Briscoe Cain
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Briscoe Cain (born December 9, 1984) is an American attorney and Republican member of the
Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. There are no Term limits in the United States, term limits. The ...
for District 128.


Early life and education

Briscoe grew up in Deer Park, Texas, a suburb of
Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
located in Harris County. At Deer Park High School, he was on the varsity
cheerleading Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense Physical exercise, physical activity. It can be performed to motivate s ...
squad. He earned a
bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...
from the University of Houston-Downtown and a J.D. from
South Texas College of Law South Texas College of Law Houston (STCL or South Texas) is a private law school in Houston, Texas. It was founded in 1923 when the YMCA made the decision to establish a law school with a focus on offering night classes for working professi ...
.


Political career

In December 2015, Cain successfully defended the religious rights of Beaumont police officers when the city banned them from having Bible study during lunch breaks. In 2016, Cain obtained via a FOIA request invoices sent by a California
bioscience ''BioScience'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal that is published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Institute of Biological Sciences. It was established in 1964 and was preceded by the ''AIBS Bulletin'' (1951–1 ...
company to four Texas medical schools. From these invoices he claimed the Texas schools were using tax dollars to purchase aborted fetal tissue, since
Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is an American nonprofit organization
was known to give fetuses to the California company. In a statement, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso said that it strictly followed federal and state guidelines. Cain is the Texas legal counsel to Operation Rescue.


Electoral history

In the 2016 Republican
runoff election The two-round system (TRS or 2RS), sometimes called ballotage, top-two runoff, or two-round plurality, is a single-winner electoral system which aims to elect a member who has support of the majority of voters. The two-round system involves one ...
, Cain defeated seven-term incumbent Wayne Smith by 23 votes. In the 2016 general election, Cain defeated
Libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...
candidate Ken Lowder. Cain ran unopposed in the Republican
primary election Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pr ...
held on March 6, 2018. On July 5, 2017, Terry Sain of
Baytown, Texas Baytown is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within Harris County, Texas, Harris and Chambers County, Texas, Chambers counties. Located in the Greater Houston, Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan statistical area, it lies on the nor ...
announced that he would be running against Cain in the 2018 Republican primary. However, just before the December 11, 2017, deadline to file for a place on the primary ballot, Sain announced that he was no longer going to challenge Cain. Citing the difficulties of running a campaign as a reason he dropped out of the race, Sain told '' The Baytown Sun'' that running in the campaign "wasn't quite as easy of a road as I thought it was going to be." In the November 6, 2018, general election Cain ran unopposed. On November 18, 2019, Robert Hoskins of
Baytown, Texas Baytown is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within Harris County, Texas, Harris and Chambers County, Texas, Chambers counties. Located in the Greater Houston, Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan statistical area, it lies on the nor ...
announced he would be running against Cain in the 2020 Republican primary. Hoskins, considered a moderate Republican, is a member of the Baytown City Council and a former member of the Goose Creek Consolidated Independent School District board of trustees. The race between Cain and Hoskins was considered to be one of the more high-profile primary contests during the 2020 Texas Republican primary. On March 3, 2020, Cain defeated Hoskins in the Republican
primary election Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pr ...
, when Cain received 11,752 votes (79.32 percent) to Hoskins' 3,064 votes (20.68 percent). Cain defeated Democrat Mary Williams in the 2020 general election for District 128 representative. Cain ran unopposed in the Republican primary election held on March 1, 2022. In the November 8, 2022, general election Cain defeated Democrat Chuck Crews with 70.5 percent of the vote.


Voting record and interest group ratings

Since being elected in 2016, Cain has consistently ranked as one of the most conservative members of the Texas House. The annual analysis of Texas legislators' voting records by
Rice University William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University, is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. Established in 1912, the university spans 300 acres. Rice University comp ...
's
James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy The Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy (formerly known as the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy) is an American think tank housed on the campus of Rice University in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1993, it functions as a ...
found Cain to be the most conservative member of the Texas House in 2017, and 2019, and the second-most conservative in 2023 (after
Jared Patterson Jared Lynn Patterson (born April 1, 1983) is an American politician from Texas. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he was elected to the Texas House of Representatives from the 106th district in November 2018, he a ...
).Mark P. Jones
Analysis: The 2023 Texas House, from right to left
''Texas Tribune'' (June 20, 2023).
Cain was named one of "The Worst Legislators of 2017" by ''
Texas Monthly ''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. Founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy, ''Texas Monthly'' chronicles life in contemporary Texas, writing on politics, the Natura ...
'', describing him as "uninformed and ignorant" and stating "When we asked Capitol insiders for Worst list suggestions, riscoe Cain almost universally, was the first one mentioned". Cain was named Recipient of Operation Rescue's 2021 Pro-Life Person of the Year Malachi Award for his work on the Texas Heartbeat Act.


Committee assignments

* 89th Legislative Session ** Agriculture & Livestock ** Delivery of Government Efficiency * 88th Legislative Session ** Chairman, Agriculture & Livestock ** Insurance * 87th Legislative Session ** Chairman, Elections ** Business & Industry * 86th Legislative Session ** Chairman, Select Committee on Driver's License Issuance & Renewal ** Elections ** International Relations & Economic Development ** Resolutions Calendars * 85th Legislative Session ** Defense & Veterans' Affairs ** Juvenile Justice & Family Issues


Political positions


Abortion

Cain is ardently anti-abortion and authored an early version of Texas's six-week abortion ban, also known as the Texas Heartbeat Act. Cain has also targeted
abortion fund An abortion fund is a non-profit organization that provides financial and logistical assistance to individuals who cannot afford the costs of an abortion.Towey S, Poggy S, and Roth R (2005). ''Abortion funding: A matter of justicity.'' Amherst, MA: ...
s in Texas and threatened them with criminal prosecution for their violations of Texas's pre–''
Roe v. Wade ''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protected the right to have an ...
'' abortion statutes. On March 18, 2022, Cain sent cease-and-desist letters to every abortion fund in Texas, demanding that they immediately stop paying for abortions performed in Texas or face criminal prosecution. Abortion funds in Texas have refused to halt their activities in response to Cain's letter, and Cain has promised to introduce legislation that will ensure that Texas abortion funds and their donors are prosecuted for each abortion that they have assisted or paid for in the state of Texas.


COVID-19 pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Cain defied Governor
Greg Abbott Gregory Wayne Abbott ( ; born November 13, 1957) is an American politician, attorney, and jurist who has served since 2015 as the 48th governor of Texas. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served from 2002 to ...
's closure of businesses by getting a haircut. Cain also served as an attorney for Shelley Luther, the Dallas Salon owner who was jailed for opening her hair salon in violation of an order related to the COVID-19 pandemic.


Immigration

Cain is an outspoken supporter of the enforcement of immigration laws (particularly in relation to the U.S-Mexico border). His campaign website states that he believes "that increased border security is critical for increasing job opportunities for Americans and decreasing crime and taxes on Texas families".


Christianity

Briscoe, a
non-denominational A non-denominational person or organization is one that does not follow (or is not restricted to) any particular or specific religious denomination. The term has been used in the context of various faiths, including Jainism, Baháʼí Faith, Zoro ...
Christian, cited his faith as his biggest source of inspiration in life as part of a 2017 interview with UHD News. Cain has additionally gone on record to state, "Yes I mix religion and politics." He has pledged as part of his 2020 campaign platform to protect the "guarantee of religious liberty", as well as "ensure that traditional Christian values are restored and strengthened."


Voting rights

Briscoe Cain assisted
President Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021. ...
's attempts to overturn the election results of 2020 United States presidential election following his re-election loss by using baseless claims of voter fraud. In February 2021, Republican Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan appointed Cain as the chair of the Texas House Elections Committee. The following bills that Cain co-sponsored were accused by Democrats and Voting and Civil Rights groups as restricting voting access. Cain defended the proposed restrictions as necessary to maintain the "purity of the ballot box". After some business in Texas opposed the legislation, Cain proposed financial penalties to any business protesting the new proposed voter restrictions. After the legislation had been implemented, mail-in ballots were rejected at record numbers for not filling out forms correctly as specified by the new regulations.


Other positions

Cain supports a ban on Democrats being given committee chairmanships as long as the Republicans hold the majority of seats in the Texas House.


Controversies


Texas Southern University protest

On October 10, 2017, protesters at
Texas Southern University Texas Southern University (Texas Southern or TSU) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically Black university in Houston. The university is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund an ...
(TSU) prevented Cain from speaking at a
Federalist Society The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies (FedSoc) is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative and Libertarianism in the United States, libertarian legal organization that advocates for a Textualism, textualist an ...
event on campus. Cain was invited by the president of TSU's Federalist Society student chapter to speak to students at the traditionally black university. He planned to talk about the Texas Legislature's most recent special session. During that session Cain proposed an amendment to a budget bill which would prevent the state of Texas from paying for sex reassignment surgery and hormone therapy for inmates in prison, and he voted in favor of a proposed "
bathroom bill A bathroom bill is the common name for legislation or a statute that denies access to public toilets by gender or transgender identity. Bathroom bills affect access to sex-segregated public facilities for an individual based on a determination o ...
". Protesters claimed that Cain "has ties to the
Alt-Right The alt-right (abbreviated from alternative right) is a Far-right politics, far-right, White nationalism, white nationalist movement. A largely Internet activism, online phenomenon, the alt-right originated in the United States during the late ...
and is anti-
LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...
" and drowned out Cain's attempts to speak. They were removed; as Cain began to speak again the school's president ordered the protesters be brought back in and canceled the event, saying the Federalist Society chapter was an unregistered student group and the event was "unapproved". Cain said in a statement that the talk had been scheduled for months, and that he was "brought into a room in which the administration had specifically requested the talk occur. Then
Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a Decentralization, decentralized political and social movement that aims to highlight racism, discrimination and Racial inequality in the United States, racial inequality experienced by black people, and to pro ...
came in and bullied the administration into ending the event." James Douglas, the interim dean of TSU's Thurgood Marshall School of Law, said the event had been cleared with him and that he was investigating the incident. He said, "We have a process here in the law school, and they went through our process. The speaker had a
First Amendment First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...
right to be heard by the students that invited him." A student who had helped organize the protest said that " th his First Amendment right to espouse hate comes our First Amendment right" to protest. Cain, a partner at a law firm where he practices First Amendment law, said he intended to sue the school and its president for infringing upon his First Amendment rights.


Stephen Hawking tweet

On March 14, 2018, Cain tweeted about the death of prominent physicist
Stephen Hawking Stephen William Hawking (8January 194214March 2018) was an English theoretical physics, theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author who was director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge. Between ...
. In his tweet, he stated "Stephen Hawking now knows the truth about how the universe was actually made. My condolences to his family." The tweet was largely perceived to be insensitive and was criticized by legislators on both sides of the aisle.


Texas Democratic Convention prank

On June 22, 2018, Cain and three other men snuck into the Texas Democratic Party's state convention being held at the Fort Worth Convention Center in
Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...
, where Cain and three other men handed out 100 yard signs which read, "This home is a gun-free safe space" to convention attendees. Eventually, convention goers recognized who Cain was, and he and the others involved were forced to leave. When asked about the stunt, Cain said he distributed the signs as "irony" and stated, "It's amazing how many people took one and thanked us. They said they would put it in front of their house. I think it's funny. Nobody should put this in front of their house."


Threats against Beto O'Rourke

In September 2019, Cain threatened Beto O'Rourke after O'Rourke called for gun control measures. Cain said, "My AR is ready for you Robert Francis 'Rourke's first and middle name" O'Rourke labeled the tweet a "death threat", and replied to Cain with a tweet reading, "Clearly, you shouldn't own an AR-15 — and neither should anyone else". Cain responded with a tweet, "You're a child Robert Francis." Twitter gave Cain 12 hours to remove the post. After he did not, the company removed Cain's "My AR is ready for you" tweet, saying it was against the site's policy against violent threats. Cain was suspended from Twitter for 141 days. On January 31, 2020, the day the
social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...
company lifted its suspension of Cain's Twitter account, Cain tweeted a
screenshot A screenshot (also known as screen capture or screen grab) is an analog or digital image that shows the contents of a computer display. A screenshot is created by a (film) camera shooting the screen or the operating system An operating sys ...
of the interaction between him and O'Rourke writing, "But seriously @twitter, y'all banned me for this."


Personal life

Cain is married with five children, all boys and all named for Texas counties. He is a nondenominational Christian. On April 25, 2019, during a Texas House session to recognize Autism Awareness Month, he stated that he has been diagnosed with
Asperger syndrome Asperger syndrome (AS), also known as Asperger's syndrome or Asperger's, is a diagnostic label that has historically been used to describe a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and no ...
, and struggles maintaining eye contact as a result. He serves with the rank of captain in the
Texas State Guard The Texas State Guard (TXSG) is part of the State defense force, state military force of Texas, and one of three branches of the Texas Military Forces. Along with the other two branches, the TXSG falls under the command of the Governor of Texas an ...
.


References


External links


Campaign website

State legislative page

Briscoe Cain at the Texas Tribune
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cain, Briscoe 1984 births 2020 United States presidential electors Beto O'Rourke Living people Republican Party members of the Texas House of Representatives People from Deer Park, Texas People with Asperger syndrome South Texas College of Law alumni Texas lawyers Texas Republicans Twitter controversies University of Houston–Downtown alumni American lawyers with disabilities American politicians with disabilities 21st-century members of the Texas Legislature Autistic politicians