新的财务报告显示，新的得克萨斯州政治行动委员会在短短17天内花费了惊人的1.31亿美元，用于在共和党人肯·帕克斯顿争夺美国参议院席位的选战中为其助选。而且可能还有数千万美元即将投入。
The new Texas PAC spent a staggering $131 million in just 17 days to boost Republican Ken Paxton in his battle for a U.S. Senate seat, new financial reports reveal. And tens of millions more could be on the way.
为何重要：全美范围内，共和党候选人面临的政治环境都很不利，但帕克斯顿的众多丑闻使他尤其容易成为30多年来首位在得克萨斯州全州选举中落败的共和党人。
Why it matters: The political environment is bad across the country for GOP candidates, but Paxton's numerous scandals have left him particularly vulnerable to becoming the first Republican to lose a statewide race in Texas in more than three decades.
帕克斯顿是该州总检察长，目前在民调中与民主党州众议员詹姆斯·塔拉里科基本打成平手。塔拉里科是一名神学院学生，他将帕克斯顿和共和党人描绘成腐败且受制于亿万富翁的形象。共和党人则希望将塔拉里科定性为对得克萨斯州而言过于激进。
Paxton is the state's attorney general and is essentially tied in the polls with Democratic state Rep. James Talarico, a seminarian who has cast Paxton and Republicans as corrupt and beholden to billionaires. Republicans want to define Talarico as too progressive for Texas.
大局观：这场得克萨斯州选战有望成为今年全美花费最高的参议院竞选。
The big picture: TheTexas contest is on pace to be the nation's most expensive Senate race this year.
推动新闻：周三，得克萨斯州政治行动委员会向联邦选举委员会提交的一份报告显示，该组织在两天内就为支持帕克斯顿、反对塔拉里科花费了超过6140万美元用于广告和其他活动。
Driving the news: On Wednesday, Texas PAC filed an FEC report showing the group had just spent more than $61.4 million in two days on ads and other activities for Paxton and against Talarico.
这使得该政治行动委员会在17天内为帕克斯顿助选的总支出超过1.31亿美元——平均每天超过770万美元。该政治行动委员会于上个月成立，隶属于共和党参议院领导基金。
That brought the PAC's total spending on Paxton's behalf to more than $131 million in 17 days — more than $7.7 million a day. The PAC, created last month, is affiliated with the GOP Senate Leadership Fund.
支持塔拉里科的民主党人不太可能在支出上接近帕克斯顿背后团体的水平，但他们正在加大对这位民主党人的支出计划。
Democrats backing Talarico are unlikely to come close to the spending by Paxton-backed groups, but they're stepping up their spending plans on the Democrat's behalf.
参议院多数党政治行动委员会——参议院民主党人的主要超级政治行动委员会——刚刚启动了支持塔拉里科、针对帕克斯顿的行动。支持塔拉里科的政治行动委员会“孤星崛起”自1月以来已花费1390万美元支持他。
Senate Majority PAC, the main super PAC for Senate Democrats, just launched its bid to boost Talarico and target Paxton. A PAC backing Talarico, Lone Star Rising, has spent $13.9 million supporting him since January.
据《纽约时报》周二报道，截至周一，塔拉里科的团队已在竞选最后两个月的广告上预订了约3500万美元——按此趋势，支持帕克斯顿的团体对他的支出优势将接近5比1。
As of Monday, Talarico's team had booked about $35 million in ads for the last two months of the campaign — on track to be outspent nearly 5 to 1 by pro-Paxton groups, the New York Times reported Tuesday.
焦点透视：在特朗普总统因对共和党参议员约翰·科宁（John Cornyn）感到不满，转而支持帕克斯顿（Paxton）参加初选并导致现任议员落败之前，德克萨斯州并未被共和党人视为关键的摇摆州。
Zoom in: Texas was not considered a serious battleground state by Republicans until President Trump, angry at Republican Sen. John Cornyn, endorsed Paxton in their primary, leading to the incumbent's defeat.
如今，特朗普的“MAGA Inc.”超级政治行动委员会和参议院领导基金不得不投入数亿美元，而这些资金本可用于其他选区，以试图挽救帕克斯顿的选情。
Now Trump's MAGA Inc. super PAC and the Senate Leadership Fund are having to spend hundreds of millions of dollars they might have directed to other races to try to bail out Paxton.
内幕消息：据《泰晤士报》周三报道，帕克斯顿在一次筹款活动中被秘密录音，他抱怨特朗普近期在达拉斯举行的中期选举大会可能适得其反，因为这“拉低了我们的支持率”。在那次大会上，特朗普在支持帕克斯顿的同时，也对他本人的外貌和着装进行了嘲讽。
Inside the room: The Times reported Wednesday that Paxton was secretly recorded at a fundraiser complaining that Trump's recent midterm convention in Dallas might have been counterproductive because it "dropped our numbers." At the convention, Trump was supportive of Paxton — while insulting his appearance and clothes.
“他可能穿得不对，说话也不一定完美，他可能也不是我见过长得最好看的人。但你知道他是什么样的人吗？他是美国最伟大的总检察长，他理应成为你们的下一任参议员，”特朗普在大会上说道。
"He may not dress right, he may not talk exactly perfectly, and he may not be the best-looking guy I've ever seen. But you know what he is? He's the greatest attorney general in America, and he deserves to be your next senator," Trump said at the convention.
特朗普青睐帕克斯顿的部分原因在于，这位总检察长一直是忠诚的“让美国再次伟大”（MAGA）斗士，也是支持特朗普推翻2020年大选结果的最主要声音之一。
Trump likes Paxton in part because the attorney general has been a loyal MAGA warrior who was one of the most prominent voices supporting Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
各方言论：“当我们告诉人们（德克萨斯州）需要花费1.5亿到2亿美元时，我们并非信口开河，”一位参与参议院竞选的共和党人表示。
What they're saying: "When we told people [Texas] would cost $150 million to $200 million, we weren't making that up," one Republican involved in Senate campaigns said.
“我们因保持观望而承受了很大压力，但德克萨斯州的竞选成本太高，必须把握好支出时机。我们后续还会有更多投入。”
"We took a lot of heat for keeping our powder dry, but Texas is so expensive that you have to time your spending. We've got more to come."