Updated, 2:30 p.m.: With information from the Victoria County elections administrator.

AUSTIN — Gov. Greg Abbott declared a special election must be held to fill Blake Farenthold’s U.S. House seat, and now he wants the ex-representative to pay for it.

The Corpus Christi Republican resigned April 6, a few months after dropping re-election plans amid revelations that he used $84,000 in taxpayer money to pay a woman who accused him of sexual harassment in 2014.

Farenthold promised to repay the money but has not done so. In a letter Wednesday, Abbott urged Farenthold to use the $84,000 to pay the counties in his former district, rather than the federal government, to cover the cost of the election.

"While you have publicly offered to reimburse the $84,000 in taxpayer funds you wrongly used to settle a sexual harassment claim, there is no legal recourse requiring you to give that money back to Congress,” Abbott wrote. “This seat must be filled, and the counties and taxpayers in the 27th Congressional District should not again pay the price for your actions.”

The election is planned for June 30. Candidates must file to run by Friday at 5 p.m. A runoff would likely be held in September.

It's unclear how much the election could cost. Victoria County elections administrator Vicki Vogel told The Dallas Morning News that the election and a runoff, if needed, would each cost her county $20,000. If the district's 13 counties each spent roughly $20,000, it could put the price tag over $200,000.

In calling for the special election this week, Abbott called it "imperative" to restore representation in the district, where all the counties remain under a state disaster declaration after Hurricane Harvey.

"Hurricane relief efforts depend heavily on action at the federal level, which can only occur if Texans residing in disaster zones have full and effective representation in Congress," Abbott said in a statement along with the proclamation.

The order followed a nonbinding opinion Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued saying the governor has the authority to use the disaster as the basis to declare the vacancy an emergency and hold an election before November.

Democratic and Republican runoffs for the full term beginning in January 2019 are set for May 22.

Bech Bruun, the former Texas Water Board Commission chairman, narrowly edged former Victoria County GOP Chairman Michael Cloud in a six-way Republican primary. Raul "Roy" Barrera, a federal court security guard, and Eric Holguin, a former congressional aide, will face off for the Democratic nomination.

Cloud said in a prepared statement Tuesday that he will run in the emergency special election.

"I declared my candidacy for this seat in September because I believe the people of our district deserve conservative, courageous leadership," Cloud said. "That still holds true today. I will file to run in the special election to fill the vacancy for our Congressional seat."

Staff writer Nicole Cobler contributed to this report.