Red MAGA hats, American flag themed clothing, and bedazzled Trump gear fill the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center.
Attendees snap selfies as Steve Bannon, former advisor to President Donald Trump, hosts a live broadcast of his program for the network Real America's Voice.
Behind the main stage, "Protect women's sports" scrolls across a massive video screen.
This is CPAC 2026, currently underway in Grapevine, Texas. The Conservative Political Action Conference draws thousands each year and is billed as "the world's largest and most influential" gathering for conservatives. CPAC is also seen as an indicator of the direction the Republican party is headed.
Among the speakers at this week's event, which runs through Saturday, are Education Secretary Linda McMahon and former South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, plus a host of conservative media personalities, GOP lawmakers from across the county and, of course, some notable Texas Republicans, including Gov. Greg Abbott.
"It's a chance to actually see — in person — people in the news," said John Arenz, a North Texas resident, adding he also came to CPAC "to support the conservative agenda."
The conference's agenda includes a wide variety of issues and hot-button political topics, from the war in Iran to defeating communism to speeches from Republican political hopefuls on the ballot in November.
Notably, this is the second time the event has come to North Texas this decade. Dallas County GOP Chair Allen West said CPAC's return to the state could be seen as a call to action for Texas conservatives — specifically, a call to not let "history repeat itself" during this critical midterm election year.
"I think it's just a good thing to help people here in Texas remember, and across the country, that you have to get out and vote," West told The Texas Newsroom. "We saw what happened in the first midterm of President Trump's first term of presidency."
West said he still believes Texas is a very red state, but wants to ensure Republicans show up in November. He pointed to several recent elections, including the Fort Worth state Senate seat that flipped from Republican to Democratic control in January, as evidence that Texas conservatives shouldn't take their hold on the state for granted.
Texas officials speaking at CPAC this year
The bellwether conference comes to the Lone Star State at a pivotal moment for the Texas GOP: The leadup to the Republican's U.S. Senate runoff election between incumbent Sen. John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Only one of the two candidates is on the CPAC schedule this week: Paxton is set to give a speech during a dinner on Friday evening (Cornyn was invited to the convention, but cited his need to stay in Washington, D.C. in order to pass the SAVE America Act as his reason for missing it). But Paxton won't be giving a speech from the convention's main stage. Instead, he's set to speak at a ticketed, black tie event.
The battle over who will be the party's nominee for the seat on the November ballot has drawn national attention, with President Donald Trump saying earlier this month that he planned to endorse a candidate in the race.
"I kind of think that it's not going to matter that much," said Michael Chafetz, a retired resident of Arlington, who spoke to The Texas Newsroom on the convention floor. "Paxton is going to win anyway."
Earlier on Friday, Abbott and Sen. Bryan Hughes will share the stage to welcome convention goers to Texas. Abbott is also up for reelection this year, but at this point he isn't acknowledging his opponent much. Instead, the governor has focused most of his efforts on backing other Texas Republicans in their races and attacking Democrats like Rep. James Talarico who won the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate.
Another Texas Republican candidate heading for a high-profile runoff, state Sen. Mayes Middleton, spoke on the convention's main stage on Thursday. The Republican faces off against U.S. Rep. Chip Roy in May to determine who will be the party's nominee for Texas Attorney General.
Middleton told the audience that he will win the race because Texans won't forget what Chip Roy has done in the past 10 years as a Congressman.
"He actually said that President Trump needed to be impeached, he sided with Liz Cheney saying that she needed to be commended and not condemned, and even rewarded the transgender lobbyists to allow those surgeries to continue in the blue states," Middleton said.
What Texans at CPAC are focused on this year
Enthusiastic conservatives from across the country attend the annual event, but the CPAC crowd this year is, of course, more Texan-heavy than usual given its location.
Attendees say they came to hear from Republican candidates and other conservative figures, but with certain issues top of mind.
Rolando Rodriguez is the founder of Latinos for Trump, an organization he started in 2016. He told The Texas Newsroom the commander-in-chief's economic policy matters most to Hispanics he talks with.
"What they want is jobs, for the economy to flow. And it is working, I mean not as fast as we would like for it to happen but it's working," said Rodriguez.
The conference is also taking place around the one-month mark of the start of the war inIran led by the U.S. and Israel.
Many guests on the convention floor so far have held signs or waved flags signaling their support for America's involvement in the fight overseas. On Thursday, a large group of Persians and Iranians in attendance began chanting "Regime change for Iran" amidst the crowd.
"I trust Trump's ability to handle this," Ron Chafetz of Arlington told The Texas Newsroom. "These people are… they're terrorists and they can't be worked with or negotiated in any way."
Beaumont resident Michael Reaud, who came to CPAC with his "Trump Tribe of Texas" group, said the rising cost of gas doesn't change his support for the way.
"Whatever President Trump's doing in Iran, we support it," he said, pushing the criticism to the oil industry. "They're blaming the gas prices on this Iranian war."
The event continues through Saturday, ending with a dinner and currently unannounced keynote speaker who will talk about what is next for the 'Freedom First Movement'.
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