Briscoe Cain sued by fired Texas teacher

Texas Rep. Briscoe Cain is facing a defamation lawsuit from a former Crosby ISD teacher who says his social-media posts helped trigger online harassment and cost her job. Jacqueline Marie Brookreson is seeking more than $100,000 in damages. Her lawsuit alleges that Cain falsely accused her of mocking conservative activist Charlie Kirk after his assassination and made other defamatory claims about her views and conduct as a teacher. Cain’s public position is that he shared information already visible on Brookreson’s public social-media pages. He told Houston Public Media that his purpose was to alert parents to teachers he believed should not be in the classroom. In this episode of *Politics with the Big Dogs*, Anthony Holm explains why the case raises a difficult but important question: When does forceful political criticism of a public employee remain protected speech, and when can it become legally actionable defamation? The filing is an allegation, not a judgment. Brookreson will have to prove the elements of her claims, and Cain will have an opportunity to answer them and assert any available defenses. ### **Abbott spends big as the governor’s race tightens** The lawsuit is only the beginning of a politically packed episode. Gov. Greg Abbott began 2026 with roughly $105 million in his campaign account and has now spent more than $130 million in his bid for a fourth term. Democrat Gina Hinojosa entered the race with far less money, but recent public polling has shown a surprisingly close contest. Some surveys have placed Hinojosa narrowly ahead, although the results remain within the margin of error. Anthony remains skeptical that Abbott will lose. He points to the governor’s enormous financial advantage, statewide name recognition and past performance in South Texas. But the amount Abbott has spent—and late Democratic investment in Hinojosa—suggests that neither party is treating the race as an ordinary Texas landslide. That makes the central political question unavoidable: Is Abbott paying for routine statewide dominance, or is he spending at historic levels because voters have grown tired of the same leadership? ### **Huffines moves against another Texas tax** Acting Comptroller Don Huffines announced another change with a direct effect on Texas patients and medical providers. Huffines signed an executive order directing the comptroller’s office to amend its rules so that electronic health records, patient portals and related health-care technology systems are not treated as taxable information or data-processing services. The office argues that the prior interpretation stretched a tax rule written in 1987 far beyond what lawmakers intended. The move followed Huffines’s earlier announcement that certain fees charged by online marketplaces and app-based platforms would no longer be taxed as data processing. Anthony’s praise is straightforward: When a tax is not clearly authorized by the Legislature, ambiguity should be resolved in favor of Texans—not the tax collector. The rule-change process still matters. The executive order directs the agency to publish a proposed amendment, which is subject to the normal administrative process before the change becomes final. ### **A consequential Supreme Court term** The U.S. Supreme Court has opened a term filled with disputes that could reshape individual rights and government power. The justices are considering cases involving state bans on semiautomatic rifles, local climate-damage lawsuits against oil companies, immigration enforcement and whether Colorado may exclude a Catholic preschool from a public funding program because of its admissions policies. A challenge to Texas’ law requiring the Ten Commandments in public-school classrooms has also been presented to the Court, although a petition asking the Court to hear a case is not the same as a case already accepted for full review. Anthony connects the federal docket to a broader concern about Texas courts: Voters must pay attention not only to who writes the laws, but also to judges who interpret them and determine whether injured citizens can reach a courtroom. ### **Can Republicans hold the Texas House?** Republicans currently hold 88 of the Texas House’s 150 seats. Midterm history, a difficult national environment and several vulnerable districts put that majority under pressure. Anthony does not expect the kind of wave that would erase the Republican majority. His forecast is that three to five additional Republican seats could fall, with the most favorable outcome limiting losses to two or three beyond the seat he already expects Democrats to gain. He credits Speaker Dustin Burrows and House leadership with beginning their political work early, raising substantial money and supporting endangered members across the conference. That does not erase Anthony’s policy disagreements with the speaker, but it shapes his assessment of the electoral operation. The answer will arrive soon. The more important question comes after Election Day: If Republicans retain control, what will they do with it?