周四，参议院少数党领袖查克·舒默所属政治委员会的一个新分支公开了其用于投放反对德克萨斯州共和党人肯·帕克斯顿的广告的支出情况：共计210万美元。这是民主党在该州参议院选举中的首次大规模资金投入，但与共和党在过去一个月内的支出规模相比，这笔资金实在微不足道。
A new arm of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s political committee on Thursday disclosed $2.1 million in spending on an ad against Texas Republican Ken Paxton. It’s the first major spending by Democratic leadership in the state’s Senate race — but a drop in the bucket compared to Republicans’ investments over the past month.
参议院多数党所属的政治行动委员会（Senate Majority PAC）的附属机构“Texas Forever”将这笔资金用于制作了一则数字广告，并于周二发布了该广告。广告主要批评帕克斯顿在处理一起备受关注的儿童性虐待案件中的行为：在该案件中，州检察长为了换取前韦科市辩护律师亚当·霍夫曼对其儿子朋友的性虐待行为的认罪，大幅减轻了对霍夫曼的指控。
The Senate Majority PAC’s affiliate committee, Texas Forever, spent the money on a digital ad that dropped Tuesday. The spot addresses Paxton’s handling of a controversial plea deal in a high-profile child sex abuse case, in which the state attorney general reduced former Waco defense attorney Adam Hoffman’s charges in exchange for his guilty pleas of sexually abusing his son’s friend.
广告中称：“肯·帕克斯顿对德克萨斯州来说是一个极其腐败的政客——他竟然为霍夫曼提供了类似爱泼斯坦式的‘交易’，让这个恋童癖者得以逍遥法外。”不过，与共和党的支出规模相比，这笔新的广告支出仍然显得微不足道。尤其是参议院多数党领袖约翰·图恩所属的政治行动委员会（Senate Leadership Fund）：自9月以来，该委员会在德克萨斯州的广告支出已达1.3亿美元；随着11月3日选举日的临近，这一数字很可能会进一步增加。
“Ken Paxton is dangerously corrupt for Texas,” the ad says, saying Paxton awarded Hoffman an “Epstein-style deal to let a pedophile walk free.”The new ad buy pales in comparison to Republicans’ spending in the state — particularly by Senate Majority Leader John Thune, whose Senate Leadership Fund super PAC has disclosed $130 million in Texas spending since September, a number that will likely balloon as Nov. 3 draws closer.
该州的竞选支出情况反映了两党对于民主党能否首次赢得参议院席位的高度担忧。历史上，民主党在德克萨斯州这个媒体成本高昂的州并未投入大量资金，且目前该党正面临严重的资金短缺问题。然而，全国共和党参议院委员会（National Republican Senatorial Committee）以及图恩所属的政治行动委员会也不得不将更多资源投入到这个原本属于共和党的“稳赢”选区中——尤其是考虑到州众议员詹姆斯·塔拉里科在民调中仍保持领先优势。
Spending habits in the state reflect intertwining anxieties within both parties about Democrats’ chances of winning a Senate seat for the first time since 1988. Democrats historically haven’t spent significant amounts of money in Texas’ expensive media market, and the party is currently facing a major cash crunch. But the National Republican Senatorial Committee and Thune’s super PAC have also had to increasingly direct more resources to what should be a reliably red seat, especially as state Rep. James Talarico maintains a tight polling lead.
周四，唐纳德·特朗普总统在俄克拉荷马州的杜兰特市和德克萨斯州的丹顿市启动了他的中期选举宣传活动，旨在强化共和党在这些原本属于共和党的选区中的优势。
President Donald Trump kicked off his ambitious midterm campaign blitz in Durant, Oklahoma, and Denton, Texas, on Thursday in hopes of amplifying Republicans’ accomplishments in already red states.
但即便是总统青睐的候选人也未能激起太多热情：尽管党内领导人恳求特朗普在这一胶着的选战中投入更多资金，但他仅披露为帕克斯顿花费了约2000万美元。今年春天，特朗普在党内初选中支持了帕克斯顿，而非参议员约翰·科宁。
But even the president’s preferred candidate hasn’t garnered much enthusiasm: Despite party leaders’ pleas for him to get more financially involved in the tight race, Trump has only disclosed spending about $20 million for Paxton, whom he endorsed over Sen. John Cornyn this spring.
“老实说，他有时确实让人头疼，”特朗普周四在德克萨斯州的演讲中在称赞帕克斯顿的同时说道，并询问这位州总检察长是否在场。“哦，他在这儿。我甚至不知道他是否来了——我不在乎。”
“He can be a pain in the ass sometimes, I’ll be honest,” Trump said while praising Paxton during his Texas speech Thursday, asking if the state attorney general was even in the room. “Oh, there he is. I didn’t even know if he’s here — I don’t care.”