Christi Bay.

[53] The gangland-style murder was the work of enemies of the elder Farenthold, who feared he would testify against a group of con artists who had tried to defraud him out of $100,000.