Photo: Billy Calzada, Staff / San Antonio Express-News Photo: Robert Hoskins Campaign

On a Tuesday evening in early January, several Texas lawmakers convened at the Austin Club, an ornate and ritzy venue three blocks from the Capitol, for a fundraiser in support of state Rep. Briscoe Cain.

Among the attendees were House Republicans Dan Huberty and Drew Springer, members who typically do not align with hardline conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus like Cain.

The guest list at Cain’s soirée illustrates the broad support he has received from Republican colleagues in his primary battle against Baytown Councilman Robert Hoskins, who is running as a moderate alternative to the incumbent lawmaker with the backing of nearly every mayor in the east Harris County district.

Hoskins has not drawn support, however, from moderate House Republicans who in prior election cycles might have opposed firebrand incumbents. Though partly a product of the Texas GOP’s newfound aversion to primary infighting, lawmakers and Capitol observers said Cain’s widespread support also stems from his ability to more deftly navigate the Legislature last session.

A reliable antagonist of former House speaker Joe Straus, Cain, R-Deer Park, switched up his approach under Straus’ successor, Angleton Republican Dennis Bonnen. After working closely with the speaker on certain issues during the 2019 session, Cain privately supported him amid last year’s scandal in which Bonnen sought to exchange media access for help targeting certain Republican incumbents. Bonnen announced in October he would not seek re-election.

Under Bonnen's speakership last session, a number of House Republicans "felt much more comfortable and were able to represent our districts and be much more effective, and I think Briscoe definitely fit that category,” Springer, R-Muenster, said earlier this week.

Though Cain may have softened his tone from the 2017 session, there is little evidence he has moderated the austere conservative ideology that made him a darling of grass-roots activists and propelled him to an upset primary win in 2016.

During the 2019 legislative session, Cain advocated for the state to chip in $2.5 billion for a border wall, proposed to outlaw abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected and in September got kicked off Twitter for saying his “AR-15 is ready” in response to Democrat Beto O’Rourke’s call for a mandatory buy-back of assault-style weapons.

Hoskins said he is challenging Cain in part because the Deer Park Republican has proven unwilling to work with local governments on issues in Austin. That has forced officials from Baytown and other cities to seek help from representatives in neighboring districts, said Hoskins, who has been endorsed by the mayors of Baytown, Deer Park, La Porte and Pasadena, all of which are in Cain’s House District 128.

More information Briscoe Cain Elective office held: Texas House District 128 state representative since 2017 Occupation: lawyer at Fulton Strahan Group, PLLC Age: 35 Robert Hoskins Elective office held: Goose Creek CISD trustee, 2005 to 2011; Baytown city councilman since 2011 Occupation: Training specialist at Enterprise Products Age: 62

“It’s very obvious the rep has his own agenda,” Hoskins said.

Also backing Hoskins are five of the six Deer Park city council members, and four of his colleagues on the Baytown city council.

Deer Park Mayor Jerry Mouton said Hoskins has a deep understanding of the unique relationship between residents and the energy industry, which has been the recent source of dangerous fires and explosions but also employs many residents in the district. Hoskins has worked for 37 years at a midstream oil and gas company in Baytown.

“You don’t want to have to be explaining to somebody why you need help with this issue in Austin,” Mouton said. “And with Robert having an extensive amount of experience as an industry employee, he gets that.”

Cain shrugged off Hoskins’ endorsements.

“Of course, my opponent is backed by politicians who don't want to lower property taxes and who want to use taxpayer money to hire lobbyists to represent them, not the taxpayers,” Cain said, contending that his own supporters — Gov. Greg Abbott and the NRA, among others — “want a hardworking honest conservative who will fight for their values.”

Though hardly a factor in his primary, Cain’s decision to affiliate with Bonnen and House leadership last session has strained his relations with some of the grass-roots conservatives who previously had lauded his uncompromising, rabble-rouser approach to politics.

That tension emerged publicly in late January after the Texas Tribune reported that Bonnen had contributed $15,000 to seven House members, including Cain. Michael Quinn Sullivan, chief executive of the Tea Party-aligned group Empower Texans, took aim at the members for accepting the cash, deploying the hashtag “#TeamCorruptAustinSewer.”

In response, Cain said Republican donors contributed the money to Bonnen’s political action committee “for the specific purpose of helping Republicans.”

“This wasn't really Bonnen's (money) in that sense,” Cain said. “What would be criminal is for Bonnen to hold onto the money and let House members get hurt, like Straus did when 12 members lost” in 2018.

Bonnen’s detractors were not buying it.

“Nice spin ... but no,” tweeted Luke Macias, Cain’s former political consultant. Hours later, Sullivan linked to a post on Empower Texans’ affiliated site, Texas Scorecard, about the Bonnen contributions. The story noted that Cain received a contribution in late 2019 from Lubbock state Rep. Dustin Burrows, “Bonnen’s accomplice in the backroom offer.”

Cain again responded to Sullivan — one of his early backers in 2016 — by tweeting “#fratricide.”

On Monday, Cain argued that his less incendiary approach during the 2019 session did not come at the expense of his conservative values.

“I found common ground with other members who I worked with to fight for Hurricane Harvey relief, property tax reforms, and common-sense laws that allow us to better secure our churches and schools, all while continuing to be ranked the most conservative member by a non-partisan Rice University study,” he said.

In a statement, Bonnen said Cain “has been shaking up the system as an outspoken – although often dissenting – force for the conservative movement” and has evolved into “a brilliantly effective lawmaker in recent years, one who is unapologetically principled and rock-solid in his convictions.”

Another possible explanation for Cain’s wide support from the House GOP Caucus is the impending speaker’s race to succeed Bonnen. That contest, by all accounts, remains wide open.

“Everybody's a candidate until they say they're not, so everyone's making friends as fast and furiously as they know how,” said Bill Miller, a longtime GOP lobbyist in Austin. “And showing up at a colleague's fundraiser and letting their name be used for an incumbent, it's just good politics and smart politics.”

jasper.scherer@chron.com