Officially the SBC is pro-life (including IVF-skeptical after the 2024 resolution), traditional on marriage and gender, pro-religious-liberty, and pro-school-choice. Post-2018 Guidepost report on the SBC sex-abuse crisis, the convention has formally elevated personal moral conduct of leaders to a sharply disqualifying concern. Paxton hits the policy planks but the adultery, securities fraud, impeachment, and one-day plea deal in the Waco child sex abuse case from his office are exactly the pattern the SBC has spent six years repenting of. Cornyn hits the policy planks substantially and has a clean personal-conduct record that satisfies the post-Guidepost SBC framework — but he loses ground on the Respect for Marriage Act vote, which the SBC's 2022 statement specifically opposed. The two cancel out: Paxton's policy alignment vs Cornyn's personal-conduct edge.
Sources
- Sen. John Cornyn, official Senate website and 2026 re-election campaign issues page, accessed May 2026 (cornyn.senate.gov; johncornyn.com). (full list)
- Patrick Svitek, 'Ken Paxton emerges victorious from yet another career scandal,' Texas Tribune, Sept. 17, 2023. (full list)
- Neena Satija et al., 'Inside the child sex abuse case that resulted in Ken Paxton's office offering a plea deal of just one day in jail,' Texas Tribune, May 19, 2026. (full list)
- National Right to Life Committee Cornyn voting record (100% NRLC lifetime); Susan B. Anthony List endorsement record; co-sponsor of Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act; Respect for Marriage Act vote (Dec. 2022) — one of 12 Senate Republicans to support. (full list)