Austin’s annual political festival hopes to draw conservatives despite its heavy liberal presence

One of the country’s most prominent political conferences hopes to draw conservative attendees despite being Texas’s progressive haven of Austin and a roster filled with some of the biggest names in the liberal media.

The Texas Tribune Festival is “designed to bring Texans closer to politics, policy and the day’s news from Texas and beyond,” according to its organizers. The jam-packed, three-day event hosted by the nonprofit newspaper late last month featured prominent politicians, media figures, legal experts and other influencers and activists to discuss issues facing Americans and today’s headlines.  

Among the speakers from the media include CNN’s Jake Tapper, NBC News’ Chuck Todd, MSNBC’s Chris Hayes and “1619 Project” architect Nikole Hannah-Jones. 

“The Tribune’s based in Austin, and obviously Austin is known to be kind of a left-leaning city. And so, you know, what we’re trying to do is – we’re trying to represent all of Texas and all kinds of points of view,” Texas Tribune’s Ayan Mittra told Fox News Digital. 

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Texas Tribune senior managing editor Ayan Mittra wants everyone represented at the paper’s festival. (Fox News)

Mittra, the senior managing editor at the Austin-based news organization, explained the importance of finding “solutions” by reaching both sides of the aisle despite the liberal fan base.

“What we’re trying to do with this festival is bring various points of view, various people of various political persuasions, you know, Republicans, Democrats, independents,” Mittra continued. “The idea here is to try to have everyone have a chance to kind of represent themselves and represent other people who may disagree with them, but also have a chance to kind of share ideas and perspectives in a way that they may not be able to in other arenas.”

Prominent Democrats like Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, California Rep. Ro Khanna and Democratic Whip Katherine Clark were joined by several anti-Trump GOP critics like New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and presidential candidates Asa Hutchinson and Will Hurd. 

The political outreach did nab a few conservative Republicans like Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Texas’ own Sen. Ted Cruz, while also courting Joe Manchin, West Virginia’s Democratic senator who continues threatening to leave his party and flirting with a third-party presidential bid. 

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Katie Couric speaks at the 2023 Texas Tribune Festival on Sept. 22, 2023, in Austin, Texas. (Joseph A. Wulfsohn/Fox News Digital)

“We’re here to cast a wide net,” Mittra said.

While the festival tries to draw speakers of all political stripes, the attendees wore their liberal stripes on their sleeves. They repeatedly jeered and heckled Cruz when he took to the stage at Austin’s historic Paramount Theater. 

The same crowd found it particularly amusing when famed journalist Katie Couric suggested former President Obama owes his 2008 victory to her following her memorable interview with former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, saying he should have sent her a “big-a– bouquet of flowers.” 

During an interview with famed Democratic strategist James Carville, The Free Press founder Bari Weiss polled the audience to ask if anyone in the room identified as a conservative. Only one person raised their hand.

“We’re not necessarily here to just have a back and forth. We’re here to kind of, you know, let people bring back why they believe what they believe and why they think that their solutions, the way that their structure of ideas works best for solving the big problems that we face. We’re all about solutions focused work,” Mittra said. “This is about a public forum about creating a space for people to share their differences, share their ideas, and kind of come together.” 

Democratic strategist James Carville sits with The Free Press founder Bari Weiss at the 2023 Texas Tribune Festival. (Joseph A. Wulfsohn/Fox News Digital)

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Tribune readers from both sides of the aisle want to support their families, protect their children and live in a safe environment, Mittra argued, with it being critical that everyone realizes “we’re all trying to get to the same place.”  

“Whether you’re conservative, whether you’re Republican, whether you don’t even put a letter next to your name, at the Texas Tribune Festival, you want to come here because the place is like regardless of what your political persuasion is, this isn’t about just politics. This is about solving our problems,” Mittra said. 

“You know, we had an electric grid that fell apart a couple of years ago. And there’s a lot of concern about the future of that. That is a nonpartisan issue, the future of, you know, water access in the state. That’s a nonpartisan issue,” he continued. “So, conservatives, liberals, Republicans, Democrats, everyone wants to solve these… so regardless of where you lean politically, these politics and policy issues are things that we all have a stake in.”

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