While the Conservative Political Action Conference has left Texas, the messaging from the influential annual event will shape Republican priorities moving forward.
The four-day event — which wrapped up on Saturday in Grapevine, Texas — featured many top conservatives speaking on what they consider the county's most important issues right now.
This was CPAC's first time back in the Lone Star State since 2022 when they hosted it in Dallas. Topics at this year's convention included everything from the midterms and Marxism in schools to family values and foreign policy. Thousands of conference goers watched as panels with titles like "K-Pop Communist Hunters" and "Cigars, Steaks, and Ivermectin: A MAHA Survival Guide" graced the main stage.
But several recurring topics dominated the event: The U.S. and Israel-led war in Iran, conservatives' concerns about growing Muslim influence in the country, and the looming Republican U.S. Senate runoff between the CPAC favorite, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, and incumbent Sen. John Cornyn.
The war in Iran
Talk of the ongoing war dominated the four-day event, which included a sizable number of Iranian American attendees. Throughout the convention, they could be seen wearing themed hats and shirts, with some draping Iranian flags over their shoulders like capes. Others wore hats and held signs that read "Make Iran Great Again" or declared support for Reza Pahlavi, The Crown Prince of Iran.
Pahlavi, who is seen as a unifying figure who's positioned himself to lead a transition of power in Iran, was a featured speaker at CPAC in Texas.
"Unlike the regime that worships death and destruction, the Iranian people celebrate life and liberty," Pahlavi told the crowd Saturday. "That's why I can imagine an Iran that exports engineers instead of extremists."
Speaking on the rising civilian and military death tolls, attendee Kayvon Nia told The Texas Newsroom, "Unfortunately, it's necessary because that regime — 47 years — they kill people, they kill innocent people."
Still, several CPAC attendees said they'd rather not have the United States be involved in a long war. More than one mentioned President Donald Trump's election night speech where he said he was, "not going to start a war."
'I don't particularly want another great war on terror, where we're over there for 20, 25 years," said Tyler Bertola, who came to CPAC from Austin, where she runs a literary and entertainment agency.
Ultimately, Bertola told The Texas Newsroom that she just "wants America safe."
Anti-Muslim Rhetoric
The next most talked about topic at CPAC was the worry about the growth of a "radical Islamist" movement in America. The conference came to Texas amid a backdrop of growing anti-Muslim rhetoric within the Republican party, including some high-profile examples from members of Congress earlier this month.
Bo French, a Republican candidate currently in a runoff for Texas Railroad Commissioner, called for Americans to "openly embrace islamophobia" and advocated for 100 million deportations during a Friday panel called "Don't Sharia My Texas."
That same day, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott addressed CPAC. In his speech, Abbott highlighted his 2016 decision to withdraw Texas from the federal refugee resettlement program — a move he said came in response to President Barack Obama's attempt to place Syrian refugees in Texas after the 2015 Paris attacks.
Abbott also slammed the North Texas project formerly known as EPIC City, a proposed development from the East Plano Islamic Center. The development has been a consistent target of Texas Republicans.
Abbott hasn't done that alone: Attorney General Ken Paxton has been helping file several of the lawsuits against what he calls the "Sharia City".
U.S. Senate Runoff
Paxton, who's running for U.S. Senate, also spoke during CPAC's Ronald Reagan dinner auction on Saturday night, a fundraising event that included a bedazzled sweater selling for $25,000.
Paxton opened his speech highlighting the fact that his opponent, longtime incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, was not in attendance at the convention.
While both Republicans were invited to the conference ahead of their May runoff for the party's U.S. Senate nomination, Cornyn cited his busy schedule in D.C. as his reason for declining.
Paxton has accepted the invite to speak at CPAC, Cornyn still has not. Let’s get it scheduled. pic.twitter.com/fO7gg59sKH
— CPAC (@CPAC) March 19, 2026
Throughout his speech, Paxton picked up on that, continuously taking jabs at Cornyn.
"Let's take the whole 40 plus years of John Cornyn's career and let me ask you a question: Can anybody in the room name one good accomplishment in 40 plus years?" Paxton asked the crowd, who either stayed quiet or yelled "No!"
CPAC later officially endorsed Paxton in the runoff. That comes as no surprise since the group's candidate rating system puts him at 100%, with Cornyn at 85%.
Most of the attendees at the conference also said they favored Paxton over Cornyn.
"We need Ken Paxton," J.D. Enright told The Texas Newsroom. "No offense to John Cornyn, but he's been doing that for a long time and where are we?"
Yet not everyone was so certain. While most attendees interviewed for this story thought Paxton was the more conservative candidate, some also believed his legal and ethical issues — including his past impeachment as Texas Attorney General — could make him a weaker U.S. Senate candidate in the general election.
"Paxton has done a lot of good in this state but he's got a lot of baggage," said Billy Guynup. He added that, while he believes Cornyn has traditionally been a supporter of President Trump, the incumbent is still "missing the boat here in Texas."
Ultimately, though, Guynup told The Texas Newsroom he plans to vote for whoever will be the best to keep Texas red.
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