Understand your ballot.

Talarico supports a Medicare public option (\"Medicare for Y'all\") allowing all Americans to buy into Medicare regardless of age, rather than single-payer Medicare for All. He advocates protecting and improving the ACA, lowering prescription drug costs (he capped insulin copays at $25/month in Texas), restoring reproductive healthcare access by codifying Roe v.

Ken Paxton opposes the Affordable Care Act and led a 20-state lawsuit to overturn it as Texas Attorney General. In his 2026 Senate campaign, he aligns with the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement, pledging to "take on Big Pharma and Big Food," increase transparency in food and healthcare systems, and investigate corporate practices — including vaccine recommendations, food ingredients, and toxic chemicals in consumer products — that he argues put profits ahead of Americans' health.

Brown advocates reducing government involvement in health care and relying on free-market competition. He supports expanding Health Savings Accounts, selling health insurance across state lines, allowing drug purchases from other countries, increasing the number of doctors and nurses, and making licensing reciprocal among states.

James Talarico campaigns on an economic populist message, arguing the economy is "rigged" for billionaires against working people. His platform includes raising the federal minimum wage to at least $15/hour (suggesting even that may not be enough), making corporations and the wealthiest Americans pay higher taxes, repealing Trump tariffs, lowering costs for housing, healthcare, groceries, and energy, protecting Social Security and Medicare (including eliminating the Social Security tax cap on income over $400,000), expanding the Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit, and passing the PRO Act to strengthen workers' right to unionize.

Ken Paxton positions himself as a fiscal conservative who supports cutting taxes, reducing wasteful federal spending, and deregulation — particularly of the energy sector. He is a staunch ally of President Trump's economic agenda and pledges to revitalize American manufacturing, create American jobs, and restore the American Dream, though he has not released a detailed economic plan.

Ted Brown advocates a smaller federal government and economic liberty, including repealing the federal income tax, abolishing the IRS, and replacing the income tax with nothing. He says he would not vote to raise taxes and supports major spending cuts to reduce deficits and debt, arguing that lower taxes and less regulation would improve economic growth.

Supports an "all-of-the-above" energy strategy that maintains Texas's oil and gas leadership while expanding renewables (wind, solar, geothermal, hydrogen). Advocates for strengthening the Texas grid, streamlining permitting, expanding LIHEAP, enforcing the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, and better preparing for climate disasters.

Ken Paxton is a staunch defender of Texas's oil and gas industry who opposes federal climate regulations as harmful to the state's economy. As Attorney General, he sued to block EPA rules he called "Biden's extremist climate agenda," and in June 2026 issued an opinion blocking Austin's electric-ready building code as discriminatory against natural gas, arguing it violated state law protecting consumer energy choice.

Brown supports energy development and economic growth over stricter environmental regulation, saying any proposed regulation must actually achieve its intended result and be weighed against its costs. He supports the use of hydraulic fracking to extract oil and natural gas, deferring to industry professionals on extraction methods.

James Talarico supports abortion rights and reproductive freedom, framing his position through his Christian faith. He argues that "the Bible is silent on abortion" and that the government should not control personal medical decisions.

Ken Paxton is strongly pro-life and has enforced Texas's near-total abortion ban (no exceptions for rape or incest), celebrated the overturning of Roe v. Wade, sued out-of-state abortion pill providers, and fought federal efforts to require emergency abortion care.

Brown says he is personally opposed to abortion but believes women have the right to control their reproductive functions and that abortions during the first and second trimesters, before fetal viability, should be legal.