Submission by Ben Wetmore, Gateway Pundit

Texas was a deep blue state for as long as it had been a state. For a period of time, the state had one elected Republican in the State House. In the mid-1990’s, George W. Bush rode the wave of Republican dominance in the state. Yet until 2003, Democrats controlled the legislature. When many elected Democrats defected to being Republicans, they had been elected Democrats their entire life.

Republican voters have been betrayed by converts to conservatism, but even by supposed stalwarts like Rep. Briscoe Cain.

Cain campaigned as a conservative, but then went out of his way to betray conservatives when in power. Cain was an “impeachment manager” against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a man often called “Trump’s Texas lawyer” for his fierce defense of conservative causes. Paxton, a polarizing yet popular figure among Texas Republicans, faced an impeachment trial in 2023 that many viewed as a politically motivated witch hunt.

Democrats’ power in Texas is also housed in the state’s incredibly powerful lobby: the lobbyists who can give unlimited amounts of money to legislators in the form of campaign donations. They can also arrange jobs for legislators and their wives. Some even control banks, from which they appoint paid directors who not only have a reliable bank salary, but also have significant authority to help their friends in business.

Texas politics produced Lyndon Johnson, who many critics have described as deeply corrupt. A large part of his corruption was his control of the Pedernales Electric Cooperative, where Johnson placed his allies and top donors, who were all paid six-figure salaries in the 1960’s. Johnson got the federal government to pay for all the capital improvements, so the utility was generating pure profit.

Setting up these kinds of corrupt utilities, which become taxing authorities driving up property taxes in Texas to record levels, is something that was pushed by Rep. Briscoe Cain, even though he campaigned as a low-tax conservative.

Controlling the movement of money in politics, especially money collected and backed by governmental authority, has been a recurring theme in Texas politics.

When Republicans took power in 2009, they wanted to reform and change things. But the incredible power of the Speaker of the House was something the lobby could not let slip into right-wing party politics. So, the first Speaker was challenged as Speaker by the most liberal member of the Republican House: Joe Straus.

Straus, whose family were heavily involved in gambling interests and owned the Retama horse racing track in San Antonio, only had the support of 12 other Republicans, but with those liberal Republicans and all of the Democrats, he took control of the House. Straus made Democrats all of the committee chairs, and systematically shut out conservatives.

By the mid-2010s, the 10 most conservative legislators had passed a combined total of one bill, and the most liberal member of the chamber had passed over 25 by herself.

The Texas legislature is small by design; its 150 House legislators serve for 140 days in session every other year. Their positions pay a mere $7,200 per year.

And yet on those low salaries, most legislators are able to afford moving to Austin and have sufficient funds to live there full-time.

To outsiders, this might look like a coup where Democrats had tricked themselves back into power using Straus. But in reality, the hidden power behind the throne was the Texas lobby. The Texas lobby were the ones who were offering drugs and prostitutes to legislators the night of their inauguration, hoping to slowly whittle down their principles so that they would be pliable for their interests.

Texas is one of the few states that has a “taxpayer funded lobby,” which means that local governments can hire and deploy their own lobbyists to organize for higher taxes and increased regulations. Grassroots efforts tried to shut down “taxpayer funded lobbying” in the 2010s, but the effort failed.

The Speaker was the main focus for the powerful lobby. The lobby gave money to fill the coffers of the Speaker’s PACs, and would support those the Speaker wanted, and oppose the people the Speaker wanted to lose.

In frustration, the Texas Public Policy Foundation made a deal with Joe Straus, then under the leadership of Brooke Rollins, and decided to support every left-wing agenda item that Straus pushed in exchange for reforming public education and giving more school choice to Texas. Straus, instead, appointing Dan Huberty as the education Chair, never delivered on the promise.

It’s this background that produced Rep. Briscoe Cain, who was first elected in 2017 by a very small margin, 23 votes. Cain defeated a long-time incumbent, Rep. Wayne Smith (R). Cain was rated in his first term as the most conservative legislator. Cain joined forces with the influential Rep. Jonathan Stickland (R), who fought for conservative priorities. They founded the “Freedom Caucus” to expand the power of conservatives in Texas politics.

 

 

The Speaker’s office then spent the next few years dividing and destroying the Freedom Caucus. Its members were peeled off one by one. The actions by the Speaker’s office were very subversive though, and were enabled by major flows of backroom money that went to legislators through law firms and non-profits.

The University of Texas Law School Foundation has denied for years that they were funneling money to legislators for speeches they never gave, but they won’t release any documents or financials to prove that their denial is accurate. Sen. John Carona, a moderate RINO billionaire, was found to have had very liberal Senator Judith Zaffarini on his payroll for his company that managed HOA management companies. In Texas, one Senator can have another Senator from the other party on his company payroll, and no one thinks it’s out of line.

The lobby, led by Straus, warred with Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick. The Straus faction was in power in the House, but weren’t in power everywhere. Most of the federal Republicans simply abandoned state politics and let the lobby run wild over the wishes of the grassroots.

But conservatives were stunned when they were betrayed by Briscoe Cain. How could a man who campaigned on GOP unity and loyalty align himself with the left’s crusade against Paxton? Paxton was fighting the entrenched powers in Austin. To many, this was not just a betrayal by Cain, it was a leap to the “dark side.”

Joe Straus resigned in 2019, and hand-selected his successor Dennis Bonnen. Bonnen then selected Dade Phelan after one term. Phelan lasted two terms, and then selected Dustin Burrows. But the Straus faction, which represents the lobby first and foremost, is still firmly in power.

One of Straus’ attack dogs was the disgraced lobbyist Steve Bresnen. Bresnen spent a decade filing frivolous lawsuits and demands for information against conservative organizations. Bresnen, funded by gambling interests close to the Straus family, employed a now-disbarred attorney and another disgraced attorney who was caught bribing police during an anti-gambling raid in Dallas, a charge that Bresnen’s attorney somehow got dismissed.

Bresnen was the long-time lobbyist for the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, which was active in every judicial race, but were also heavily involved in choosing legislators by bankrolling candidates.

Bresnen personally recruited Briscoe Cain’s challenger in 2019, promising to spend whatever it took to defeat Cain, though Cain was able to get the challenger to drop out after meeting with him and showing him “opposition research” which was highly embarrassing for Cain’s primary challenger.

And by 2021, Cain had completely switched sides, and was supporting left-wing Bresnen. Instead of opposing the gambling lobbyist, the lobbyist funding “lawfare” against conservative organizations who vowed to defeat conservatives like him, Cain embraced this powerful lobbyist.

Some believe that Bresnen, used to working for powerful casino and gambling interests, simply bought off Briscoe Cain.

Bresnen was caught in 2015 screaming at conservatives in the Texas Capitol, saying that they were all “Nazis” and oddly trying to report conservatives to the Capitol Police as being “Nazis and fascists,” and being told by the police he wasn’t being smart about it.

Bresnen is a friend and powerful donor to conservative Rep. Briscoe Cain.

Observers feel the large campaign donations he accepted underscore how fundamentally his alignments had shifted. Cain got a $38,750 donation from the leading liberal RINO Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan, hated by conservatives. In addition, he accepted a $7,500 donation from the ultra-liberal Texas Trial Attorneys represented by Bresnen.

There’s no information about how much money was run through Briscoe Cain’s law firm from Bresnen, the Trial Lawyers, or from other related financial interests.

Cain has also faced criticism from some conservatives for his positions related to developments that have drawn controversy in parts of Texas. In Liberty County, a housing development called Colony Ridge has sparked outrage and an ongoing investigation by the Texas Rangers. The developer, William “Trey” Harris, paid Cain $15,205, and critics allege the payment was intended to help ensure the project’s funding continued. Critics argue that Cain’s actions shielded the developer from accountability, allowing a project that many Texans oppose to move forward. For a politician who once championed border security and community values, this is a bitter pill for his constituents to swallow.

Project Veritas released an investigation earlier this year outlining how the Colony Ridge real estate company was selling cheap Texas land to illegal immigrants and drug cartels. Colony Ridge said they weren’t going to stop selling properties to whomever could pay. Yet Briscoe Cain has kept the pro-illegal money.

Briscoe Cain now wants voters to send him to Washington, D.C. He points to his conservative voting record. Compared to many other left-wing Republicans in Texas, he does seem conservative. Cain scores well on scorecards generated by left-wing media outlets like the Houston Chronicle and “woke” academics and universities.

More troubling still are allegations about his finances. Immediately after his role in the Paxton impeachment, Cain reportedly purchased a large property, a curious acquisition for a state representative earning a modest $7,200 annual state-paid salary. The size and timing of this purchase has sparked calls for an investigation into his financial dealings, with many wondering how a public servant could amass such wealth so quickly.

This personal wealth has also contrasted with the wealth being taken from Texas citizens. As many know, Texas is one the few states that has no income tax. But over the past generation, that missing tax has been replaced with soaring property taxes.

The property tax hikes have come, in significant part, from a creature of the legislature called a “Special Purpose District.” These are taxing entities that get set up all the time. The taxing entities are proposed, like forming a new company, and then the entire legislature votes on their creation. The Texas Senate, in a report, calls this the “Invisible Government” of Texas.

Some of these “special purpose districts” are for utilities, but many are for made-up left-wing reasons. The left is trying to set up these taxing entities to engage in far-left environmentalist work on the premise that they are engaged in “clean water” work. Other special purpose districts have been proposed for fighting gun violence, affordable housing, and racism.

When Briscoe Cain first ran for the legislature, challenging an incumbent, he made these taxing entities a major campaign issue. It’s a big part of the reason why he was able to barely win by 23 votes.

These “special purpose districts” also hire lobbyists, and those lobbyists charge high rates, and then pass that money along to legislators. One such “special purpose district” is the North Harris County Water Authority, which critics say does nothing related to water and taxes citizens. Critics say its purpose is to lobby the legislature. Its longtime lobbyist is Briscoe Cain’s good friend, far-left trial lawyer lobbyist Steve Bresnen.

This special purpose district charges 2.2 million people in Harris County an extra $20 a month on average. Texas citizens are suffering a death by a thousand cuts like this, where local governments have been allowed to run wild, authorized by a legislature who won’t stop their creation, due to legislators like Briscoe Cain.

Briscoe Cain has never taken a stand against special purpose districts and, in so doing, he can say he’s against taxes but he’s voting in the legislature to authorize the creation of these new taxing entities. He’s taking money from the lobbyists who run these entities.

The Texas legislature doesn’t make finding these votes easy on their website, but a quick perusal shows that the legislative authorization for these special purpose districts never found a “No” vote from Briscoe Cain. It’s considered rude and impolite in Austin to vote against these taxing entities, because it’s what the powerful lobby wants. The Austin lobby wants legislators to tell voters they’re conservative, but they’re not supposed to actually vote to stop the imposition of new property taxes.

They’re supposed to take the lobby’s money and screw over Texas voters, which is exactly what Briscoe Cain has done.

Briscoe Cain is a cautionary tale of ambition, betrayal, and moral drift. Once heralded as a rising star in the Republican Party, Cain swept into the Texas House of Representatives with promises of steadfast conservatism. Voters believed in him, trusting he would uphold the principles of limited government, fiscal responsibility, and traditional values.

Briscoe Cain’s story is a tragedy of squandered potential. He entered politics with the trust of conservative Texans but has since traded principle for power.

His actions, aligning with liberal causes, enabling questionable developments, and undermining tax protections, reveal a politician unmoored from the values he once championed. It also shows the ongoing problems that Texas conservatives have in choosing reliably conservative elected officials.

 

About the Author

Benjamin Wetmore is a journalist.

 

Feature image: TxStateAlum17, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons