美国西班牙裔商业委员会的领导人知道，很难让肯·帕克斯顿出席参议院市政厅活动。因此，他们转向了一位意想不到的盟友：参议员特德·克鲁兹。
Leaders of the U.S. Hispanic Business Council knew it would be hard to get Ken Paxton to show up to their Senate town hall event. So, they turned to an unexpected ally: Sen. Ted Cruz.
该委员会主席兼首席执行官哈维尔·帕洛马雷斯（Javier Palomarez）需要帮助，因为他自己的背景--既是民主党人，又是帕克斯顿初选竞争对手、参议员约翰·科宁（John Cornyn）的长期盟友--不会吸引德克萨斯州总检察长。
Javier Palomarez, the council’s president and CEO, needed help since his own background – as both a Democrat and longtime ally of Paxton’s rival in the primary, Sen. John Cornyn – wouldn’t appeal to the Texas attorney general.
然而，克鲁兹渴望介入。很快，帕洛马雷斯就与帕克斯顿的团队讨论市政厅的后勤问题;帕克斯顿上周参加了该活动。
Cruz, however, was eager to step in. Soon, Palomarez was discussing logistics for the town hall with Paxton’s team; Paxton joined the event last week.
帕洛马雷斯说：“我们需要找到他信任、我信任的共同点和人……而那显然就是特德·克鲁兹。”“我不同意特德的一系列废话，但归根结底，他一直是我和小企业界的好合作伙伴。”克鲁兹的参与暗示他在今年高风险的德克萨斯州参议员竞选中扮演着重要的幕后角色--兼职顾问、兼职撰稿人、全职相信帕克斯顿将取得胜利并阻止克鲁兹与民主党一起代表德克萨斯州。
“We needed to find common ground and people that he trusted, that I trusted … and that clearly was Ted Cruz,” Palomarez said. “I don't agree with Ted on a litany of shit, but at the end of the day, the guy's always been a good partner to me and to the small business community.”Cruz’s involvement hints at the significant behind-the-scenes role he is playing in this year’s high-stakes Texas Senate race — part-time adviser, part-time bundler, full-time believer that Paxton will pull out a win and keep Cruz from representing Texas alongside a Democrat.
帕克斯顿的核心圈子里散布着克鲁兹的长期盟友，克鲁兹的援助可能会在即将退休的共和党参议员约翰·科宁缺席的情况下进一步巩固他作为德克萨斯州拥王者的地位，赢得新的盟友并在潜在的2028年总统竞选之前提升他的国家形象。但如果帕克斯顿失败了，克鲁兹可能会受到黑眼圈。
Paxton’s inner circle is dotted with longtime Cruz allies, and Cruz’s aid could further cement his position as a Texas kingmaker in retiring GOP Sen. John Cornyn’s absence, earn new allies and boost his national profile ahead of a potential 2028 presidential bid. But if Paxton fails, it could be a black eye for Cruz.
克鲁兹在接受采访时表示：“德克萨斯州保持红色，共和党在美国参议院和众议院保持多数席位，我们选举肯·帕克斯顿而不是詹姆斯·塔拉里科，这绝对至关重要。”“所以我全力以赴。”帕克斯顿的竞选团队拒绝就此事置评。
“It is absolutely critical that Texas stay red, that Republicans keep a majority in the U.S. Senate and the House, and that we elect Ken Paxton instead of James Talarico,” Cruz said in an interview. “And so I am all in.”Paxton’s campaign declined to comment for this story.
几十年来，科宁一直是德克萨斯州共和党捐助者阶层的守门人。但他的失败使克鲁兹更加成为德克萨斯州财力雄厚的捐助者群体的中心，这让他展示了2016年总统竞选期间首次发展起来的肌肉，当时帕克斯顿试图阻止塔拉里科和他的筹款机器。帕克斯顿上季度筹集了1800万美元，其中一些捐款来自克鲁兹介绍给他的首次捐助者。
For decades, Cornyn has been the gatekeeper to Texas’ GOP donor class. But his loss has put Cruz even more at the center of Texas' deep-pocketed donor community, letting him flex muscles first developed during his 2016 presidential run as Paxton tries to hold off Talarico and his fundraising machine. Paxton raised $18 million in the last quarter, some of those donations coming from first-time donors introduced to him by Cruz.
一位与克鲁兹和帕克斯顿关系密切的不愿透露姓名的人士表示：“特德不会在德克萨斯州参加一次会议，他不会告诉捐助者他们必须加入。”讨论私人谈话。
“Ted doesn't go through a meeting in Texas where he's not telling donors they’ve got to get on board,” said one person close to both Cruz and Paxton, granted anonymity to discuss private conversations.
克鲁兹经常与帕克斯顿一起竞选，并经常在他的热门播客上攻击塔拉里科。他的超级政治行动委员会已经播出了反塔拉里科的广告。据两位熟悉克鲁兹和帕克斯顿谈话的人士透露，除了在孤星州与大笔捐助者进行沟通之外，他还担任非正式顾问，定期与帕克斯顿交谈。克鲁兹和帕克斯顿的政治轨迹有着重大重叠。Axiom Strategies是一家共和党公司，由克鲁兹2016年总统竞选活动负责人杰夫·罗伊（Jeff Roe）经营，长期以来一直与两人合作。
Cruz has regularly campaigned alongside Paxton and frequently jabs Talarico on his popular podcast. His super PAC has gone on air with anti-Talarico advertising. And in addition to greasing the rails with his big-money donors in the Lone Star State, he’s acting as an informal adviser, regularly speaking withPaxton, according to two people familiar with their conversations. The political orbits of Cruz and Paxton have significant overlap. Axiom Strategies — the GOP firm run by Jeff Roe, who led Cruz’s 2016 presidential campaign — has long worked with both men.
帕克斯顿竞选团队的高级顾问尼克·马杜克斯（Nick Maddux）是克鲁兹2018年和2024年连任努力的关键工作人员。克鲁兹的长期顾问萨姆·库珀现在是支持帕克斯顿的孤星自由行动委员会的高级战略家。
Nick Maddux, senior adviser to the Paxton campaign, was a key staffer in Cruz’s 2018 and 2024 reelection efforts. Sam Cooper, a longtime Cruz adviser, is now a senior strategist for the pro-Paxton Lone Star Liberty PAC.
克鲁兹在科宁和帕克斯顿之间混乱的初选中保持中立。他在决选后退出了比赛。
Cruz stayed neutral during the messy primary between Cornyn and Paxton. He came off the sidelines after the runoff.
“特德是最早明白这一点的人之一，嘿，这个人刚刚受到了2亿美元负面广告的打击。他的对手是一个资金充足的对手，”库珀说。“他需要一些帮助。”帕克斯顿五月份初选决选获胜后的一周内，克鲁兹主持了帕克斯顿在华盛顿的筹款活动，敦促与会者团结起来支持这位共和党候选人。几天后，克鲁兹与帕克斯顿一起飞往德克萨斯州，一天之内在达拉斯、休斯顿和米德兰停留，会见捐助者。克鲁兹说，他们当天获得了300万美元的捐款。
“Ted was one of the first ones that understood that, hey, this guy just got hit with $200 million of negative advertising. He's running against an opponent who's going to be well-funded,” said Cooper. “He's going to need some help.”Within a week of Paxton’s primary runoff victory in May, Cruz emceed a Washington fundraiser for Paxton, urging attendees to come together and support the Republican nominee. Days later, Cruz joined Paxton for a Texas fly-around, stopping in Dallas, Houston and Midland all in one day, to meet with donors. Cruz said they secured $3 million in donations on that day.
克鲁兹将自己描绘成更传统的共和党捐助者和帕克斯顿强硬派MAGA世界之间的使者。
Cruz has presented himself as an emissary between more traditional GOP donors and Paxton’s hardline MAGA world.
克鲁兹说：“我向之前支持约翰·科宁的捐助者提出的理由是，目前这是一个二元选择，我认为这个选择非常明确。”他指出，他已经与捐助者进行了“数百次对话”。“帕克斯顿的长期捐助者中，许多（如果不是大多数）也是我的支持者，但科宁的长期捐助者中，许多（如果不是大多数）也是我的支持者。所以我确实认为我能够架起这两个世界的桥梁。”
“The case I've been making to donors who previously supported John Cornyn is, at this point, it's a binary choice, and I think the choice is very clear,” Cruz said, noting he’s had “hundreds of conversations” with donors. “Many, if not most, of the longtime Paxton donors are also supporters of mine, but many, if not most, of the longtime Cornyn donors are supporters of mine, as well. And so I do think I'm able to bridge those two worlds.”
但克鲁兹的参与也带来了一些风险。帕克斯顿在最近的民意调查中落后，民主党人越来越希望这是他们最终推翻德克萨斯州参议院席位的周期。如果帕克斯顿下台，他可能会在2028年之前扼杀克鲁兹的势头，届时其他共和党候选人可能会试图将责任归咎于克鲁兹。
But Cruz’s involvement also carries some risk. Paxton is trailing in most recent polls, and Democrats are increasingly hopeful this is the cycle they finally flip a Texas Senate seat. If Paxton goes down, he could stifle Cruz’s momentum ahead of 2028, when other Republican hopefuls may attempt to lay the blame at Cruz’s feet.
“这对特德来说是明智的，”一位与两人无关的长期德克萨斯州共和党战略家表示，该战略家不愿透露姓名，但公开发言。“这让他在帕克斯顿的支持者中更加坚定，成为为他挺身而出的人，这使他能够扩大自己的影响力，并在2028年参选的情况下，对拥有统一的德克萨斯州拥有更大的主张。该人士说：“如果帕克斯顿输了，”他全力以赴，他输了将是帕克斯顿的错，而不是特德·克鲁兹的错。”
"This is smart on Ted’s part,” said one longtime Texas Republican strategist not affiliated with either man, granted anonymity to speak openly. “It cements him with Paxton supporters as being the guy who stood up for him, and it allows him to expand his reach and have a greater claim on having a unified Texas behind him if he makes a run in 2028." If Paxton loses, “he put his best foot forward, and it's going to be Paxton's fault that he lost, not Ted Cruz's,” the person said.
根据追踪公司AdImpact的数据，克鲁兹的超级政治行动委员会“真相与勇气”是最早支持帕克斯顿的人之一，在播放反塔拉里科广告时预留了超过200万美元，尽管这笔支出后来被参议院领导基金的政治行动委员会和其他亲共和党团体的重大收购所淹没。
Cruz’s super PAC, Truth and Courage, was one of the first to go up backing Paxton, reserving over $2 million on air with an anti-Talarico ad, according to data from tracking firm AdImpact — though that spend has since been swamped by major buys from the Senate Leadership Fund’s PAC and other pro-Republican groups.
克鲁兹亲自主持或参与了帕克斯顿的多场筹款活动，无论是在Zoom上。其中之一是克鲁兹领导的政治行动委员会在共和党中期代表大会间隙举办的筹款活动，帕克斯顿后来表示“放弃了我们的号码”--数十名捐助者挤在达拉斯上城一栋华丽高层的公寓里，距离如此之近，以至于帕克斯顿的一些工作人员被降级到阳台上工作。
Cruz has hosted or participated in several fundraisers for Paxton, both in person and on Zoom. One of them — a fundraiser hosted by Cruz’s PAC on the sidelines of the Republican midterm convention, a confab Paxton later said “dropped our numbers” — featured dozens of donors crammed into an apartment in a glitzy uptown Dallas high-rise, in such close quarters that some of Paxton’s staffers were relegated to work on the balcony.
在筹款活动上发言的众议员兰迪·费恩（Randy Fine）回忆道：“参加者非常多。”“你动不了。”
“It was incredibly well attended,” recalled Rep. Randy Fine (R-Florida), who spoke at the fundraiser. “You couldn’t move.”