Cato Institute

Cato favors free markets, free trade, civil liberties, criminal-justice reform, drug-policy reform, dovish foreign policy, executive-power skepticism, and pro-legal (often near-open) immigration. Abbott earns Cato credit on tax cuts, deregulation, Second Amendment, and school choice (SB 2) — substantial — but loses on Operation Lone Star's expansion of state coercive capacity, on the Trump-tariff defense (Cato is staunchly free-trade), on the Ten Commandments / church-state package, on permitless carry being paired with the SB 1362 preemptive ban on extreme-risk protection orders (Cato is generally civil-liberties-positive), and on cannabis prohibition (Cato favors legalization, Abbott's June 2025 veto is the smallest possible Cato-aligned move). Hinojosa earns Cato credit on cannabis-decriminalization bills (HB 81, HB 2107), on legal-immigration humaneness, and on civil-liberties votes (SB 10, SB 17). Both candidates pick up substantial partial credit; Abbott slightly higher overall.