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AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Dallas is hosting the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, known as CPAC. The conservative gathering comes as people in Texas wait to find out who the Republican nominee will be in a still undecided primary. That election is headed to a runoff at the end of May. The Texas Newsroom's political reporter Blaise Gainey has been at the conference all week long and joins us now. Hi, Blaise.
BLAISE GAINEY, BYLINE: Hey. Glad to be here.
CHANG: Glad to have you. OK. So one big topic in your state and really across the country is, of course, the runoff election between Senator John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton for the U.S. Senate. What are you hearing so far on that from people at the conference?
GAINEY: Yeah. The majority of the people I speak to want Paxton. Even with his long history of legal troubles and very public divorce, he still has a very loyal base of GOP supporters who see him as the true MAGA candidate. And they are aware of the possibility that President Trump may endorse a candidate, but Michael Chafetz, a resident of Arlington, says either way, he's voting the same way he did in the primary.
MICHAEL CHAFETZ: Even if he does, I kind of think that it's not going to matter all that much, that Paxton is going to win anyway.
GAINEY: Ultimately, the message I've gotten is that Trump can make his choice, but Texans feel they know best who - which candidate is the best conservative, and they believe that's Paxton. It's also good to note that Paxton is the CPAC-endorsed candidate. He's also expected to speak tonight at a dinner that so far is closed off to the press.
CHANG: OK. And what about Senator Cornyn, who's the longtime incumbent here? Have you heard anything from him?
GAINEY: I haven't heard directly, but so far, Cornyn has been in D.C. attempting to get the SAVE Act passed - legislation that focuses on requiring voter ID. This is connected to the drama over Trump's endorsement in this race because Trump has said if and when he makes an endorsement, the other candidate should drop out. Paxton has said one of the conditions of him dropping out would be that Cornyn and other Senate Republicans need to abolish the filibuster and pass the SAVE Act. But Trump has not tipped his hand to favor either candidate yet, and the time period has already passed for either of them to remove their name from the ballot. Cornyn was invited to CPAC this year but isn't attending, saying that he is busy in D.C. focusing on trying to pass that SAVE Act.
CHANG: Well, I understand Governor Greg Abbott, who's Republican - he spoke earlier today. How did he frame this Senate race?
GAINEY: He framed it as sort of, we need to keep Texas, Texas, which for him means keeping the state red. He hasn't necessarily made an endorsement, whether he wants Paxton or Cornyn, but he's been very vocal about the Democratic candidate James Talarico.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
GREG ABBOTT: He is wrong for Texas, and we are going to ensure that we secure our state from such a takeover. We're going to keep Texas red. We're going to safeguard the values that keep Texas, Texas.
GAINEY: Abbott himself is seeking a fourth term. If he wins in November, then he - and finishes that term, he'll become the longest-serving governor of the state. Also, during his time on stage, he highlighted bills that he believes fights back at what he calls an attempt by socialists to take over the state, like passing a bill that would strip funds from cities that defund the police and passing a law that bans certain foreign countries - like China and Iran - from buying property in Texas.
CHANG: And real quick, how is the war with Iran being discussed there so far?
GAINEY: Well, there are a lot of Iranian Americans here that are openly supportive of the war. For example, I was in the hall and could hear them chanting for a regime change in Iran. And many attendees I spoke to said they support the president's war on Iran. One person even said he believes the gas prices are only going up due to price gouging and that it's not to put any blame on President Trump.
CHANG: That is Blaise Gainey of the Texas Newsroom. Thank you, Blaise.
GAINEY: Thank you. Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. Facebook Flipboard Email Read & Listen Home News Culture Music Podcasts & Shows Connect Newsletters Facebook Instagram Press Public Editor Corrections Transcripts Contact & Help About NPR Overview Diversity NPR Network Accessibility Ethics Finances Get Involved Support Public Radio Sponsor NPR NPR Careers NPR Shop NPR Extra Terms of Use Privacy Your Privacy Choices Text Only Sponsor Message Sponsor MessageBecome an NPR sponsor (function () { var loadPageJs = function () { (window.webpackJsonp=window.webpackJsonp||[]).push([[22],{1167:function(e,n,c){e.exports=c(323)},323:function(e,n,c){"use strict";c.p=NPR.serverVars.webpackPublicPath,Promise.all([c.e(1),c.e(2),c.e(3),c.e(4),c.e(84)]).then(function(e){c(3),c(1140),c(116),c(94),c(52),c(493),c(239),c(102),c(104),c(1141),c(143),c(1142),c(238),c(48),c(1143)}.bind(null,c)).catch(c.oe)}},[[1167,0]]]); }; if (document.readyState === 'complete') { loadPageJs(); } else { window.addEventListener('load', function load() { window.removeEventListener('load', load, false); loadPageJs(); }); } })();