斯科特·鲍尔 威斯康星州马里逊——在Money充斥的选举年份里，亿万富翁的影响力鲜少像威斯康星州州长之争这样明显。这场竞争异常激烈。
SCOTT BAUER MADISON, Wis. — In an election year awash with billionaires’ money, there are few places where their influence has been as stark as the hotly contested race for Wisconsin governor .
得到总统唐纳德·特朗普支持的共和党众议员汤姆·蒂芙尼，在过去两个月筹得超过2600万美元，其中逾2400万美元仅来自三人。
Tom Tiffany, the Republican congressman backed by President Donald Trump , has raised more than $26 million during the past two months, with $24 million-plus coming from just three people.
周三提交的筹款报告显示，这为蒂芙尼带来了巨大的资金优势。在11月3日选举前，他筹得的资金是民主党人、密尔沃基县县行政长官戴维·克劳利的两倍。
It has given Tiffany a big cash advantage, according to fundraising reports filed Wednesday. He pulled in twice as much money as Democrat David Crowley, the Milwaukee county executive, heading into the Nov. 3 election.
“看到这里的几位亿万富翁决定在这场竞选中充当‘造王者’，而选民将成为这次选举的受害者，”负责追踪威斯康星州各项竞选捐款和支出的“威斯康星民主竞选组织”执行主任尼克·拉莫斯说。
“We’re watching several billionaires here decide they want to play kingmaker in this race and the voters are the ones getting screwed out of this election,” said Nick Ramos, executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, which tracks donations and spending in state races.
蒂芙尼的大部分资金来自黛安·亨德里克斯、理查德·尤伊莱恩和 Liz·尤伊莱恩，他们都是共和党政坛的资深权势人物。亨德里克斯拥有位于贝洛伊特的ABC Supply公司，该公司销售屋顶和建筑用品。尤伊莱恩夫妇拥有总部位于威斯康星州的Uline公司，该公司销售纸箱及其他运输用品，他们居住在伊利诺伊州。
The bulk of Tiffany’s money came from Diane Hendricks, Richard Uihlein and Liz Uihlein, who are longtime power players in Republican politics. Hendricks owns ABC Supply in Beloit, which sells roofing and building supplies. The Uihleins own Wisconsin-based Uline Corp., which sells boxes and other shipping supplies, and they live in Illinois.
克劳利周三晚在马里逊对支持者表示：“蒂芙尼愿意把威斯康星州——我们这个宝贵的州——卖给出价最高的人。”当被要求回应此事时，蒂芙尼的竞选团队指出，克劳利本周在加州与前副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯共同筹款，并接受了威斯康星州民主党的资金。自2019年以来，该州民主党已从领英创始人、亿万富翁里德·霍夫曼处获得约1550万美元捐款。
Crowley, speaking to supporters on Wednesday night in Madison, said “Tiffany is willing to sell the state of Wisconsin, our precious state, to the highest bidder.”Tiffany’s campaign, when asked to respond, pointed to Crowley’s fundraising in California this week with former Vice President Kamala Harris and the money that Crowley has accepted from the Wisconsin Democratic Party. The state party has taken in about $15.5 million in donations from billionaire Reid Hoffman , the founder of LinkedIn, since 2019.
克劳利迄今已筹集约1200万美元，并受益于州党近300万美元的资金划拨。记录显示，过去两个月，该党分别收到伊利诺伊州州长JB普里茨克和民主党超级捐赠者琳德·尤伊林各100万美元，后者是理查德·尤伊林的表亲。
Crowley has raised about $12 million to date and benefited from nearly $3 million in transfers from the state party. Records show the party received $1 million each from Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Democratic megadonor Lynde Uihlein, who is Richard Uihlein’s cousin, over the past two months.
蒂芙尼的竞选团队称，克劳利“完全拥护一套提高税率、对犯罪从宽以及在威斯康星州各地建设超大型数据中心的政策主张”。这一直是蒂芙尼面临的一个敏感话题。上周，《密尔沃基哨兵报》报道了亿万富豪向其竞选团队捐款后，蒂芙尼禁止该报记者参加他在密尔沃基举办的一场活动。
Tiffany’s campaign said Crowley is “fully embracing an agenda of higher taxes, soft-on-crime policies, and massive data centers all over Wisconsin.”It’s been a sensitive topic for Tiffany. Last week, after the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on billionaire donations to his campaign, Tiffany barred reporters from the newspaper from attending one of his events in Milwaukee.
根据2015年出台的一项州法律，政党可以获得没有金额限制的捐款，因此超级捐赠者能够注入巨额支持。个人向候选人的捐款不得超过2万美元，但政党可以随意转拨资金。民主党也曾利用这项法律，但蒂芙尼筹集的大部分资金高度依赖三名超级捐赠者，这在威斯康星州的历史上前所未有。
The infusion of support from megadonors is possible under a 2015 state law that allows unlimited contributions to state political parties. Individuals cannot give more than $20,000 to a candidate, but parties can transfer as much as they want. Democrats have also utilized the law, but Tiffany’s heavy reliance on three megadonors for the majority of his fundraising is unlike anything ever seen before in Wisconsin.
马凯特大学法学院周三发布的一项民调显示，双方选情大致相当。这项针对692名潜在选民的调查于9月16日至23日进行。
A Marquette University Law School poll released Wednesday showed the race to be about even. The poll of 692 likely voters was conducted between Sept. 16 and Sept. 23.
威斯康星州的全州选举结果往往极其接近。过去七次总统选举中，有五次的全州得票差距不足一个百分点。最近两届州长选举均由民主党人托尼·埃弗斯获胜，胜差分别为1.1个百分点和3.4个百分点。
Wisconsin is accustomed to extremely tight statewide elections. Five of the past seven presidential elections were decided by less than a percentage point. The past two races for governor, won by Democrat Tony Evers, were decided by 1.1 percentage point and 3.4 percentage points, respectively.
埃弗斯不寻求第三个任期，这也使该州出现了16年来首次开放的州长席位竞选。民主党人希望守住州长宝座，并夺取州议会的控制权，而自2011年以来，州议会一直由共和党占多数。
Evers is not seeking a third term, creating the first open race for governor in 16 years. Democrats are hoping to hang onto the office and flip control of the Legislature, which has been majority Republican since 2011.
据追踪媒体支出和广告投放情况的AdImpact汇总的数据，蒂芙尼利用资金优势，在竞选广告支出上以4000万美元对2600万美元超过克劳利。
Tiffany has been able to use the funding advantage to outspend Crowley on campaign advertising $40 million to $26 million, according to data compiled by AdImpact, which tracks media spending and ad buys.
迄今，蒂芙尼已为这场选举筹得4300万美元，其中约3400万美元来自威斯康星州共和党的转账。此前，该党从亨德里克斯家族和尤伊莱恩家族处获得了约3800万美元。
Of the $43 million Tiffany has raised for the race to date, about $34 million has come from Wisconsin Republican Party transfers after the party received about $38 million from Hendricks and the Uihleins.
尤伊莱恩家族还在通过另一种方式提供帮助。由理查德·尤伊莱恩出资的“美国复兴政治行动委员会”（Restoration of America PAC）称，已花费约1250万美元支持蒂芙尼。该委员会是多个为这场选举投入资金的保守派组织之一。
The Uihlein family is helping another way. Restoration of America PAC, which is funded by Richard Uihlein, has reported spending about $12.5 million to help Tiffany. It is one of several conservative groups spending on the race.