科技大亨埃隆·马斯克在为共和党人肯·帕克斯顿的竞选活动提供资金数周后，正式背书支持他在德克萨斯州的参议院竞选。这位科技亿万富翁、曾身价超万亿美元的人士，已作为支持帕克斯顿的政治行动委员会“德克萨斯PAC”的唯一捐赠者，在帕克斯顿的候选人资格上花费了超过1.5亿美元。马斯克周二在其拥有的社交平台X上发帖，呼吁德克萨斯人出来支持这位德州总检察长。
Tech mogul Elon Musk has formally endorsed Republican Ken Paxton in the Texas Senate race after bankrolling his campaign for several weeks. The tech billionaire and one-time trillionaire has spent more than $150 million on Paxton’s candidacy as the lone donor to Texas PAC, a political action committee supporting Paxton. In a post to the social platform X — which Musk owns — Tuesday, Musk encouraged Texans to get out and support the Texas Attorney General.
“德克萨斯州和美国的命运岌岌可危。今天为@KenPaxtonTX投票，”马斯克写道。马斯克是特朗普2024年最大的捐赠者之一，花费至少2.5亿美元助其重返白宫。尽管在2025年春季与总统闹翻，马斯克现已重返政治舞台，为共和党在中期选举中提供资金支持。马斯克也是德州居民，他于2020年从加利福尼亚州搬至奥斯汀。
“The fate of Texas and America is at stake. Vote for @KenPaxtonTX today,” Musk wrote. Musk was one of Trump’s biggest donors in 2024, spending at least $250 million to help send him back to the White House. Despite a falling out with the president in the spring of 2025, Musk is back in the political mix and bankrolling Republicans in the midterms. Musk is also a Texas resident, having moved from California to Austin in 2020.
特斯拉和SpaceX总部均设在德州。帕克斯顿正与州众议员詹姆斯·塔拉里科（民主党人）陷入胶着较量，这场对决关乎哪个党将控制参议院。虽然德州传统上是共和党州份——特朗普在2024年以14个百分点优势赢得该州——但共和党日益担心可能自1988年以来首次在“孤星州”输掉参议院竞选。阻止这种情况发生代价高昂。据广告追踪公司AdImpact统计，两党在德州参议院竞选的广告支出已超过5亿美元，其中共和党方面贡献超过3.5亿美元。
Both Tesla and SpaceX are headquartered in Texas. Paxton finds himself in a tight race with state Rep. James Talarico (D) in a matchup that is key to which party will control the Senate. While Texas is a traditionally Republican state, one which President Trump won by 14 points in 2024, the GOP is increasingly concerned about the possibility of losing a Senate race in the Lone Star State for the first time since 1988. Preventing that from happening comes with a big price tag. The two parties have spent more than $500 million on ads in the Texas Senate race, with more than $350 million coming from Republicans, according to ad-tracking firm AdImpact.
但根据联邦法律规定，外部支出在电视广告费率上不如竞选团队自身的支出优惠。因此，尽管据AdImpact统计共和党占德州广告支出的74%，但截至周一，该党实际播出的电视广告时段仅占58%。
But while Musk’s money may help Paxton get on the air, outside spending receives less favorable ad rates on TV than spending from campaigns, as required by federal law. So while Republicans account for 74 percent of ad spending in Texas, according to AdImpact, the party accounts for just 58 percent of actual broadcast airings as of Monday.
塔拉里科作为候选人筹集的资金创下了历史新高：他在第三季度筹集了6400万美元，这一数额是历史上任何参议院候选人在同一段时间内筹集到的最高金额。这一数字远远超过了帕克斯顿的竞选资金。尽管共和党向德克萨斯州投入了大量资金，但这对民意调查的结果几乎没有产生明显影响。作为《The Hill》的合作伙伴、非党派选举预测机构Decision Desk HQ（DDHQ）在8月底的民意调查中显示，塔拉里科以3.3个百分点的优势领先帕克斯顿；截至周二，在共和党投入了数亿美元用于广告宣传后，塔拉里科仍以2.2个百分点的优势领先帕克斯顿。
Talarico has raised record amounts as a candidate, with a $64 million third quarter haul — the most any Senate candidate has raised in that period in recorded history. That figure far outpaces what Paxton’s campaign has raised. The barrage of GOP money into Texas has done little to move the polls. Nonpartisan election forecaster Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ), a partner of The Hill, showed Talarico leading Paxton by 3.3 points at the end of August in its polling average. As of Tuesday, Talarico still leads Paxton by 2.2 points after hundreds of millions in Republican ad spending.