民主党人詹姆斯·塔拉里科将自己的竞选活动与圣经人物大卫进行比较，称自己将“与我们自己的歌利亚作战”，在即将于11月与得克萨斯州司法部长肯·帕克斯顿进行的激烈竞选之前。
Democrat James Talarico compared his campaign to biblical figure David, saying he was “going up against our own Goliaths,” ahead of his battleground ground contest against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in November.
“我们将与我们自己的歌利亚作战，那些亿万富翁巨额捐款者，那些企业政治行动委员会，整个华盛顿特区的既得利益集团，”塔拉里科在得克萨斯州的一次竞选集会上说。
“We are going up against our own Goliaths, those billionaire mega donors, those corporate PACs, the entire Washington D.C. establishment,” Talarico said, while at a campaign rally in Texas.
“这个竞选让我想起圣经中那个牧羊男孩与巨人对抗四十天的故事，”塔拉里科描述道。“在战斗的那天，他身披全副盔甲。他携带了如此多的武器，以至于必须让别人帮他拿盾牌。”
“This race reminds me of that story in the Bible of a shepherd boy who goes up against a giant for 40 days,” Talarico described. “On the day of the fight, he shows up in full armor. He’s carrying so many weapons he has to get someone else to hold his shield.”
“大卫可能没有歌利亚那么高大或强壮。他可能没有那么多武器，但他有希望，他有投石索。你们就是我的投石索，”民主党人继续说道，指得克萨斯州人民是他的“投石索”。“而到了11月3日，那些歌利亚将不知道是什么击中了他们，”他总结道。
“David may not have been as big or as strong as Goliath. He may not have had as many weapons, but he had hope, and he had a slingshot. You are my slingshot,” the Democrat continued, referring to the people of Texas his “slingshot.”“And on November 3, those Goliaths aren’t going to know what hit them,” he concluded.
根据牛津词典，圣经中大卫与歌利亚的故事通常被用来形容一种“弱者处境”，即一个体型较小、不太可能获胜的挑战者面对更强大的对手。
The David and Goliath story from the Bible is generally used to refer to an “underdog situation,” where a smaller, unlikely challenger faces off against a stronger opponent, according to Oxford’s Dictionary.
这一比较之所以被提出，是因为世界首富埃隆·马斯克向支持帕克斯顿的关键超级政治行动委员会注入了1.58亿美元。在第三季度，帕克斯顿还筹集了1800万美元——这使得本轮选举中的参议院竞选成为有史以来最昂贵的一次。
The comparison comes as Elon Musk – the world’s richest person – poured $158 million into a key super PAC backing Paxton. In the third quarter, Paxton also raised $18 million – adding to what’s already the most expensive Senate race of the cycle.
与此同时，塔拉里科及其团队报告称，仅在今年第三季度就筹集了6400万美元的捐款，表示这是任何参议院候选人在第三季度筹集的最高金额。
Talarico and his team, meanwhile, reported $64 million in donations for the third quarter this year alone, saying it is the most money ever raised in the third quarter by any Senate candidate.
当帕克斯顿获得特朗普的背书后，他迅速击败了现任参议员约翰·科宁（共和党-得克萨斯州），但尽管得克萨斯州是共和党的铁杆堡垒，他仍面临着塔拉里科的严峻挑战。
When Paxton earned Trump’s endorsement, he was quickly able to defeat incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) but has faced a serious challenge from Talarico despite Texas being a red stronghold.
塔拉里科一直在抨击帕克斯顿作为得克萨斯州最高检察官的有争议记录——他在2023年被得克萨斯州众议院弹劾，随后被州参议院无罪释放——并且，在《纽约时报》分享的音频中，帕克斯顿认为他在共和党中期党代会上的出现“导致我们的支持率下降。”《库克政治报告》在八月将此次选举从共和党有利转变为“摇摆不定”评级。《决策桌总部》（The Hill的合作伙伴）将此次选举定义为硬币翻面，但略微倾向民主党，认为塔拉里科翻转该席位的概率为54%。
Talarico has hammered Paxton on his controversial record as the Lone Star State’s top prosecutor where he was impeached by the Texas House in 2023 before being acquitted by the state Senate – and, in audio shared by the New York Times, Paxton contended that his appearance at the GOP’s midterm convention “dropped our numbers.”Cook Political Report shifted the race away from Republicans to a “toss up” rating in August. Decision Desk HQ, a partner of The Hill, designated the race as a coin flip, but narrowly favored Democrats, giving Talarico a 54 percent probability of flipping the seat.