
民主党在德克萨斯州创造了历史。总统唐纳德·特朗普对德克萨斯州总检察长肯·帕克斯顿的赌注适得其反,因为德克萨斯州众议员詹姆斯·塔拉里科爆冷获胜,让民主党在近四十年来首次从孤星州赢得一个参议院席位。
Democrats just made history in Texas. President Donald Trump’s gamble on Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a strong ally of the president’s, backfired on him after Texas state Rep. James Talarico pulled off an upset to score Democrats their first Senate seat from the Lone Star State in nearly four decades.
福克斯新闻决策台在周二晚上东部时间11点后不久,将德克萨斯州参议院选举判定为塔拉里科胜选。
The Fox News Decision Desk called the Texas Senate race in Talarico's favor shortly after 11 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday night.
此前,特朗普今年早些时候选择支持帕克斯顿,而非长期担任参议员的现任约翰·科宁,R-德克萨斯州。华盛顿特区的共和党人认为,在由经济压力和战争引发的政治逆风对执政党形成反击的中期选举周期中,科宁会是更好的候选人。
It comes after Trump opted to back Paxton over longtime incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, earlier this year, who Republicans in Washington, D.C., believed would be a better candidate during a midterm cycle in which political headwinds, spurred by economic stress and war, pushed back against the party in power.
特朗普几乎每周都会前往德克萨斯州,他的资金雄厚的竞选基金MAGA Inc.以及全国共和党人,向帕克斯顿举步维艰的竞选活动投入了数亿美元。
Trump made near-weekly visits and his deep-pocketed war chest, MAGA Inc., along with national Republicans, dumped hundreds of millions of dollars to support Paxton’s struggling campaign.
但这仍不足以战胜反叛者塔拉里科,他将自己塑造为一位致力于代表德克萨斯人而非代表民主党利益的温和派,后者包括参议院少数党领袖查克·舒默,D-纽约州,在华盛顿的利益。
But it was not enough to overcome the insurgent Talarico, who styled himself a moderate dedicated to representing Texans and not Democratic interests, like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s, D-N.Y., in Washington.
从头到尾,这是一场苦涩的竞选活动,塔拉里科在多项腐败指控之后将帕克斯顿描述为不适合任职,其中包括德克萨斯州众议院对他涉嫌腐败的弹劾——他后来被德克萨斯州参议院宣判无罪。
It was a bitter campaign from start to finish, with Talarico painting Paxton as unfit to serve following several allegations of corruption, including his impeachment for alleged corruption by the Texas House — he was later acquitted by the Texas Senate.
“这个参议院席位曾由一些最优秀的德州人担任,”塔拉里科说。“肯·帕克顿绝不该靠近林登·约翰逊的参议院席位。肯·帕克顿绝不该靠近萨姆·休斯顿的参议院席位。”
"This Senate seat has been held by some of the finest Texans," Talarico said. "Ken Paxton should be nowhere near Lyndon Johnson's Senate seat. Ken Paxton should be nowhere near Sam Houston's Senate seat."
帕克顿、特朗普和全国共和党人将他描绘成“共产党人”,一个在热爱烧烤的德州的纯素食者,并重点抨击他支持跨性别群体,尤其是他在德州立法机构期间关于上帝是“非二元性别”的演讲。
Paxton, Trump and national Republicans painted him as a "communist," a vegan in BBQ-loving Texas, and zeroed in on his support for the transgender community while in the Texas Legislature, most notably his floor speech on God being "non-binary."
“我不是要求你想象我作为你的美国参议员会做什么,”帕克顿在选举日前的集会上对选民说。“我要求你看看我的记录,然后把它和另一个家伙,詹姆斯·塔拉里科相比较,他是有史以来参选全州职位的最激进的民主党人,毫无疑问。”“不管他投放多少谎称自己记录的广告,詹姆斯·塔拉里科,简单来说,就是一个像奥卡西奥-科尔特斯一样的民主社会主义者。就像纽约市市长马姆达尼一样,”他继续说道。塔拉里科甚至从特朗普那里得到了一个绰号。
"I'm not asking you to imagine what I do as your U.S. senator," Paxton told voters at a rally ahead of Election Day. "I'm asking you to look at my record and then compare it to another guy, James Talarico, the most radical Democrat ever to run statewide, bar none." "And no matter how many commercials he runs lying about his record, James Talarico is a, simply put, a Democratic Socialist just like AOC. And just like the New York mayor, Mamdani," he continued. Talarico even scored a nickname from Trump.
“这个名字碰巧是‘塔拉弗里克’,因为他是我见过的最糟糕的候选人之一,”特朗普在共和党中期党代会前说,该党代会主要旨在支持帕克顿挣扎中的竞选活动。
"The name happens to be ‘Talafreako’ because he is one of the worst candidates I have ever seen," Trump said ahead of the GOP’s midterm convention largely meant to bolster Paxton’s struggling campaign.

尽管如此,特朗普选择帕克顿而非科宁,导致共和党内部出现分裂,这位资深立法者明确表示,在今年早些时候经历一场血腥而激烈的初选失利后,他不会站在帕克顿一边为他竞选。
Nonetheless, there was a schism within the GOP caused by Trump picking Paxton over Cornyn, and the longtime lawmaker made it clear that he would not be in Paxton’s corner campaigning for him after losing a bloody and bitter primary fight earlier this year.
“我拒绝允许像肯·帕克顿这样有缺陷、以自我为中心且无耻的候选人,去冒我们多年来辛苦建立的一切的风险,”科宁在今年早些时候输掉初选后说。“审判之日即将降临到肯·帕克顿身上,”他继续说道。
"I refuse to allow a flawed, self-centered and shameless candidate like Ken Paxton to risk everything we’ve worked so hard to build over these many years," Cornyn said after losing his primary earlier this year. "Judgment Day is coming for Ken Paxton," he continued.
这一消息传来之际,共和党在州和联邦两级都经历了一场残酷的中期选举之夜。在该竞选结果宣布时,民主党预计已经赢得了众议院多数席位的控制权。
The news comes on a brutal midterm election night for Republicans on both the state and federal level. At the time of the race call, Democrats were already projected to win control of the House majority.
与此同时,福克斯新闻决策台预计,得克萨斯州州长格雷格·阿博特将败给其民主党挑战者吉娜·希诺霍萨。
And the Fox News Decision Desk projected Texas Gov. Greg Abbott losing to his Democrat challenger Gina Hinojosa at the same time.