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Political Attack Ad Suggests Texas Candidate Is Gay and Voters Should Keep Him Out of Men’s Rooms

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Texas GOP Politics Grow Increasingly Ugly – Republican Denies Allegations That He’s ‘Well Known’ in Houston’s Gay Bars

Briscoe Cain (photo), a tea party candidate for the Texas Legislature who’s received endorsements from several anti-LGBT hate groups, is accused of being a closeted gay man in a campaign flier (below). The attack ad says it was paid for by his Republican opponent. 

Incumbent GOP state Rep. Wayne Smith, 72, denies he’s behind the flier targeting the 31-year-old Cain, Smith’s challenger in the May 24 Republican Primary runoff.

Cain, meanwhile, denies the allegations in the flier, which states that he’s “well known to those who frequent Montrose area night clubs and gay bars.” Montrose is Houston’s gay neighborhood, and the district covers the city’s eastern suburbs. 

“I’m disgusted by my opponent’s actions,” Cain told The Houston Chronicle, adding that photos of him in the flier are from when he was much younger, and may have been taken from a friend’s MySpace page. 

The photos show Cain, who’s now married to a woman, playing beer pong at an unspecified venue, licking the ear of a nude male statue, and lounging shirtless in snorkeling gear. There’s also a photo of two men kissing outside a park bathroom. 

“Houston voters want to keep men out of women’s locker rooms and restrooms,” the flier states. “District 128 votes should keep Briscoe Cain out of the men’s restrooms as well.” 

The flier says Smith “will author and pass legislation to keep men out of women’s locker rooms and restrooms all across Texas.” 

“On May 24th Say NO to indecency,” the flier states. “Say NO to Briscoe Cain.” 

Smith denied any knowledge of the flier, and Allen Blakemore, a spokesman for Smith’s campaign, suggested that Cain is actually the one circulating it.    

“In a last gasp attempt to breathe life into his latest attempt at political office, the Briscoe Cain campaign’s most recent publicity stunt now includes rumors of a malicious mailer,” Blakemore said, adding that Cain is “starved for support and the attention of the voters” and is reaching “to the media for a life preserver.”

Cain outpaced Smith in the March 1 GOP primary, 48 percent to 43 percent, but since neither received more than half of votes, they’ll meet again in Tuesday’s runoff. 

Right-wingers have accused Smith, an establishment Republican and top lieutenant for moderate GOP House Speaker Joe Straus, of not being sufficiently conservative. And Cain’s endorsement list reads like a who’s-who of anti-LGBT groups and activists, including the National Organization for Marriage, Texas Values, the Texas Eagle Forum and Conservative Republicans of Texas. 

On his campaign website, Cain calls for standing up to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of same-sex marriage, protecting so-called “religious freedom” and cutting off funding for cities with LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination ordinances. In March, he posted this to Twitter:

Dr. Steve Hotze, the prominent anti-LGBT activist who heads Conservative Republicans of Texas, told the Chronicle that when he learned of the flier, he contacted Cain, who assured him the accusations are baseless. 

“I’ve known Briscoe for years and I take him for his word,” Hotze said. “It’s such a despicable piece, so sleazy … but it’s politics, for crying out loud. That’s how it works.” 

 

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These 19 Democrats May Already Be Jockeying for a Presidential Run: Report

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January 21, 2026

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The November midterms are more than nine months away, but already there are well over a dozen Democrats who could be showing signs of interest in running for the White House in 2028.

That’s according to Zenith Research pollster Adam Carlson, who identified nineteen Democrats with varying degrees of proximity to a presidential race.

The list includes current and former U.S. Senators, Congress members, governors, and mayors. One former cabinet secretary, one former ambassador, and one former astronaut. But overall, the list is heavy with executive experience — not just Washington politicians. That could be a feather in the cap for Democrats, as the GOP’s current bench appears to be drawn largely from inside the Trump administration — and voters may not want four, if not eight, more years of the same.

Nearly all have accumulated years — and in some cases, decades — of experience in government, spanning local, state, and national offices, yet none is older than in their mid-60s. The youngest is currently just one year beyond the Constitution’s 35-year age threshold. And today, after nearly a decade of some of the oldest U.S. presidents in history, that age range could bring a sigh of relief for many voters.

Many also hail from across the country, rather than being concentrated among so-called coastal elites — a longstanding critique often leveled at Democrats.

READ MORE: ‘Damage Control’: Trump Mocked for New Weekly Barnstorming Blitz Months Ahead of Midterms

Carlson divided the list into categories. Five are “clearly running,” six seem likely, four fall into a “wouldn’t be surprised” section, and just one is seen as “unlikely.” The future of two could depend on the 2026 race, and one is a “wildcard.”

Here are Carlson’s predictions:

Those clearly signaling a run include Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear; former U.S. Transportation Secretary and former South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg; former Chicago mayor and U.S. ambassador Rahm Emanuel — who also served in the Obama White House; California Governor Gavin Newsom; and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro.

The “seems likely” group ranges from former Newark mayor and current U.S. Senator Cory Booker, to former Vice President Kamala Harris, along with U.S. Senator and former NASA astronaut Mark Kelly, U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy, and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker.

Under “wouldn’t be surprised,” are U.S. Senator Ruben Gallego, Maryland Governor Wes Moore, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, (AOC), and U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen.

The “unlikely” candidate, according to Carlson, is Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

The two “depends on 2026” candidates are both U.S. Senators, and both from Georgia: Senator Jon Ossoff and Senator Raphael Warnock.

Lastly, the “wildcard”: political commentator and television host Jon Stewart.

READ MORE: ‘Can Barely Keep His Eyes Open’: Trump Mocked Over ‘Ramblefest’ Davos Speech

 

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‘Damage Control’: Trump Mocked for New Weekly Barnstorming Blitz Months Ahead of Midterms

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18 hours ago

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January 21, 2026

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As his poll numbers continue to drop, the White House is announcing that President Donald Trump will begin a weekly barnstorming blitz of the country to rally supporters with stump speeches designed to change voters’ perceptions that high prices are Trump’s fault.

“Trump’s first stop will be on Tuesday in Iowa, where he will deliver a speech on the economy and energy, chief of staff Susie Wiles told reporters on the way to Davos, Switzerland,” Politico reported. “The travel blitz beginning in January is much earlier than during his first term, when he began traveling aggressively to support candidates just after Labor Day.”

“Trump has struggled to articulate an affordability message that moves the needle with voters, and a purposeful tack back to domestic matters could help that perception,” Politico noted, adding that “polling has regularly shown Trump’s popularity slipping and voters beginning to blame his policies for the high cost of living.”

According to Zeteo News’ Prem Thakker, Trump is running negative — and in some cases double-digit negative — in a dozen states that will hold elections for the U.S. Senate this November. Thakker cited data from The Economist, which also shows that the president’s net approval rating is now -19 percent, down two points from last week and “the lowest it has been this term.”

READ MORE: DOJ Delay Continues as Judge Denies Epstein Files Special Master

Some of those state ratings, Thakker noted, include:
Georgia: -18.6%
Maine: -18.4%
Texas: -17.2%
Michigan: -15.8%
N Carolina: -13.6%

Meanwhile, some appeared optimistic.

“As President Trump barnstorms the country to advance his America First agenda, Republicans are poised to defy history in the midterms,” Republican National Committee spokesperson Kiersten Pels told Politico.

Others took a different view.

The Bulwark’s Sarah Longwell rejected former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) spokesperson Katie Miller’s suggestion that Trump’s travel to Iowa means that he’s “running.”

“This is a hilarious tweet,” Longwell wrote. “Trump isn’t going to Iowa because he is running. He’s going for damage control because his tariffs have made the state a pickup for Democrats.”

The Lincoln Project added, “Trump’s ‘Affordability Hoax’ heads to Iowa to tell Iowans that everything’s fine, despite their worst-in-the-country economy.”

On Tuesday, CNN’s John King reported that while Democrats understand that Iowa will be an uphill battle, they see opportunity.

“Democrats have a huge opportunity and Republicans acknowledge it,” King also told Anderson Cooper. “If the election were tomorrow, the Democrats would take back the House without question. The only part is the margin.”

READ MORE: ‘Can Barely Keep His Eyes Open’: Trump Mocked Over ‘Ramblefest’ Davos Speech

 

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DOJ Delay Continues as Judge Denies Epstein Files Special Master

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20 hours ago

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January 21, 2026

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Thirty-three days after the Trump Department of Justice was required by law to release the Epstein Files — but failed to produce even one percent of them — a federal judge has rejected a bipartisan effort to appoint a special master to oversee production of the documents.

U.S. Reps. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Thomas Massie (R-KY), authors of the Epstein Files Transparency Act (EFTA), went to court to make their request. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer declined that request, stating that he does not have the authority to appoint a special master.

“Their request is ‘important’ and ‘timely,’ but the appropriate vehicle may be a lawsuit or Congress, the judge says,” according to All Rise News editor-in-chief Adam Klasfeld.

“This criminal case does not give the Court any charter to supervise DOJ’s compliance with the EFTA,” Judge Engelmayer wrote, as New York Daily News reporter Molly Crane-Newman reported. “And the motion exceeds the bounds of permissible amici participation. This decision is without prejudice to the Representatives’ right to initiate a separate lawsuit. The Representatives are also, of course, at liberty to pursue oversight of DOJ via the tools available to Congress.”

READ MORE: ‘Can Barely Keep His Eyes Open’: Trump Mocked Over ‘Ramblefest’ Davos Speech

On Tuesday, Crane-Newman reported that attorneys for the two congressmen had renewed “their push to seek a special master to oversee the Epstein files release, saying the government ‘cannot be relied upon to act with disinterest and objectively to do what is best for the survivors. It has its own conflicting interests.'”

Former Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg, earlier on Wednesday, told MSNOW, “I don’t think we’ll see the entire file until Trump is out of office.”

“I think part of the problem here for Congressmen Khanna and Massie is that the law that they wrote is riddled with loopholes. It does not have an enforcement mechanism. So they’re trying to figure out how to get the DOJ to turn over all the documents, but there’s nothing in the law that forces them to do so under penalty of whatever,” he explained.

Aronberg called it “a real big question whether or not they, as members of Congress, have the standing to get this judge in a closed case to force the DOJ to turn over the documents.”

READ MORE: Canadian Prime Minister Warns World Order Has Ruptured

 

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