得克萨斯州总检察长兼共和党参议员候选人肯·帕克斯顿的前妻安杰拉·帕克斯顿，已介入该州激烈竞争的参议员选举。她鼓励得州人在中期选举中投票支持共和党，同时避免直接提及自己的丈夫。
Angela Paxton, the estranged wife of Texas Attorney General and Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton, has waded into the state’s hotly contested Senate race by encouraging Texans to vote Republican in the midterm elections—while avoiding directly mentioning her husband.
安杰拉·帕克斯顿去年以丈夫出轨为由提出离婚，此前她对这场选举一直保持沉默。她的丈夫正在与民主党候选人詹姆斯·塔拉里科展开角逐。今年夏天，她拒绝向《纽约时报》透露自己是否会在11月的选举中投票支持肯·帕克斯顿。
Angela Paxton—who filed for divorce last year, alleging adultery—long remained mum on the race, in which her husband is facing off against Democrat James Talarico. Over the summer, she declined to share with the New York Times whether she would vote for Ken Paxton in the November election.
然而，随着塔拉里科在多数民意调查中持续以微弱优势领先她的丈夫，且选举日日益临近，她开始公开发声，敦促选民在下个月投票时支持共和党。
But as Talarico continues to hold a slim lead over her husband in most polls and Election Day draws closer, she has been speaking out to urge voters to back the GOP when they head to the voting booths next month.
9月中旬，她在对一群共和党女性的演讲中表示，共和党“在选票上确实存在一些薄弱环节”，但她仍敦促她们“即使对共和党感到不满”，也要投票支持该党的候选人。
In a speech to a group of Republican women in mid-September, she said that the Republican Party has “some vulnerabilities on our ballot,” but urged them to still vote for the party’s candidates “even if we’re mad at it.”
她说：“坦白说，我认为共和党女性将决定这次选举的结果，因为我认为这些薄弱环节尤其让与我们价值观一致的女性感到疏远。当我说要赢，我的意思是，我们必须赢得所有这些选区，必须守住所有这些席位。”
“I’ll be honest with you, I think Republican women will decide this election, because some of those vulnerabilities, I think, have been particularly alienating to women that hold our values,” she said. “When I say we have to win, I mean we have to win all those races. We have to keep all of those seats.”
她继续说道：“关键不在于人，而在于席位。因为当我们掌控这些席位时，就能掌控未来，只要这些席位仍留在党内，即使我们对党感到不满。但如果我们将这些席位输给了对手，那么我们想通过某个特定候选人来解决的那些细微问题，与重新夺回这些席位所需付出的努力相比，根本不值一提。”
“It’s not the people—it’s the seat,” she continued. “Because we have more control over that seat and the future when we control the seat, when it’s still in the family, even if we’re mad at it. But if we lose it to the other team, the nuances that we want to fix with maybe a certain candidate are nothing compared to what it’s going to take to get it back.”
如今，她在一则新广告中传达了类似的信息。广告中，她用自己的话谈到了“房间里的大象”。安杰拉·帕克斯顿在广告开头说道：“人们曾问我对此届选举的看法，结果发现，我确实有一些想法。让我们来谈谈房间里的大象吧。”
And she is now sharing a similar message in a new ad, in which she talks about, in her own words, “the elephant in the room.”“People have asked my thoughts about this election and it turns out, I have some. Let’s talk about the elephant in the room,” Angela Paxton opens the ad by saying.
“在普选中，重要的并非团队中的个人选手，而是让整个团队一起冲过终点线，”她说。“要么我们守住所有共和党席位，要么就把德克萨斯州的未来拱手让给对手。这就是为什么我会在11月3日投票支持共和党的候选人名单。让我们一起守住防线。”在这则广告中，她并未直接提及肯·帕克斯顿或参议院竞选事宜。该广告由德克萨斯州政治行动委员会（Texas PAC）资助，而该委员会与一个支持共和党在参议院保持多数地位的大型政治行动委员会（super PAC）有关联。
“In a general election, it’s not as much about the individual players on the team—it’s about getting the whole team across the finish line,” she says. “Either we hold every Republican seat or we hand the future of Texas to the other team. That’s why I’m voting for the Republican ticket on Nov. 3. Let’s hold the line together.”She does not speak about Ken Paxton or the Senate contest outright in the ad. The ad was funded by Texas PAC, which is tied to a super PAC that backs a Republican majority in the upper chamber.
以下是关于安吉拉·帕克斯顿以及她介入中期选举重要性的相关信息。安吉拉·帕克斯顿是谁？
Here’s what to know about Angela Paxton, and the significance of her wading into the midterm elections. Who is Angela Paxton?
安吉拉·帕克斯顿是一名共和党人，自2019年起担任德克萨斯州参议员。她此前是一名数学教师和学校顾问。
Angela Paxton, a Republican, has served in the Texas state Senate since 2019. She was previously a math teacher and school counselor.
她与肯·帕克斯顿结婚近四十年，但去年她宣布以“圣经原则”为由提出离婚，并表示：“鉴于近期的发现，我认为继续维持这段婚姻既不符合上帝的荣耀，也无法对我自己、我的孩子或肯表现出爱。”在离婚申请中，安吉拉·帕克斯顿指控丈夫“犯有通奸行为”，并称两人已于2024年6月停止“以夫妻身份”共同生活。
She and Ken Paxton have been married for nearly four decades, but last year, she announced that she filed for divorce “on biblical grounds,” stating that, “in light of recent discoveries, I do not believe that it honors God or is loving to myself, my children, or Ken to remain in the marriage.”In her divorce petition, Angela Paxton alleged that her husband “has committed adultery” and said that the two of them had stopped living together “as spouses” by June 2024.
这位德克萨斯州参议员的发言人上周末告诉《纽约时报》，离婚程序仍在进行中。安吉拉·帕克斯顿介入德克萨斯州参议院竞选有何意义？
A spokesperson for the Texas state senator told the Times over the weekend that the divorce proceedings are still underway. What is the significance of Angela Paxton wading into the Texas Senate race?
政治专家向《时代》杂志表示，这则由安吉拉·帕克斯顿出镜的广告表明，共和党对其丈夫赢得参议院竞选的可能性感到担忧。
Political experts tell TIME that the ad featuring Angela Paxton suggests that the Republican Party is worried about her husband’s chances of winning the Senate race.
“有必要联系[德克萨斯州参议员安吉拉·帕克斯顿]，让她间接为如今已分道扬镳的丈夫背书，这一事实相当引人注目，也反映出共和党人对这场竞选的担忧程度有多深，”德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校德克萨斯政治项目研究主管乔舒亚·布兰克说道。
“The fact that the need was felt to reach out to [Texas state senator Angela Paxton] to obliquely vouch for her now estranged husband is pretty remarkable, and an indication of the extent of concern that Republicans are feeling in this race,” says Joshua Blank, the research director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin.
大多数民意调查显示，帕克斯顿的支持率落后于塔拉里科——而且差距非常小。如果塔拉里科赢得参议员选举，这将是三十多年来民主党候选人首次在得克萨斯州的州级选举中获胜。
Most polls show that Paxton is trailing—by a very slim margin—behind Talarico. If Talarico wins the Senate race, it would be the first time that a Democratic candidate has won a statewide election in Texas in more than three decades.
帕克斯顿的竞选活动一直受到其政治生涯中出现的几起丑闻和争议的影响，包括不忠指控、欺诈起诉，以及因贿赂和滥用职权而引发的弹劾审判。帕克斯顿否认有任何不当行为。针对他的欺诈指控最终被撤销，因为检察官与帕克斯顿达成了一项协议；在得克萨斯州参议院的弹劾审判中，他也被宣告对所有指控无罪。
Paxton’s campaign has been shadowed by several scandals and controversies that have arisen throughout his political career, including allegations of infidelity, a fraud indictment, and an impeachment trial on charges of bribery and abuse of office. Paxton has denied any wrongdoing. The fraud charges against him were ultimately dropped after prosecutors and Paxton agreed to a deal, and he was acquitted of all charges against him in his impeachment trial by the Texas state Senate.
政治专家认为，总统唐纳德·特朗普的低支持率——尤其是选民对他经济政策处理方式的看法——也可能影响了帕克斯顿在民意调查中的表现，此外，得克萨斯州州长竞选的竞争也异常激烈。
Political experts say that President Donald Trump’s low approval ratings—particularly how voters feel about his handling of the economy—could also be impacting Paxton’s performance in the polls, as well as an unusually tight gubernatorial race in Texas.
“在全国范围内，我们知道共和党目前处于不利环境。这种情况在得克萨斯州也同样存在，尽管得克萨斯州的共和党倾向比大多数州更强，因此有一定的缓冲空间，”德克萨斯A&M大学政治学教授基里·戈伊德尔表示。
“Nationwide, we know it’s a difficult environment for Republicans. That’s playing out in Texas too, though Texas is more Republican than most states and so there’s more of a buffer,” says Kirby Goidel, a professor of political science at Texas A&M University.
根据CNN首席数据分析师哈里·恩滕本月早些时候在节目中分享的数据，帕克斯顿的净支持率是下个月竞选关键参议员席位的几位共和党人中最低的。
According to data shared by CNN Chief Data Analyst Harry Enten on air earlier this month, Paxton’s net popularity is the lowest among several Republicans vying for key Senate seats next month.
“[帕克斯顿]和其他共和党人一样处于激烈竞争之中，但他的处境更为艰难，因为他所背负的负面因素让他的竞选之路更加坎坷，”戈伊德尔说。
“[Paxton is] in a tight race like other Republicans, but he’s in a tighter race in a worse situation because, I think, of the baggage that he brings to the campaign,” Goidel says.
戈伊德尔表示，如果你是正在关注这些民调的共和党人，那么“你可能会问，肯·帕克斯顿到底要怎么做才能赢得这场选举？”
Goidel says that, if you’re the Republican Party looking at these polls, “you say, what does Ken Paxton have to do to win this race?”
“首先，他必须确保获得共和党的支持，”戈伊德尔继续说道。“我认为，让他的妻子出面传递这样一个信息——这是一场团队游戏，而非个人游戏，我们需要所有球员都上场——这传递出一种来自该党的信号：‘嘿，我们需要你们所有人都加入进来，为这个人投票；也许你们不喜欢他，但我们确实需要你们。’”布兰克还表示，安吉拉·帕克斯顿出镜的这则广告“并非间接地针对女性，而是特别针对那些可能对支持肯·帕克斯顿有所顾虑的共和党女性，给予她们支持他的许可。”
“Well, the first thing he has to do is secure Republican support,” Goidel continues. “I think having his wife come on and send that message that this is the team game, not an individual game, and we need all the players on the field, is a … signal [from the party of] ‘Hey, we need you all to come on board and vote for this guy; you may not like it, but we need you.’”Blank also says that the ad featuring Angela Paxton “is not so indirectly addressed at giving women, but in particular Republican women who might have apprehensions about supporting Ken Paxton, with permission to do so.”
《纽约时报》与锡耶纳大学在九月底进行的一项民调发现，在得克萨斯州，倾向于投票的男性中，表示会投票给帕克斯顿的比例（51%）高于该州倾向于投票的女性（40%）。不过，布兰克指出，美国政治中普遍存在党派归属上的性别差异——女性比男性更倾向于支持民主党，而男性则比女性更倾向于支持共和党。
A New York Times/Siena University poll conducted at the end of September found that more men who are likely voters in Texas said they would vote for Paxton than women who are likely voters in the state, at 51% compared to 40%. Blank points out, though, that there’s a gender gap in partisanship in American politics more generally—women tend to be more likely than men to align themselves with the Democratic Party, while men tend to be more likely than women to align themselves with the Republican Party.
布兰克指出，“民调显示，共和党选民的热情一直存在明显差距。”“尤其是共和党女性，可能是该联盟中的一个薄弱环节，而这则广告恰恰表明，情况很可能确实如此，”布兰克说。
Blank notes that “polling has indicated a consistent gap in enthusiasm among Republican voters.”“Republican women in particular might be a soft spot in the coalition, and if anything, this ad indicates that that’s likely the case,” Blank says.