The Conservative Political Action Conference, meeting in Dallas August 4-7, bills itself as “the largest and most influential gathering of conservatives in the world.” Marketing aside, the marquee speakers at this years Dallas confab – former U.S. president Donald Trump and Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban – testify to how powerful currents of authoritarianism and nativism are bringing to the surface a unabashedly reactionary resurgence within mainstream conservatism in the U.S. and Europe. (Recent politics in Texas, including the June Republican Party of Texas convention, illustrate why Texas is a good site to showcase these global developments.)
While they lack the national stature and impact of the headliners, the Texas leaders scheduled to speak at CPAC are doing their parts to surf these same currents. Gov. Greg Abbott had an afternoon slot on stage on the conference’s opening day, and got the most enthusiastic applause when he riffed on his program bussing asylum-seeking migrants apprehended at the Texas-Mexico border to Washington and New York. (By comparison, the faint applause that greeted his trumpeting of economic development themes illustrates what does and does not get the modern conservative’s juices flowing.)
Other major Texas elected officials scheduled at the conference to include Senator Ted Cruz, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, and Attorney General Ken Paxton. No word on whether the senior senator from Texas was invited.
We've compiled data from the Texas Politics Project Polling archive that captures the attitudes of self-identified conservatives in Texas about home team speakers, as well as some snapshots of other aspects of conservative public opinion in CPAC’s host state. CSPAN is streaming some of the proceedings if you’re not there but want to join in the festivities.
Most important problem facing the country
| Category | Liberals | Moderates | Conservatives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inflation/Rising prices | 14% | 18% | 26% |
| The economy | 6% | 16% | 18% |
| Political corruption/leadership | 12% | 7% | 9% |
| Gun control/gun violence | 14% | 11% | 1% |
| Gas prices | 3% | 7% | 8% |
| Environment/Climate change | 11% | 5% | 1% |
| Border security | 1% | 1% | 8% |
| Moral decline | 1% | 1% | 7% |
| Voting rights | 5% | 2% | 1% |
| Category | Lean conservative | Somewhat conservative | Extremely conservative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inflation/Rising prices | 27% | 29% | 22% |
| The economy | 19% | 26% | 10% |
| Political corruption/leadership | 10% | 8% | 10% |
| Gun control/gun violence | 1% | 1% | 1% |
| Gas prices | 5% | 7% | 11% |
| Environment/Climate change | 1% | 1% | 1% |
| Border security | 6% | 6% | 12% |
| Moral decline | 5% | 5% | 10% |
| Voting rights | 0% | 1% | 2% |
Most important problem facing the state
| Category | Liberals | Moderates | Conservatives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Border security | 1% | 5% | 27% |
| Inflation/Rising prices | 8% | 12% | 14% |
| Immigration | 3% | 5% | 21% |
| Political corruption/leadership | 26% | 8% | 2% |
| Gun control/gun violence | 17% | 17% | 3% |
| Gas prices | 2% | 9% | 7% |
| The economy | 4% | 9% | 6% |
| Abortion | 7% | 4% | 2% |
| Environment/Climate change | 5% | 4% | 0% |
| Category | Lean conservative | Somewhat conservative | Extremely conservative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Border security | 14% | 29% | 32% |
| Inflation/Rising prices | 17% | 11% | 16% |
| Immigration | 18% | 26% | 17% |
| Political corruption/leadership | 5% | 1% | 1% |
| Gun control/gun violence | 4% | 1% | 3% |
| Gas prices | 6% | 8% | 7% |
| The economy | 9% | 7% | 4% |
| Abortion | 2% | 2% | 1% |
Conservative identification among Texas Republicans
| Poll | Liberal | Moderate | Conservative |
|---|---|---|---|
| July 2008 | 2% | 25% | 73% |
| October 2008 | 2% | 20% | 78% |
| March 2009 | 13% | 16% | 71% |
| June 2009 | 6% | 12% | 82% |
| October 2009 | 1% | 15% | 84% |
| February 2010 | 2% | 9% | 89% |
| May 2010 | 1% | 10% | 89% |
| September 2010 | 0% | 9% | 91% |
| October 2010 | 2% | 8% | 90% |
| February 2011 | 3% | 14% | 84% |
| May 2011 | 2% | 11% | 87% |
| October 2011 | 2% | 11% | 87% |
| February 2012 | 1% | 12% | 86% |
| May 2012 | 1% | 22% | 77% |
| October 2012 | 1% | 23% | 76% |
| February 2013 | 2% | 12% | 87% |
| June 2013 | 1% | 14% | 85% |
| October 2013 | 3% | 20% | 77% |
| February 2014 | 1% | 19% | 79% |
| June 2014 | 2% | 12% | 86% |
| October 2014 | 2% | 13% | 85% |
| February 2015 | 1% | 16% | 83% |
| June 2015 | 4% | 16% | 81% |
| October 2015 | 2% | 14% | 85% |
| February 2016 | 2% | 17% | 82% |
| June 2016 | 1% | 15% | 83% |
| October 2016 | 1% | 18% | 81% |
| February 2017 | 3% | 23% | 74% |
| June 2017 | 2% | 11% | 87% |
| October 2017 | 2% | 14% | 83% |
| February 2018 | 4% | 10% | 86% |
| June 2018 | 3% | 13% | 84% |
| October 2018 | 3% | 11% | 85% |
| February 2019 | 4% | 11% | 85% |
| June 2019 | 5% | 13% | 83% |
| October 2019 | 5% | 14% | 81% |
| February 2020 | 2% | 15% | 83% |
| April 2020 | 4% | 13% | 83% |
| June 2020 | 6% | 12% | 82% |
| October 2020 | 5% | 12% | 84% |
| February 2021 | 4% | 15% | 81% |
| March 2021 | 3% | 14% | 83% |
| April 2021 | 3% | 10% | 87% |
| June 2021 | 2% | 15% | 84% |
| August 2021 | 4% | 13% | 84% |
| October 2021 | 2% | 10% | 88% |
| February 2022 | 3% | 12% | 85% |
| April 2022 | 4% | 11% | 84% |
| June 2022 | 4% | 12% | 84% |
| August 2022 | 5% | 13% | 83% |
| October 2022 | 3% | 13% | 84% |
| February 2023 | 3% | 18% | 78% |
| April 2023 | 4% | 16% | 80% |
| June 2023 | 4% | 13% | 83% |
| August 2023 | 3% | 14% | 83% |
| October 2023 | 6% | 19% | 75% |
| February 2024 | 5% | 14% | 81% |
| April 2024 | 6% | 14% | 80% |
| June 2024 | 4% | 16% | 80% |
Ratings of Republican elected officials’ conservatism
| Category | Liberals | Moderates | Conservatives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative enough | 42% | 43% | 46% |
| Too conservative | 48% | 10% | 8% |
| Not conservative enough | 10% | 13% | 39% |
| Don't know/No opinion | 0% | 34% | 6% |
Most trusted branch of the U.S. government
| Category | Liberals | Moderates | Conservatives |
|---|---|---|---|
| The President, the executive branch | 46% | 22% | 4% |
| The U.S. Congress, the legislative branch | 10% | 7% | 6% |
| The U.S. Supreme Court, the judicial branch | 12% | 22% | 56% |
| Don't know/No opinion | 32% | 48% | 33% |
| Category | Lean conservative | Somewhat conservative | Extremely conservative |
|---|---|---|---|
| The President, the executive branch | 5% | 5% | 4% |
| The U.S. Congress, the legislative branch | 7% | 5% | 6% |
| The U.S. Supreme Court, the judicial branch | 55% | 61% | 53% |
| Don't know/No opinion | 33% | 29% | 37% |
| Category | Liberals | Moderates | Conservatives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Very favorable | 3% | 12% | 47% |
| Somewhat favorable | 3% | 14% | 27% |
| Neither favorable nor unfavorable | 2% | 11% | 11% |
| Somewhat unfavorable | 6% | 9% | 6% |
| Very unfavorable | 86% | 48% | 9% |
| Don't know/No opinion | 0% | 5% | 1% |
| Category | Lean conservative | Somewhat conservative | Extremely conservative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Very favorable | 26% | 40% | 67% |
| Somewhat favorable | 32% | 36% | 15% |
| Neither favorable nor unfavorable | 15% | 13% | 6% |
| Somewhat unfavorable | 11% | 5% | 3% |
| Very unfavorable | 15% | 5% | 8% |
| Don't know/No opinion | 1% | 0% | 2% |
Belief that Joe Biden legitimately won the 2020 election
| Category | Liberals | Moderates | Conservatives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | 94% | 65% | 22% |
| No | 5% | 20% | 64% |
| Not sure | 2% | 15% | 14% |
| Category | Lean conservative | Somewhat conservative | Extremely conservative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | 32% | 20% | 18% |
| No | 50% | 65% | 71% |
| Not sure | 18% | 15% | 11% |
Institutional approval ratings
| Category | Liberals | Moderates | Conservatives |
|---|---|---|---|
| The military | 44% | 54% | 76% |
| The police | 26% | 42% | 75% |
| The municipal or local government where you live | 39% | 30% | 50% |
| The Texas state government | 6% | 23% | 70% |
| The public schools | 49% | 40% | 32% |
| The courts/criminal justice system | 18% | 23% | 33% |
| The federal government | 29% | 19% | 14% |
| Category | Lean conservative | Somewhat conservative | Extremely conservative |
|---|---|---|---|
| The military | 72% | 74% | 80% |
| The police | 67% | 78% | 78% |
| The municipal or local government where you live | 46% | 53% | 50% |
| The Texas state government | 54% | 76% | 75% |
| The public schools | 42% | 28% | 30% |
| The courts/criminal justice system | 36% | 30% | 33% |
| The federal government | 20% | 11% | 12% |
Expectations of future political violence in the U.S.
| Category | Liberals | Moderates | Conservatives |
|---|---|---|---|
| More political violence | 74% | 47% | 68% |
| Less political violence | 7% | 10% | 6% |
| The same amount of political violence | 13% | 24% | 16% |
| Don't know/No opinion | 5% | 19% | 9% |
| Category | Lean conservative | Somewhat conservative | Extremely conservative |
|---|---|---|---|
| More political violence | 61% | 74% | 67% |
| Less political violence | 10% | 5% | 5% |
| The same amount of political violence | 20% | 13% | 16% |
| Don't know/No opinion | 8% | 8% | 11% |
| Category | Liberals | Moderates | Conservatives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Approve strongly | 3% | 6% | 43% |
| Approve somewhat | 3% | 16% | 30% |
| Neither approve nor disapprove | 4% | 20% | 9% |
| Disapprove somewhat | 4% | 8% | 5% |
| Disapprove strongly | 84% | 46% | 9% |
| Don't know | 1% | 4% | 4% |
| Category | Lean conservative | Somewhat conservative | Extremely conservative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Approve strongly | 21% | 45% | 55% |
| Approve somewhat | 39% | 31% | 24% |
| Neither approve nor disapprove | 17% | 10% | 4% |
| Disapprove somewhat | 7% | 5% | 2% |
| Disapprove strongly | 11% | 6% | 11% |
| Don't know | 6% | 2% | 4% |
| Category | Liberals | Moderates | Conservatives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Approve strongly | 2% | 10% | 33% |
| Approve somewhat | 4% | 15% | 43% |
| Neither approve nor disapprove | 5% | 19% | 8% |
| Disapprove somewhat | 6% | 12% | 9% |
| Disapprove strongly | 82% | 42% | 6% |
| Don't know | 0% | 2% | 0% |
| Category | Lean conservative | Somewhat conservative | Extremely conservative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Approve strongly | 15% | 31% | 47% |
| Approve somewhat | 49% | 50% | 33% |
| Neither approve nor disapprove | 13% | 6% | 6% |
| Disapprove somewhat | 15% | 8% | 6% |
| Disapprove strongly | 8% | 5% | 7% |
| Don't know | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Category | Liberals | Moderates | Conservatives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Approve strongly | 2% | 8% | 29% |
| Approve somewhat | 3% | 14% | 31% |
| Neither approve nor disapprove | 10% | 19% | 17% |
| Disapprove somewhat | 5% | 9% | 6% |
| Disapprove strongly | 74% | 36% | 9% |
| Don't know | 6% | 15% | 7% |
| Category | Lean conservative | Somewhat conservative | Extremely conservative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Approve strongly | 16% | 27% | 40% |
| Approve somewhat | 22% | 41% | 27% |
| Neither approve nor disapprove | 33% | 11% | 14% |
| Disapprove somewhat | 11% | 7% | 3% |
| Disapprove strongly | 10% | 6% | 11% |
| Don't know | 8% | 7% | 7% |
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Not speaking: John Cornyn
| Category | Liberals | Moderates | Conservatives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Approve strongly | 3% | 4% | 12% |
| Approve somewhat | 5% | 15% | 25% |
| Neither approve nor disapprove | 9% | 24% | 16% |
| Disapprove somewhat | 19% | 16% | 17% |
| Disapprove strongly | 57% | 27% | 20% |
| Don't know | 7% | 14% | 10% |
| Category | Lean conservative | Somewhat conservative | Extremely conservative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Approve strongly | 8% | 11% | 16% |
| Approve somewhat | 24% | 30% | 22% |
| Neither approve nor disapprove | 26% | 13% | 12% |
| Disapprove somewhat | 15% | 19% | 16% |
| Disapprove strongly | 13% | 18% | 26% |
| Don't know | 14% | 9% | 8% |