Ken PaxtonRepublican
James TalaricoDemocratic
Ted BrownLibertarian- B.A. & MBA – Baylor J.D., U. of Virginia
- Private law firm, in-house counsel J.C. Penney
- Opened law practice
- B.A. in government,
- M.Ed.
- M.A. theological studies,
- B.A. in political science
- Self-employed independent insurance adjuster
- Texas House (2003–2013)
- Texas Senate, (2013–2015)
- Texas Attorney General since 2015
- Taught Middle School – 4 yrs.
- Executive Director education nonprofit – 1 yr.
- No employment listed for remaining years.
- Libertarian nominee, U.S. Senate in Texas (2024)
- Former chair, Libertarian Party of California
- Former member, Libertarian National Committee
- Libertarian Party member since 1979
- Tax deductions for housing and health care
- Doubling the child tax credit and making "Trump accounts" for children permanent
- Border security and deporting people in the country illegally
- Health care: "taking on Big Pharma and Big Food”
- Protecting gun rights
- Faith, family and freedom
- Fighting corruption and "billionaire mega-donors"
- Protecting democracy
- Taxes and cost of living
- Public education
- Health care, – reversing ACA cuts, lowering drug costs
- Freedom, family and faith
- Repeal the federal income tax and abolish the IRS
- Individual liberty: "live your life as you see fit — as long as you take responsibility for your actions and don't violate the rights of other people"
- Bring all U.S. troops home and end foreign military interventions
- Abolish civil asset forfeiture, end qualified immunity, repeal mandatory minimums
- An "Ellis-Island-style" immigration system with criminal-record and health screening
- Called transgender women “mentally ill men”
- Said the “radical left” is “obsessed with crushing the dreams of so many girls” in sports
- Called 2025 Tax & Spending Bill “historic legislation” that would help “deport the millions of illegal aliens who have been destroying our country.”
- Announced investigation of advertisers he said were colluding to boycott some social platforms, calling the Biden Justice Department’s inaction “unacceptable and un-American.”
- Called Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo a “champagne socialist”
- Led Texas’s lawsuit asking the Supreme Court to overturn 2020 election results in four states; the Court dismissed it.
- Texas House prosecuted Paxton to remove him from office – acquitted by Senate. Paxton claims – political enemies’ action.
- Charged with soliciting investments in a business without disclosing he received stock in the company. Entered into an agreement to settle all matters. Repaid investors $271,000; performed community service, all charges were dismissed.
- Judge awarded $6.6 million to former aides under a “Whistleblower Act” suit. Paxton claimed – "bogus judgement in support of baseless claims by rogue employees."
- Divorce filing: Paxton’s wife, State Sen. Angela Paxton filed for divorce in 2025. Ken Paxton cited "the pressures of countless political attacks and public scrutiny."
- Angela Paxton has encouraged ever Texan to vote for entire Republican Ticket including for Ken Paxton.
- Abortion: Pro Abortion
- Immigration: Border – Legislation he voted against includes: Border Security funding; – a Texas Border Protection Unit; – Making illegal entry a crime & authorizing removal; – Expand Border Patrol authority.
- Guns: Stated that assault-weapon ban, large-capacity magazine ban, limits on large purchases, & handgun design standards are priorities.
- Health care: Expand Medicare to all
- Ad Claim: “Paxton let a pedophile off”. Facts: Paxton's office tried Adam Hoffman on a felony that carried 25 to 99 yr sentence. Jury hung 7-5. Victim, a boy, refused to testify in a second trial. Paxton team said that without the victim's testimony there would be no conviction but would not force the child to go through more trauma. Victim's mother initially agreed to the Plea Bargain then changed her position at sentencing, explaining plea was too lenient; expressed frustration with Paxton. Plea Bargain resulted in a sentence of 60 days, Hoffman served 29, with good behavior, the forfeiture of his law license, and a guilty plea that labels Hoffman a sexual abuser & predator for the rest of his life. Paxton’s only other option was to force the child to testify against his will further traumatizing him. Paxon chose not to do that. Had Hoffman rejected the plea bargain he would have walked a free man, with no jail time, with his law license intact and without the life-long stigma of a child abuser. Paxton couldn’t prosecute Hoffman again, without the child’s testimony, due to Hoffman’s constitutional right to confront his accuser. Although Hoffman didn’t have to register as a sex offender in Texas he has had to register as one in Nebraska, where he was born and raised and where he moved to immediately after getting out of jail in late May 2026.
- The victim's family expressed a desire they “no longer be used as a political tool” in the campaign. Talarico made the Hoffmann ad central to his campaign, ignoring the family’s wishes.
- Ad Claim: “Paxton is the most corrupt politician in Texas and is now worth $27 million”. Facts: Paxton and his estranged wife are worth $10-13 million. Most of that wealth came from increases in the value of long-held assets.
- NY Times reports Frontier Media is paying dozens of internet accounts to post thousands of positive messages about Talarico. There are no FEC filings by Frontier, so funding source is unknown. Some of Talarico’s grassroots support appears manufactured.
- Stated that there are “six biological sexes". Later said there are “two sexes, with a small percentage of people having genetic abnormalities”.
- Said "God is nonbinary" on the Texas House floor in 2021. Later stated, "God is beyond gender."
- In 2021 posted "radicalized white men are the greatest domestic terrorist threat in our country."
- In 2021 stated: “I always think of myself as a Christian who hates Christianity.”
- In 2023 Sermon: “God is not a Presbyterian. God is not a Christian. God is not a noun at all. God is a verb.”
- Said – cutting meat consumption “existential” for fighting climate change. In 2026 Senate Race said his campaign runs on Bar-B-Q.
- Called the American flag a “complicated symbol.”
- Called ICE “secret police,” that was “terrorizing our country,”
- Named Alyssa Edwards, a Texas RuPaul’s Drag Race performer, as a favorite drag queen
- Abortion: No public statement found
- Immigration: "ICE should be abolished, the sooner the better"
- Guns: "I will work to repeal existing gun control laws"
- Health care: "Health care is not a right or a privilege. It's a service"
- Controversies: None found in the news coverage we reviewed
- President Donald Trump
- U.S. Rep. Lance Gooden
- U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls
- Texas Farm Bureau AGFUND
- Texas AFL-CIO COPE
- David Maxwell, former director of law enforcement for the Texas Attorney General's Office
- Dan Cogdell, Houston attorney
Ken Paxton
Republican- On ballot as
- KEN PAXTON
- Current role
- Texas Attorney General
- Background
- B.A. & MBA – Baylor J.D., U. of Virginia
- Private law firm, in-house counsel J.C. Penney
- Opened law practice
- Experience
- Texas House (2003–2013)
- Texas Senate, (2013–2015)
- Texas Attorney General since 2015
- Top priorities
- Tax deductions for housing and health care
- Doubling the child tax credit and making "Trump accounts" for children permanent
- Border security and deporting people in the country illegally
- Health care: "taking on Big Pharma and Big Food”
- Protecting gun rights
- Faith, family and freedom
- Tidbits
- Called transgender women “mentally ill men”
- Said the “radical left” is “obsessed with crushing the dreams of so many girls” in sports
- Called 2025 Tax & Spending Bill “historic legislation” that would help “deport the millions of illegal aliens who have been destroying our country.”
- Announced investigation of advertisers he said were colluding to boycott some social platforms, calling the Biden Justice Department’s inaction “unacceptable and un-American.”
- Called Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo a “champagne socialist”
- Led Texas’s lawsuit asking the Supreme Court to overturn 2020 election results in four states; the Court dismissed it.
Claims and the record- Texas House prosecuted Paxton to remove him from office – acquitted by Senate. Paxton claims – political enemies’ action.
- Charged with soliciting investments in a business without disclosing he received stock in the company. Entered into an agreement to settle all matters. Repaid investors $271,000; performed community service, all charges were dismissed.
- Judge awarded $6.6 million to former aides under a “Whistleblower Act” suit. Paxton claimed – "bogus judgement in support of baseless claims by rogue employees."
- Divorce filing: Paxton’s wife, State Sen. Angela Paxton filed for divorce in 2025. Ken Paxton cited "the pressures of countless political attacks and public scrutiny."
- Angela Paxton has encouraged ever Texan to vote for entire Republican Ticket including for Ken Paxton.
- Endorsements
- President Donald Trump
- U.S. Rep. Lance Gooden
- U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls
- Texas Farm Bureau AGFUND
- Campaign website
- kenpaxton.com
James Talarico
Democratic- On ballot as
- JAMES TALARICO
- Current role
- Texas State Rep
- Background
- B.A. in government,
- M.Ed.
- M.A. theological studies,
- Experience
- Taught Middle School – 4 yrs.
- Executive Director education nonprofit – 1 yr.
- No employment listed for remaining years.
- Top priorities
- Fighting corruption and "billionaire mega-donors"
- Protecting democracy
- Taxes and cost of living
- Public education
- Health care, – reversing ACA cuts, lowering drug costs
- Freedom, family and faith
- Tidbits
- Abortion: Pro Abortion
- Immigration: Border – Legislation he voted against includes: Border Security funding; – a Texas Border Protection Unit; – Making illegal entry a crime & authorizing removal; – Expand Border Patrol authority.
- Guns: Stated that assault-weapon ban, large-capacity magazine ban, limits on large purchases, & handgun design standards are priorities.
- Health care: Expand Medicare to all
Claims and the record- Ad Claim: “Paxton let a pedophile off”. Facts: Paxton's office tried Adam Hoffman on a felony that carried 25 to 99 yr sentence. Jury hung 7-5. Victim, a boy, refused to testify in a second trial. Paxton team said that without the victim's testimony there would be no conviction but would not force the child to go through more trauma. Victim's mother initially agreed to the Plea Bargain then changed her position at sentencing, explaining plea was too lenient; expressed frustration with Paxton. Plea Bargain resulted in a sentence of 60 days, Hoffman served 29, with good behavior, the forfeiture of his law license, and a guilty plea that labels Hoffman a sexual abuser & predator for the rest of his life. Paxton’s only other option was to force the child to testify against his will further traumatizing him. Paxon chose not to do that. Had Hoffman rejected the plea bargain he would have walked a free man, with no jail time, with his law license intact and without the life-long stigma of a child abuser. Paxton couldn’t prosecute Hoffman again, without the child’s testimony, due to Hoffman’s constitutional right to confront his accuser. Although Hoffman didn’t have to register as a sex offender in Texas he has had to register as one in Nebraska, where he was born and raised and where he moved to immediately after getting out of jail in late May 2026.
- The victim's family expressed a desire they “no longer be used as a political tool” in the campaign. Talarico made the Hoffmann ad central to his campaign, ignoring the family’s wishes.
- Ad Claim: “Paxton is the most corrupt politician in Texas and is now worth $27 million”. Facts: Paxton and his estranged wife are worth $10-13 million. Most of that wealth came from increases in the value of long-held assets.
- NY Times reports Frontier Media is paying dozens of internet accounts to post thousands of positive messages about Talarico. There are no FEC filings by Frontier, so funding source is unknown. Some of Talarico’s grassroots support appears manufactured.
- Stated that there are “six biological sexes". Later said there are “two sexes, with a small percentage of people having genetic abnormalities”.
- Said "God is nonbinary" on the Texas House floor in 2021. Later stated, "God is beyond gender."
- In 2021 posted "radicalized white men are the greatest domestic terrorist threat in our country."
- In 2021 stated: “I always think of myself as a Christian who hates Christianity.”
- In 2023 Sermon: “God is not a Presbyterian. God is not a Christian. God is not a noun at all. God is a verb.”
- Said – cutting meat consumption “existential” for fighting climate change. In 2026 Senate Race said his campaign runs on Bar-B-Q.
- Called the American flag a “complicated symbol.”
- Called ICE “secret police,” that was “terrorizing our country,”
- Named Alyssa Edwards, a Texas RuPaul’s Drag Race performer, as a favorite drag queen
- Endorsements
- Texas AFL-CIO COPE
- David Maxwell, former director of law enforcement for the Texas Attorney General's Office
- Dan Cogdell, Houston attorney
- Campaign website
- jamestalarico.com
Ted Brown
Libertarian- On ballot as
- TED BROWN
- Current role
- Vice Chair, Libertarian Party of Travis County; Retired
- Background
- B.A. in political science
- Self-employed independent insurance adjuster
- Experience
- Libertarian nominee, U.S. Senate in Texas (2024)
- Former chair, Libertarian Party of California
- Former member, Libertarian National Committee
- Libertarian Party member since 1979
- Top priorities
- Repeal the federal income tax and abolish the IRS
- Individual liberty: "live your life as you see fit — as long as you take responsibility for your actions and don't violate the rights of other people"
- Bring all U.S. troops home and end foreign military interventions
- Abolish civil asset forfeiture, end qualified immunity, repeal mandatory minimums
- An "Ellis-Island-style" immigration system with criminal-record and health screening
- Tidbits
- Abortion: No public statement found
- Immigration: "ICE should be abolished, the sooner the better"
- Guns: "I will work to repeal existing gun control laws"
- Health care: "Health care is not a right or a privilege. It's a service"
Claims and the record- Controversies: None found in the news coverage we reviewed
- Endorsements
- None found in our research
- Campaign website
- tedbrown.org
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