Briscoe Cain, the Republican state representative for Texas House District 128, is now running for the newly created U.S. Congressional District 9, which includes Liberty County and part of East Harris County. In the latest episode of Bluebonnet News: Headlines and Heartlines, Cain talks about his faith, his record in Austin and why he believes “Washington needs some fighters.”
Cain says his first run for office was “really an extension, kind of an outgrowth of my faith.” Before ever putting his own name on a ballot, he worked on campaigns and eventually challenged a longtime incumbent.
“He’d been there for 14 years,” Cain said, recalling how his campaign was outspent roughly ten-to-one before winning the runoff “by 23 votes. You can certainly say every vote matters.”
When Texas lawmakers drew new congressional maps, Cain saw much of his current area folded into the new District 9 and felt pulled into the race. He told Headlines and Heartlines that the “mission’s pretty simple, which is to go to Washington and help Trump succeed in his second term to fulfill his promise to the American people, and continue to do the right things.”
Border security is one of Cain’s central issues. He highlighted his early efforts to help fund Trump’s border wall by packaging barriers as flood infrastructure along the Rio Grande, and his support for Operation Lone Star and buoys placed in the river.
Cain argued that recent state actions have paid off, saying, “Right now, for the last three months, there have been zero illegal crossings in Texas, and that was by no mistake.”
If elected to Congress, Cain says he wants the federal government to take back the primary responsibility—and cost—of border enforcement that he believes Texas has been carrying. He told listeners it is “a whole lot more helpful with the rest of the country chipping into securing the border and not just Texans doing it on their own,” adding that what Texas is doing “is for the rest of the country. It’s not just for our people.”
Education is another flashpoint. Cain has been outspoken about what he calls “woke indoctrination” in public schools. In the interview, he claimed that some educators “would bully my child if they expressed their Christian faith in the classroom, if they disagreed with what I call woke things,” and said, “We’ve got to clear house, purge these woken educators out of our classroom.”
He insists his efforts are “pro-public education,” saying, “This is pro-public education, by getting rid of the trash.”
Cain also addressed recent legislation dealing with school policy, gender and student safety, including bills he supported that restrict medical and social gender transitions for minors in Texas schools. He framed these fights as not only cultural but foundational, warning that “it will determine our nation’s future is what we’ve taught our children.”
Election integrity is another signature issue for Cain, who chaired the House Elections Committee and helped carry what he described as a major omnibus bill after 2020. He said the goal was to “make it easier to vote and hard to cheat,” including standardizing voting hours and elevating some forms of election fraud to felonies. For voters who use mail ballots, Cain emphasized new tracking tools so “you can follow your ballot. So you can feel that your vote counted. I mean, what more sacred is there?”
Throughout the conversation, Cain wove in his background as a constitutional attorney and his family’s life as the backdrop to his politics.
“We homeschool, we have five boys, by the way, all named after Texas counties,” he said, explaining that traveling to Austin together helps them keep a sense of work–life balance while he serves in the Legislature.
Cain summed up his motivation for seeking higher office as a fight for the future his children and grandchildren will inherit. He told Headlines and Heartlines that his heart is to ensure they “have a country, have a home that we experience. That they can have opportunity and safety and security, a freer country than we did.”
Listeners can hear the full conversation with Briscoe Cain on the latest episode of Bluebonnet News: Headlines and Heartlines, available on Spotify by clicking here, and airing this week on KILE FM Radio on Tuesday, Nov. 18, and Friday, Nov. 21. Both shows will air at 10 a.m. on the radio.
My questions….please explain your relationship to Dade Phelan and your pursuit of Ken Paxton to remove him from office. Also, please explain your ties to Colony Ridge in detail.