Small Business
Ken Paxton (R)
Paxton's Senate campaign issues page does not contain a dedicated small-business plank, but his AG record is genuinely strong on the NFIB legislative agenda. His 2024 amicus brief in Texas Top Shop v. Garland helped secure a nationwide preliminary injunction against the Corporate Transparency Act's Beneficial Ownership Information reporting requirement, which carried penalties up to $500K and 10 years in prison. He joined an Ohio-led amicus brief against the Biden DOL tipped-employee rule, protecting restaurants and hospitality from FLSA reinterpretation. NFIB-Texas PAC endorsed his 2022 AG re-election. But his Tylenol lawsuit, 'request to examine' statute use against companies (initially ruled unconstitutional), and the Tribune/ProPublica forum-shopping investigation create the regulatory-uncertainty exposure the Texas Association of Business has flagged.
James Talarico (D)
Talarico has a published Labor & Business plank: tax credits and subsidies to help small- and medium-sized businesses adapt to a $15 minimum wage without cutting jobs, expanded SBA loan eligibility, broader Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), and tariff repeal. He is Vice Chair of the Texas House Committee on Trade, Workforce, and Economic Development. He frames closing corporate $0-tax loopholes as 'evening the playing field' so 'more entrepreneurs make their dreams a reality.' He would support state-level equity investment programs and technical-assistance grants for small businesses. In Texas he voted to increase the business personal property tax exemption and reduce licensing/regulation fees for businesses in their first year of operation.
Sources
- Ken Paxton for U.S. Senate, official campaign issues page, accessed May 2026. (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)
- Gabby Birenbaum, 'On the issues: A Q&A with Ken Paxton and John Cornyn,' Texas Tribune, April 20, 2026. (full list)
- Texas Tribune / ProPublica, 'Paxton files lawsuits in courts that could have more favorable outcomes,' May 20, 2026. (full list)