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. Cornyn hits the policy planks substantially and — crucially — has a clean personal-conduct record that satisfies the post-Guidepost SBC framework that Paxton's record fails. He loses ground on the Respect for Marriage Act vote, which the SBC's 2022 statement specifically opposed, but most of the rest of the framework aligns. Talarico would be respected by the SBC for his stated faith and anti-corruption frame but disagrees on nearly every policy plank.
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)
- 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; floor speeches on Dobbs v. Jackson (June 2022). (full list)