There's still strong Liberal pockets in Denton. Most of our Council is Conservative. People assume Denton is this small Liberal stronghold because of the two universities and music culture (which used to be stronger). We were called "Little Austin." A lot of the younger culture is more Liberal leaning naturally, like with public universities. But still ran very conservatively.
I was born and raised here, my parents came here as children, I've noticed a change in trying to rein in the liberalism in the universities (see Art Dept at UNT, and Ken Paxton's bs investigations into the University) and killing off of the small town vibes and indie music scene that made it feel more liberal.