How They DifferCornyn · Paxton 2026
A no bullshit non-partisan comparison of political candidates
Aggregate score
Cornyn 5.1Paxton 2.7 C +2.4
Citations

Sources

Numbered footnotes throughout the site link to entries on this page. Each grader and issue page cites the specific sources used.

  1. Ken Paxton for U.S. Senate, official campaign issues page, accessed May 2026.
  2. Sen. John Cornyn, official Senate website and 2026 re-election campaign issues page, accessed May 2026 (cornyn.senate.gov; johncornyn.com).
  3. Gabby Birenbaum, 'On the issues: A Q&A with Ken Paxton and John Cornyn,' Texas Tribune, April 20, 2026.
  4. Patrick Svitek, 'Ken Paxton emerges victorious from yet another career scandal,' Texas Tribune, Sept. 17, 2023.
  5. Texas Tribune / ProPublica, 'Paxton files lawsuits in courts that could have more favorable outcomes,' May 20, 2026.
  6. 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.
  7. Texas Tribune, 'Texas families begin applying for private school vouchers,' Feb. 2026; coverage of Paxton AG opinion on Blaine Amendments.
  8. Texas Attorney General, 'Attorney General Ken Paxton Leads Nation in Protecting Americans' Data Privacy,' July 2025 (Meta $1.4B, Google $1.375B settlements; Character.AI investigation).
  9. Texas Attorney General, 'Paxton Says School Choice Legal in Texas,' March 2023.
  10. Texas Attorney General, 'Attorney General Ken Paxton Sues Five Cities Over Marijuana Policies,' Jan. 2024; lawsuit against Dallas Proposition R, Nov. 2024.
  11. Texas Attorney General, multistate ATF lawsuits on private firearm sales (May 2024) and pistol stabilizing braces (Feb. 2023).
  12. Texas Attorney General, 'Sues Biden Administration Over Rule That Could Force Rural Nursing Homes to Shut Down,' Aug. 2024.
  13. Texas Attorney General, 'Secures Victory Protecting the Integrity of States' Medicaid Programs,' Sept. 2025.
  14. Texas Attorney General, 'Paxton Leads Coalition to Defeat DACA,' Dec. 2022; ongoing Fifth Circuit litigation since 2018.
  15. Truth Social statement endorsing Paxton over Cornyn, May 19, 2026 (covered by CNBC, NBC News, Breitbart).
  16. Wall Street Journal editorial board, referenced by Bret Baier on Fox News 'Special Report,' May 20, 2026: Trump 'will deserve complete and total credit' if Paxton wins primary and loses to Talarico; broader WSJ ed-page treatment of Cornyn as 'the senator the Senate Republican conference actually wants to keep.'
  17. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 'Ken Paxton,' updated May 2026 (impeachment, securities settlement, AG litigation history).
  18. Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, Pub. L. 117-159 (June 25, 2022); Senate vote 65-33; Cornyn as lead Republican negotiator with Sen. Chris Murphy; NRA 'A+' downgrade letter, June 2022; floor speech June 21, 2022.
  19. Cornyn vote on S. 744, Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, June 27, 2013; RESULTS Act / Cornyn-Heller substitute amendment; 'border surge' Cornyn-Hoeven amendment incorporated into the bill.
  20. Cornyn votes on Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations (April 2024, $61B package); Cornyn statements on Israel aid and Iron Dome funding; Senate Foreign Relations Committee record on NATO and AUKUS.
  21. Cornyn as senior Senate Judiciary Committee Republican (2015-present); record on confirmations of Justices Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Barrett, and Jackson; Cornyn-Coons Sunshine in the Courtroom Act.
  22. Cornyn-Murphy Fix NICS Act, signed into law March 2018 as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act; Sutherland Springs church shooting (Nov. 5, 2017) Cornyn response.
  23. Cornyn votes on ACA repeal-and-replace (2017 skinny repeal, BCRA, Graham-Cassidy); Cornyn as co-sponsor of Health Savings Account expansion; statements on Medicare/Medicaid block grants; opposition to enhanced premium tax credit extension (2025).
  24. Cornyn votes on USMCA (January 2020); Senate Finance Committee record on free-trade agreements; Cornyn statements on Trump-era tariffs (2018-2026) including measured opposition to broad agricultural tariffs harming Texas exporters.
  25. Senate Republican Whip (2013-2019); 2024 Senate Republican Leader race vs. Sen. John Thune (Cornyn lost 29-23); Republican Conference institutional record; New York Times coverage of Cornyn-Thune-Scott three-way race, November 2024.
  26. 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.
  27. Texas Farm Bureau AGFUND PAC endorsement of John Cornyn for 2026 Senate primary, announced January 2026; Texas Tribune coverage of the endorsement as a signal of Texas agriculture establishment alignment.
  28. University of Houston Hobby School poll, May 2026 (Cornyn-Paxton primary head-to-head); Texas Tribune primary coverage; Cook Political Report Texas Senate race rating.
  29. Texas Attorney General actions against CAIR, East Plano Islamic Center, and Catholic Annunciation House; ABC News and Tribune coverage, 2024-2026.
  30. Brit Hume on Fox News 'Special Report,' May 20, 2026, citing WSJ editorial on electoral risk of Trump endorsing Paxton over Cornyn.
  31. The Hill, 'Sen. Susan Collins slams Donald Trump's Texas Senate endorsement of Ken Paxton,' May 19, 2026.
  32. State Bar of Texas Commission for Lawyer Discipline v. Warren Kenneth Paxton Jr., professional misconduct case filed 2022 over Texas v. Pennsylvania (2020) election lawsuit; Texas Supreme Court procedural rulings 2024-2026; State Bar of Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct.
  33. Pope John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae (1995), the 'consistent ethic of life' encyclical; Laborem Exercens (1981) on labor; Vatican opposition to Iraq War (2003).
  34. Walter Cronkite's CBS Evening News editorial after the Tet Offensive, Feb. 27, 1968; broader Cronkite Foundation archive on journalism standards.
  35. Martin Luther King Jr., 'Letter from Birmingham Jail' (1963); Poor People's Campaign (1968); 'Beyond Vietnam' address (1967).
  36. The Quran (multiple references to zakat, care for orphans, justice); authenticated hadith collections; the Constitution of Medina on religious pluralism.
  37. Sojourners, 'How Pope Leo XIV Understands His Role in Politics,' April 16, 2026; Britannica, 'Leo XIV,' May 2026.
  38. Lowy Institute, 'Two months in, what has Pope Leo XIV signalled as his foreign policy agenda?' July 2025.
  39. Micah 6:8; Amos 5:24, 8:4; Isaiah 1:17, 2:4; Jeremiah 22:3 — the prophetic ethical tradition.
  40. The Utah Compact (2010), endorsed by LDS Church and broader Utah civic leadership; LDS First Presidency political-neutrality statements.
  41. Gandhi, Hind Swaraj (1909); My Experiments with Truth (1927); satyagraha framework; assassination by Hindu nationalist Nathuram Godse (1948).
  42. Lincoln, Cooper Union Address (1860); Second Inaugural Address (1865); denunciation of the Know-Nothings (Aug. 1855 letter to Joshua Speed).
  43. Washington's Farewell Address (1796) on faction and foreign entanglements; Touro Synagogue letter (1790) on religious tolerance; voluntary surrender of power (1783, 1797).
  44. John McCain's July 28, 2017 vote against ACA repeal; final letter to America (Aug. 2018); 'regular order' Senate floor speech (July 25, 2017); McCain-Cornyn institutional collaboration on judicial reform and Gang of Eight engagement.
  45. Warren Buffett, 'Stop Coddling the Super-Rich,' New York Times op-ed, Aug. 14, 2011; Berkshire Hathaway annual letters; the Giving Pledge (2010); Buffett-Munger commentary on buybacks and executive compensation.
  46. Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase annual shareholder letters 2019-2026; public statements on immigration reform, infrastructure, Ukraine, and institutional decline; congressional testimony on banking regulation.
  47. Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company launch (Jan. 2022) and pricing transparency model; public Twitter/X commentary on tax policy and Trump-era politics; Dallas Mavericks ownership profile.
  48. Farm Aid co-founding (1985, with Neil Young and John Mellencamp); Willie's Reserve cannabis brand launch; Beto O'Rourke 'Turn Out for Texas' rally headline (Sept. 29, 2018, Auditorium Shores); 'Vote 'Em Out' (2018); 'Cowboys are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other' (recorded 2006); BioWillie biodiesel.
  49. John Adams, defense of British soldiers at Boston Massacre trial (1770); Adams-Jefferson correspondence (1812-1826); Discourses on Davila (1790-1791) on faction; 'facts are stubborn things' (Boston Massacre defense).
  50. Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography; Pennsylvania Gazette publications; founding of Library Company of Philadelphia (1731), Union Fire Company (1736), Pennsylvania Hospital (1751), American Philosophical Society (1743); late-life abolitionist petition to Congress (1790).
  51. Alexander Hamilton, Federalist Papers (1787-1788) Nos. 1, 6-9, 11-13, 15-17, 21-36, 59-61, 65-85; Report on Manufactures (1791); Report on Public Credit (1790); critique of Aaron Burr (1804 letters).
  52. Thomas Jefferson, Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (drafted 1777, enacted 1786); 'Wall of Separation' letter to Danbury Baptists (1802); Notes on the State of Virginia; Louisiana Purchase (1803).
  53. James Madison, Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments (1785); Federalist No. 10 on faction; principal authorship of the Bill of Rights (1789); opposition to incorporation of Trinity Episcopal Church (1811 veto).
  54. James Monroe, Annual Message to Congress, Dec. 2, 1823 (Monroe Doctrine); Missouri Compromise (1820); Era of Good Feelings administration (1817-1825).
  55. Forbes magazine ('Capitalist Tool'), founded 1917 by B.C. Forbes; Steve Forbes flat-tax presidential campaigns (1996, 2000); Forbes editorial coverage of tariffs as anti-growth, immigrant-entrepreneur celebration (annual 'Forbes 400' and '30 Under 30'), and skepticism of ESG mandates.
  56. Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom (1994); Truth and Reconciliation Commission framework (1995-1998); Inaugural Address (May 10, 1994); Nobel Peace Prize lecture (with F.W. de Klerk, 1993); 'there can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children' (Mahlamba Ndlopfu launch speech, May 8, 1995).
  57. Sam Houston, speeches and letters opposing Texas secession (1859-1861); 'A Nation Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand' speech, Brenham, March 1861; James L. Haley, 'Sam Houston' (2002); refusal to take Confederate oath, March 16, 1861.
  58. Barbara Jordan, Statement on the Articles of Impeachment, July 25, 1974; Democratic National Convention Keynote Address, July 12, 1976; final report of the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform (1994-1997), which she chaired; PBS NewsHour interview, June 1995.
  59. Jimmy Carter, Nobel Peace Prize lecture (2002); Habitat for Humanity work since 1984; The Carter Center election monitoring framework; 'Our Endangered Values' (2005); 'A Full Life' (2015); withdrawal from Southern Baptist Convention over women's ordination (2000).
  60. George C. Marshall, Marshall Plan speech at Harvard, June 5, 1947; Nobel Peace Prize lecture (1953); refusal to write memoirs for commercial profit; biographical record as Army Chief of Staff (1939-1945) and Secretary of State (1947-1949); Eisenhower's tribute and personal correspondence.
  61. Colin Powell, 'My American Journey' (1995); the Powell Doctrine on military force (overwhelming force, clear objectives, exit strategy); 2008 endorsement of Barack Obama on Meet the Press; 2020 endorsement of Joe Biden citing institutional concerns; reflections on the February 5, 2003 UN Iraq War speech.
  62. Sandra Day O'Connor, 'The Majesty of the Law' (2003); Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992); founding of iCivics (2009); public speeches on judicial independence (2010-2020); 'Out of Order: Stories from the History of the Supreme Court' (2013).
  63. John Marshall and the Marshall Court (1801-1835); Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137 (1803); McCulloch v. Maryland, 17 U.S. 316 (1819); Gibbons v. Ogden, 22 U.S. 1 (1824); R. Kent Newmyer, 'John Marshall and the Heroic Age of the Supreme Court' (2001).
  64. The Lochner-era Supreme Court (1897-1937); Lochner v. New York, 198 U.S. 45 (1905); Adkins v. Children's Hospital, 261 U.S. 525 (1923); the 'Four Horsemen' — Sutherland, Van Devanter, McReynolds, Butler; Bernard Siegan, 'Economic Liberties and the Constitution' (1980); David Bernstein, 'Rehabilitating Lochner' (2011).
  65. The Warren Court (1953-1969); Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954); Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966); Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963); Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967); the rights-incorporation jurisprudence.
  66. Antonin Scalia, 'A Matter of Interpretation' (1997); Scalia and Bryan A. Garner, 'Reading Law: The Interpretation of Legal Texts' (2012); Federalist Society jurisprudential framework; District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008); Bostock v. Clayton County, 590 U.S. 644 (2020) as originalist application.
  67. Robert Bork, 'The Tempting of America: The Political Seduction of the Law' (1990); 'Slouching Towards Gomorrah' (1996); the original-meaning-deferring-to-majorities framework; Bork's criticism of Griswold v. Connecticut and Engel v. Vitale as judicial overreach.
  68. Milton Friedman, 'Capitalism and Freedom' (1962); 'Free to Choose' (1980, with Rose Friedman); 'The Role of Government in Education' (1955, establishing the school-voucher framework); Nobel Prize in Economics (1976); Wall Street Journal columns and Newsweek columns 1966-1984.
  69. Thomas Sowell, 'A Conflict of Visions' (1987); 'Basic Economics' (2000); 'Ethnic America' (1981); 'Knowledge and Decisions' (1980); 'Discrimination and Disparities' (2018); decades of syndicated columns; Hoover Institution senior fellow record.
  70. Carl Sagan, 'Cosmos' (1980, book and PBS series); 'The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark' (1995); 'Pale Blue Dot' (1994); congressional testimony on nuclear winter (1983); climate-change advocacy from the 1980s onward; co-founder of the Planetary Society.
  71. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Four Freedoms address to Congress (Jan. 6, 1941); Second Bill of Rights / 1944 State of the Union; Wagner Act (1935); Social Security Act (1935); Fair Labor Standards Act (1938); SEC and Glass-Steagall (1933-1934); Atlantic Charter (1941); 1936 Democratic Convention 'economic royalists' speech; 1938 'Public Power' message on private power versus democratic government.
  72. Gospel of Matthew 25:31-46 (NRSV-UE), the Judgment of the Nations: 'I was hungry and you gave me food, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me' — the most cited Jesus passage on social ethics.
  73. Gospel of Matthew 6:1-18 (NRSV-UE), the Sermon on the Mount: 'Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them' — Jesus's direct warning against religious display for public effect.
  74. Gospel of Luke 12:13-21 (NRSV-UE), the Parable of the Rich Fool: 'one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions' — Jesus's sharpest teaching against wealth-hoarding.
  75. Gospel of Luke 1:39-45 (NRSV-UE), the Visitation: 'the child in my womb leaped for joy' — the traditional Christian proof text for the moral status of unborn life.
  76. Gospel of Mark 12:13-17 (NRSV-UE), the Tribute to Caesar: 'Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's' — the foundational Gospel text for church-state distinction.