How They DifferPaxton · Talarico 2026
A no bullshit non-partisan comparison of political candidates
Aggregate score
Paxton 2.7Talarico 6.1 T +3.4
Issues

Corruption / Ethics

Ken Paxton (R)

Paxton was impeached by the Texas House on bribery and abuse-of-office charges in May 2023 (121-23) and acquitted by the Texas Senate in September 2023. He settled a nine-year state securities fraud case in 2024 by paying ~$300K in restitution with no admission of guilt, and the DOJ declined to prosecute him federally in early 2025. A May 2026 Texas Tribune/ProPublica investigation identified at least 30 AG cases filed in counties with tenuous connection to the alleged wrongdoing — forum-shopping that Paxton himself had previously denounced in 2017. Tribune reporting (May 2026) detailed a one-day-in-jail plea deal his office offered in a Waco child sex abuse case. His Senate campaign frames all of this as 'politically motivated witch hunts' and promises to 'drain the Swamp.'

James Talarico (D)

Talarico's first Senate priority is an anti-corruption package: ban super PACs and corporate PACs, ban partisan gerrymandering with independent redistricting commissions, and pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. He would ban congressional stock trading, impose term limits (6 House terms / 2 Senate terms), require annual town halls, and ban presidential pardons. He proposes Supreme Court term limits and a binding code of conduct with recusal rules, financial disclosure requirements, and gift limits. He has refused all corporate PAC money since his 2017 first race and broke quorum twice in the Texas House over partisan redistricting. He voted to impeach Paxton in 2023, calling it 'this may be the most consequential vote I'll cast as a member of the Texas Legislature.'

Sources

  1. Ken Paxton for U.S. Senate, official campaign issues page, accessed May 2026. (full list)
  2. 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)
  3. Patrick Svitek, 'Ken Paxton emerges victorious from yet another career scandal,' Texas Tribune, Sept. 17, 2023. (full list)
  4. Texas Tribune / ProPublica, 'Paxton files lawsuits in courts that could have more favorable outcomes,' May 20, 2026. (full list)
  5. 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)
  6. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 'Ken Paxton,' updated May 2026 (impeachment, securities settlement, AG litigation history). (full list)