The Texas Farm Bureau endorsed Cornyn (not Paxton) in this race, which is itself a strong signal. Their values: agricultural trade access (anti-tariff), farm labor access (which requires some legal-immigration pathway), water rights, property rights, rural-healthcare access, opposition to estate tax. Paxton wins on estate-tax repeal, regulatory rollback, property rights, and water rights; he loses on tariffs (Texas is the top exporting state — cotton, beef, dairy all hit), legal immigration for farm labor, and rural-hospital protection. Talarico wins on tariff repeal (huge for Texas ag), rural investment, rural hospitals, and immigration reform with ag-labor pathways. He loses on estate tax, minimum-wage implications for ag wages, and general regulatory expansion.
Sources
- 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)
- Cornyn campaign endorsements page; Texas Tribune Q&A endorsements list, April 2026. (full list)