Adam Cahn, most well-known for his thought provoking blog Cahnman’s Musings, is an Austin-based conservative activist who made it to Texas after escaping New York.

Cahn has been in Austin for the past decade and has since taken to reporting on Austin City Council, the state legislature, and anything and everything in between.

“My interest in national politics goes back 25 years. But my focus on the state and local level is a much more recent occurrence,” said Cahn.

As with many other limited-government, liberty-minded Americans, Cahn gave up on D.C. politics and policy after President Obama’s 2012 reelection. Knowing that the 83rd Legislative Session was quickly approaching that following winter, he made the plan to “work to make Texas as strong as possible to withstand the global economic storm.”

However, what he found in the Capitol shocked him just as much.

“I remember, specifically, that the legislature killed constitutional spending limits and local debt transparency bills that I thought were such obvious, good ideas that they would fly through passage,” said Cahn, who quickly realized the extent to which House Speaker Joe Straus controlled membership.

While focusing on the state legislature, Cahn didn’t let local issues slip by. During that legislative session, he partnered with Don Zimmerman to fight an Austin ISD bond proposal, which they succeeded in defeating.

As if he didn’t already have enough of his plate, during this time he was also watching and covering the political targeting and impeachment of University of Texas Regent Wallace Hall.

Cahn said his interest in politics originally began in the 1992 Presidential election, but significantly increased post-9/11. “While I’ve always been generally conservative,” Cahn said, “the suicidal nature of leftism became obvious to me around that period of time.”

Cahn hopes his involvement encourages others and urges them to take control of their lives by pushing back against government intervention. “It also should go without saying, but I want to see babies given the chance to live,” he added.

While his most time-consuming endeavor is his blog, he is also involved with Austin Disaster Relief Network, Mobile Loaves and Fishes, and more political campaigns than one can remember.

Unlike many activists, his past shows his focus isn’t contained to one governmental level; he wants to reform it all. Whether it’s deregulation of the local housing market and reducing city spending, or eliminating tax-funded lobbying and bringing constitutional carry to Texas, he’s using his online platform to advocate for it all.

When he’s not at Austin City Hall or the Capitol, you can find Cahn working at Hat Creek Burger Company, or cheering on his favorite sports teams—the UT Longhorns and the New York Yankees.

Charles Blain

Charles Blain is the president of Urban Reform and Urban Reform Institute. A native of New Jersey, he is based in Houston and writes on municipal finance and other urban issues.

RELATED POSTS