Foreign Policy
John Cornyn (R)
Cornyn is a senior Republican on Senate Foreign Relations and one of the Senate's most consistent China and Russia hawks across two decades, including authorship of multiple semiconductor export-control packages aimed at the PRC. He voted for the Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Acts including the April 2024 $61B package, strongly supports Israel and Iron Dome funding, and is a primary author of multiple sanctions packages against Russia and Iran. He has consistently championed NATO expansion and AUKUS, opposed any framework that would require Ukraine to cede territory to end the war, and publicly opposed USMCA withdrawal. He has been openly critical — in measured language — of Trump's broadest tariffs as harmful to allied trade relationships, and supports the Taiwan Relations Act framework. His foreign policy is the cleanest substantive break from Paxton in this primary.
James Talarico (D)
Talarico wants to 'restore America's standing as a global leader and build strong trade agreements with our allies.' He has framed Texas as the top exporting state and 'hit the hardest by Trump's unlawful tariffs.' He supports strong AI-chip export controls to keep advanced technology out of adversaries' hands. He opposes VA privatization and has held veterans' roundtables in El Paso to focus on mental health, substance abuse, and PTSD alternative therapies. His foreign-policy framing emphasizes diplomacy and alliance-restoration over unilateralism.
Sources
- Sen. John Cornyn, official Senate website and 2026 re-election campaign issues page, accessed May 2026 (cornyn.senate.gov; johncornyn.com). (full list)
- Talarico for Texas, official campaign issues pages (taxes, education, healthcare, immigration, social media/AI, freedom-family-faith, public-safety-justice, corruption-democracy, labor-business), accessed May 2026. (full list)
- 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. (full list)
- Cornyn votes on USMCA (January 2020), TPP procedural votes; 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. (full list)
- El Paso Matters, 'At El Paso ICE facility, James Talarico argues for pro-immigrant, pro-security approach,' Feb. 21, 2026. (full list)