Wall Street Journal Editorial Board

The WSJ ed board is pro-free-trade, pro-free-markets, pro-legal-immigration, hawkish on Russia/China, pragmatic on social issues, deeply institutionalist, and increasingly critical of MAGA excess while remaining center-right. The board has been clear on this race: they essentially predicted Trump's endorsement of Paxton would deserve 'complete and total credit' if it costs the GOP the Texas Senate seat to Talarico. Paxton picks up some points on tax cuts, deregulation, energy, and crypto framework, but loses heavily on Trump tariffs (the board is fiercely anti-tariff), institutional corruption, Ukraine, and the chaos of his AG record. Talarico is too far left on taxes, Medicare buy-in, and minimum wage for the board's taste, but they'd appreciate his anti-corruption, free-trade, and restore-alliances framing. Their preferred candidate (Cornyn) isn't on the November ballot; they'd hold their nose at both, with Talarico edging Paxton on institutional integrity alone.