特洛伊·杰克逊（民主党）在2026年10月15日星期四，缅因州班戈举行的缅因州美国参议院最终辩论中，向参议员苏珊·柯林斯（共和党）提出问题。
Troy Jackson (D) directs a question to Sen. Susan Collins (R) during the final Maine U.S. Senate debate in Bangor, Maine, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026.
格雷戈里·A·雷克/共同采访 波特兰新闻先驱报/美联社 根据追踪组织AdImpact的数据，本周这些中期选举的竞选支出已超过100亿美元。也许我们应该重复一下这个数字：100亿美元。
Gregory A. Rec/Pool Portland Press Herald/AP Campaign spending for these midterm elections passed 10 billion dollars this week, according to the tracking group AdImpact. Maybe we should repeat that number: $10 billion dollars.
例如，俄亥俄州的参议院竞选已经花费了超过4.6亿美元的广告支出。德克萨斯州的参议院竞选已超过5亿美元。随后，缅因州的参议院竞选又增加了2.6亿美元。
The senate race in Ohio, for example, has already cost more than $460 million in combined ad spending. The Texas Senate race has surpassed half a billion. Then there's $260 million more in the Maine Senate race.
全国最昂贵的众议院竞选不在加利福尼亚或纽约，而是密歇根州第7国会选区，广告支出接近6000万美元。爱荷华州和佛罗里达州的竞选各自刚刚低于5000万美元。
The most expensive House race in the country isn't in California or New York, but Michigan's 7th congressional district with nearly $60 million in ads. Contests in Iowa and Florida are just under $50 million apiece.
美国对个人竞选捐款有限制——但自2010年最高法院的“公民联合”裁决以来，对“超级政治行动委员会”（super PACs）的捐款没有限制，这些机构可以公开支持或反对候选人，但不能直接与竞选活动协调。富有的捐助者利用这一裁决，向两党输送了数亿美元的资金，覆盖上下 ballot。仅自7月以来，埃隆·马斯克一人就向共和党团体捐赠了2.76亿美元。乔治·索罗斯在此次选举周期内向民主党捐赠了超过1亿美元。
There are limits on personal campaign contributions in the United States--but, since the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision in 2010, no limits on donations to "super PACs," which can publicly support or oppose candidates but can't directly coordinate with campaigns. Rich donors have used that ruling to steer hundreds of millions of dollars to support both parties, up and down the ballot. Elon Musk alone has given $276 million to Republican groups, just since July. George Soros has given more than $100 million dollars to Democrats this election cycle.
与此同时，政客们试图通过这些广告赢得选民的支持，但选民告诉民调机构和记者，他们今年秋天最关心的问题是经济和生活成本。通胀上升；自伊朗战争爆发以来，油价飙升；杂货成本比2019年高出三分之一。
Meanwhile, voters, whom politicians are trying to win over with all these ads, tell pollsters and reporters that their top issues this fall are the economy and the cost of living. Inflation is up; gas prices have spiked since the start of the Iran war; groceries cost a third more than they did in 2019.
人们不禁要问：如果这些数以亿计的广告资金用于为有需要的人提供食物、汽油或住所，或用于帮助人们承担医疗费用，能够实现什么？其中一部分钱能否用于支付学校护士、音乐教师和图书管理员的工资？资助戒毒护理？清理公共公园？
It is hard not to wonder: what could those hundreds of millions of ad dollars accomplish if they went toward food, gas, or shelter for those in need, or to help people with health care costs? Could some of it pay for school nurses, music teachers, and librarians? Subsidize addiction care? Clean up public parks?
也许候选人如今可以通过宣称“我承诺在竞选上花费的钱少于我的对手！”来赢得支持。毕竟，正如洛杉矶道奇队本周可能提醒我们的那样，花最多的钱并不总能带来胜利。
Maybe a candidate could win support these days by declaring, "And I vow to spend less money on my campaign than my opponent!" After all, as the Los Angeles Dodgers might remind us this week, spending the most money doesn't always deliver victory.