NR was founded in 1955 to 'stand athwart history yelling Stop'; modern NR is anti-populist on personal conduct and institutional norms, pro-free-market, pro-life, hawkish on Russia/China, and pro-legal-immigration. NR ran the 'Against Trump' issue in 2016 and has remained critical of MAGA excess. Paxton hits some planks (taxes, abortion, guns) but flunks NR's anti-Trump, anti-populist, pro-Ukraine, pro-trade, and pro-institutionalist standards. Talarico is too far left on taxes, healthcare, marijuana, and economic policy to satisfy NR's free-market orthodoxy. Both stuck at 3 — the magazine that defined post-war conservatism can't bring itself to score either candidate above middling, which is itself an editorial verdict on the 2026 GOP.
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)