美国商会宣布，在2026年中期选举前的德克萨斯州激烈参议院竞选中，它支持共和党候选人、得州司法部长肯·帕克斯顿，而非民主党人詹姆斯·塔拉里科。
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce announced it endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over Democrat James Talarico in the state’s battleground Senate contest ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
“在德克萨斯州，选择很明确。司法部长肯·帕克斯顿一直是自由企业和促进增长政策的捍卫者，这些政策使美国企业得以蓬勃发展，”美国商会执行副总裁兼首席政策官尼尔·布拉德利在一份声明中表示。“他一直在抵制联邦越权行为，帮助维持低税环境，并捍卫能源部门免受繁重命令的影响。” “帕克斯顿明白，真正的经济繁荣依赖于一个公平且可预见的司法系统。我们期待共同推进有意义的法律改革，以保护就业创造者免受诉讼滥用和官僚繁文缛节的侵害，”布拉德利总结道。
“The choice is clear in Texas. Attorney General Ken Paxton has been a defender of free enterprise and the pro-growth policies that empower American businesses to thrive,” Neil Bradley, Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer of the Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement. “He has pushed back against federal overreach, helped preserve a low-tax environment, and defended the energy sector from burdensome mandates.”“Paxton understands that true economic prosperity relies on a fair and predictable justice system. We look forward to working together on meaningful legal reform that shields job creators from lawsuit abuse and red tape,” Bradley concluded.
帕克斯顿是特朗普背书的候选人，他在5月的共和党初选决胜轮中击败了现任参议员约翰·科宁（共和党-得州），但此后在得克萨斯州共和党内部不满情绪的影响下，他在对抗塔拉里科的竞选中一直难以建立领先优势。
Paxton, a Trump-endorsed candidate, ousted Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) in a Republican primary runoff in May but since then has struggled to build a lead against Talarico amid dissatisfaction with the GOP in the Lone Star State.
《Cook Political Report》在8月将该竞选从共和党有利转变为“摇摆不定”评级。Decision Desk HQ是《国会山报》的合作伙伴，它将该竞选定性为硬币抛掷但略微倾向民主党，认为塔拉里科翻转该席位的概率为54%。
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 favoring Democrats, giving Talarico a 54 percent probability of flipping the seat.
塔拉里科也一直在批评帕克斯顿作为得州最高检察官的争议记录——他在2023年得州众议院弹劾后，又得州参议院宣告无罪；此外，《纽约时报》曾公开的一段音频中，帕克斯顿称他在共和党中期大会上的亮相“让我们的支持率下降了”。美国商会已有超过100年的活跃历史，并在今年早些时候曾因反对特朗普政府对几乎所有国家实施关税而与其发生冲突。
Talarico has also hammered Paxton on his controversial record as the Lone Star State’s top prosecutor who was impeached by the Texas state 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.”The Chamber of Commerce has been active for over 100 years and previously clashed with the Trump administration earlier this year over enacting tariffs against nearly every country.
去年，商会在最高法院案件的法庭之友简报中反对特朗普总统的关税政策，认为总统越权行使法定职权，其行为正在对各种规模的企业造成“无法弥补的损害”。最高法院随后裁定这些关税违法，并驳回特朗普利用《国际紧急经济权力法案》（IEEPA）扩大征收关税的做法。
The Chamber of Commerce opposed President Trump’s tariffs in an amicus brief in a Supreme Court case last year arguing the president was overstepping his statutory authority and his actions were causing “irreparable harm to businesses of all sizes.”The Supreme Court later ruled the tariffs were unlawful and rejected Trump’s expanded use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) in imposing tariffs.
裁决之后，布拉德利在另一份声明中写道，商会鼓励“政府利用此次机会，以一种能够促进更大经济增长、提升工人工资增长、降低家庭成本的方式重新调整整体关税政策”。
After the ruling, Bradley wrote in another statement that the Chamber of Commerce encouraged “the administration to use this opportunity to reset overall tariff policy in a manner that will lead to greater economic growth, larger wage gains for workers, and lower costs for families.”