埃隆·马斯克的超级政治行动委员会已在纽约竞争激烈的第17国会选区投入超过50万美元，帮助共和党现任议员迈克·劳勒保住席位。
Elon Musk’s Super Pac has spent more than $500,000 in New York’s highly competitive 17th congressional district race to help Mike Lawler, the Republican incumbent, hold on to his seat.
劳勒是一名温和派共和党人，正在哈德逊河谷地区抵御民主党人凯特·康利的挑战。这场竞选是备受关注的选战之一，可能决定共和党能否保持在国会的多数党地位。
Lawler, a moderate Republican, is fending off a challenge from Democrat Cait Conley in the Hudson valley. It is among the most-watched races that could determine whether Republicans hold on to their majority in Congress.
根据联邦选举委员会的文件，马斯克创立的“美国政治行动委员会”在过去一年里已花费数十万美元助力劳勒的竞选活动。
America Pac, the Super Pac founded by Musk, has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars over the last year to boost Lawler’s campaign, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
其中大部分支出用于选民接触工作，如发送短信、印刷、邮资以及数字媒体相关服务。《Gothamist》率先报道了马斯克的这笔支出。
Most of that spending has funded voter outreach efforts such as texting, printing, and postage and digital media-related services. Gothamist was the first to report on Musk’s spending.
据《纽约时报》本月初报道，作为本届中期选举周期中共和党最大的捐赠者，马斯克已向保守派候选人投入数百万美元。自7月初以来，马斯克已向共和党团体和“美国政治行动委员会”注资2.76亿美元。
Musk, the Republicans’ largest donor so far this midterm cycle, has spent millions of dollars on conservative candidates. Since the beginning of July, Musk has funneled $276m into Republican groups and America Pac, the New York Times reported earlier this month.
这笔资金正帮助共和党候选人冲刺终点，他们试图说服不满的选民再次支持保守党。民调显示，本周期共和党候选人处于微弱劣势，因为许多选民对唐纳德·特朗普执政下的生活成本感到沮丧。
The funding is helping push Republican candidates to the finish line as they try to convince disgruntled voters to back the conservative party again. Polling shows Republican candidates are at a slight disadvantage this cycle because many have grown frustrated with the cost of living under Donald Trump.
“美国政治行动委员会”在劳勒选战中的支出引人注目，因为马斯克的该委员会在2024年已花费超过200万美元助力劳勒连任。
America Pac’s spending on Lawler’s race is notable because Musk’s Pac spent more than $2m to help re-elect Lawler in 2024.
劳勒的民主党对手康利曾任网络安全和基础设施安全局局长，她指责劳勒保护马斯克，而非监管人工智能。
Conley, Lawler’s Democratic opponent, and the former head of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, has accused Lawler of protecting Musk rather than regulating artificial intelligence.
“AI对美国人民的安全与安全构成非常现实的威胁，国会早就该采取行动对其进行监管了，”康利在X上写道。“但迈克·劳勒在阻挠，因为他在为他的万亿富翁支持者埃隆·马斯克谋利。”劳勒的竞选经理西罗·里卡迪向《哥谭主义者》表示，他们对“美国政治行动委员会或其他任何外部团体在这场竞选中的支出没有发言权”——引用了一项禁止竞选活动与超级政治行动委员会直接协调的法律。
“AI poses a very real threat to the safety and security of the American people, and it’s long past time that Congress took action to regulate it,” Conley wrote on X. “But Mike Lawler is standing in the way, because he’s looking out for his trillionaire backer Elon Musk.”Ciro Riccardi, Lawler’s campaign manager, told Gothamist that they had “no say over what America PAC or any other outside group spends in this race” – referencing a law that prohibits campaigns from coordinating directly with Super Pacs.