GREGG COUNTY \u2014 ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/wp-content\/media\/2026\/02\/dean-poist-225x153.jpg\")
Melissa Beckett, a Republican candidate for Texas House District 7, has filed a lawsuit against incumbent Rep. Jay Dean for defamation after he accused her of wanting to eliminate the Texas teacher retirement system. She claims that this accusation has negatively impacted her campaign, according to our news partners at KETK.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit, filed on Wednesday, claims that two days prior, Dean posted on his official Facebook a post from Texas Education 911 taken from X:<\/p>\n
‘Destroy Teacher Retirement? TEXAS EDUCATION 911 Texas Education 911 @TexasEd911 X.com -If Public Education were genuinely DOGEd, we could cut so much waste and return the money to people. -Maybe it’s time to retire the TRS and switch to 401Ks 2:40 PM 12\/9\/25 95 Views’<\/strong><\/p>\n He replied: \u201cHD7 alone employs roughly 1,600 teachers, and statewide the Teacher Retirement System (TRS) serves 1.8 million Texans, including nearly 800,000 retirees who depend on it. Calling for the elimination of TRS isn\u2019t bold \u2013 it\u2019s reckless and irresponsible. It threatens the financial security of educators who have dedicated their lives to our kids and our communities. And let\u2019s be clear: she knew it was wrong \u2013 that\u2019s why she deleted the post. When someone shows you who they are, believe them.\u201d<\/p>\n The lawsuit says the post by Dean accused Beckett of advocating for eliminating the Texas Teacher Retirement System and of deleting that post after public backlash.<\/p>\n \u201cIf true, such an accusation would significantly damage [Beckett\u2019s] campaign because TRS serves approximately 2.1 million Texans\u2026 Accusing a candidate of seeking to eliminate TRS would reasonably cause teachers, retirees and their families to view that candidate as threatening their financial security and retirement benefits,\u201d the lawsuit reads.<\/p>\n Although Dean did not explicitly name her in his post on Monday, Beckett\u2019s lawsuit claims that Dean made comments indicating he was referring to the plaintiff as \u201cshe\u201d and as \u201chis opponent.\u201d Beckett is the only Republican challenging Dean in the primaries.<\/p>\n Texas House Race: Cole Hefner goes for District 5 reelection with emphasis on water rights In response to Dean\u2019s posts, public reactions included \u201cGlad to see who proposed this! I\u2019ll make sure I vote!!!\u201d and \u201canyone that doesn\u2019t realize that retired teachers are one of the biggest block[s] of voters in our state, is just not wise enough to hold office.\u201d<\/p>\n Beckett says comments made by Dean have exposed her to public hatred, contempt and financial distrust, particularly among teachers, retires and their families. This, she claims, harms her professional reputation and fitness for public office. She now seeks monetary damages, together with court costs and other relief.<\/p>\n KETK News reached out to both candidates for a statement:<\/p>\n Rep. Jay Dean: Melissa Beckett: I have not been with Texas Education 911 since 2023.” <\/p>\n Texas Education 911 commented on Dean\u2019s post, confirming I have had nothing to do with them since 2023. Dean deleted their comments and has blocked them from his channel, which should concern everyone \u2013 why doesn\u2019t he want this information to be known? Truth doesn\u2019t matter to Dean. <\/p>\n Texas Education 911 advocates for students, teachers and parents. All one has to do is look at the testimonies on their website to see what great work they do to protect teachers, children and parents in the public school system. I have not been with Texas Education 911 since 2023.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" GREGG COUNTY \u2014 Melissa Beckett, a Republican candidate for Texas House District 7, has filed a lawsuit against incumbent Rep. Jay Dean for defamation after he accused her of wanting to eliminate the Texas teacher retirement system. She claims that this accusation has negatively impacted her campaign, according to our news partners at KETK. The … Continue reading Candidate sues Rep. Dean for defamation<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":1482629,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/wp-content\/media\/2026\/02\/dean-poist-225x153.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[177],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1482502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news-archive-archives"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-07 14:19:09","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/wp-content\/media\/2026\/02\/dean-poist-225x153.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1482502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1482502"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1482502\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1483256,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1482502\/revisions\/1483256"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1482629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1482502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1482502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1482502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThe lawsuit outlines several instances where Dean reiterated that Beckett and \u201cher\u201d organization, which she states she has not been involved with and has not made any social media posts since 2023, have claimed they want to eliminate TRS.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cYou know, I haven\u2019t even seen this lawsuit yet. I\u2019ve heard about it, but everything I\u2019ve said is the truth, so it can\u2019t be defamation if it\u2019s the truth. I\u2019m not too worried about it. We\u2019ve seen them do the same thing to our president, President Trump. When they can\u2019t beat him on policy, they can\u2019t beat him at the ballot box; they make up lawsuit after lawsuit against him. He calls it \u2018lawfare.\u2019 That\u2019s all this is. I\u2019m proud to have President Trump\u2019s endorsement in this election, and I\u2019m confident the voters of House District 7 will stand with President Trump, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\u201cDean is stirring up anxiety and fear in teachers with a lie to win an election. It angers me \u2013 our teachers do not deserve to be used like that. I have not made any statements during this election or any other time about TRS except to deny the lies from Dean. I love our teachers and I would never even consider eliminating their retirement. <\/p>\n