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

Most important problem facing the state

Conservative identification among Texas Republicans

Ratings of Republican elected officials’ conservatism

[[nid:98373 exclude=moderates, liberals]]

Most trusted branch of the U.S. government

Donald Trump favorability

Belief that Joe Biden legitimately won the 2020 election

Institutional approval ratings

Expectations of future political violence in the U.S.

Ted Cruz job approval

Greg Abbott job approval

Dan Patrick job approval

Ken Paxton Job approval

104747

104745

 

Not speaking: John Cornyn

Conservative intensity crosstabs of all results from the June 2022 University of Texas/Texas Politics Project Poll.