美国媒体周二报道，亿万富翁迈克尔·布隆伯格将斥资8000万美元，助力民主党候选人参加中期选举。这笔巨额资金注入对民主党意义重大，因为该党近期在筹款方面举步维艰，正寻求赢得国会控制权。
The billionaire Michael Bloomberg will spend $80m to help Democratic candidates in the midterm elections, US media reported on Tuesday, a significant infusion of cash for a party that has recently struggled with fundraising as it seeks to win control of Congress.
据报道，这些捐款的消息传出之际，唐纳德·特朗普于周二宣布，他打算总共花费4亿美元支持共和党候选人，其中3亿美元已发放完毕。
The reported donations came as Donald Trump announced on Tuesday he intended to spend a total of $400m to aid Republican candidates, with $300m already disbursed.
《纽约时报》报道称，布隆伯格于9月和10月作出了这些捐款，重点支持那些旨在夺回美国众议院控制权的民主党候选人。目前，共和党以历史上极小的优势控制着众议院。布隆伯格的政治顾问霍华德·沃尔夫森对《纽约时报》表示，目标是确保民主党获得的多数席位超过赢得众议院控制权所需的218个席位。
The New York Times reports that Bloomberg made the contributions in September and October, and is particularly focused on Democrats running to flip the US House of Representatives, which Republicans currently control by a historically small margin. The goal, Bloomberg’s political adviser Howard Wolfson told the Times, is to ensure that a Democratic majority is greater than just the 218 seats needed to win control of the chamber.
沃尔夫森说：“就众议院多数党地位而言，221个席位和230个席位的区别真的很重要。”
“The difference between 221 and 230, in terms of the House majority, really matters,” Wolfson said.
现年84岁的布隆伯格是世界上最富有的人之一，曾于2002年至2013年连任三届纽约市市长。他当时是独立人士，但后来登记为民主党人，在2018年特朗普首个任期的中期选举中斥资8000万美元助力民主党，随后于2020年发起资金雄厚但未成功的民主党总统提名竞选。
One of the world’s richest men, Bloomberg, 84, served three terms as mayor of New York City, from 2002 to 2013. He was an independent then, but later registered as a Democrat, spending $80m to help the party in the 2018 midterms, during Trump’s first term, then made a well-funded but unsuccessful bid for the party’s presidential nomination in 2020.
他今年的捐款包括：向“每个城镇争取枪支安全”组织捐赠2400万美元，该组织由他共同创立，正在为下议院的民主党候选人提供资金支持；以及向“众议院多数党政治行动委员会”捐赠1600万美元，该委员会与众议院少数党领袖哈基姆·杰弗里斯有关联。
Among his donations this year are $24m to Everytown for Gun Safety, a group he cofounded that is spending on Democratic candidates in the lower chamber, and $16m to the House Majority Pac, which is connected to the House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries.
民主党认为他们今年有望夺回众议院控制权，尽管他们承认在筹款方面落后于共和党。除了特朗普的资金外，共和党还获得了总统盟友埃隆·马斯克的助力，马斯克迄今已向保守派团体和竞选活动投入3.66亿美元。
Democrats believe they are favored to take back the House this year, though they’ve acknowledged trailing Republicans in fundraising. Besides Trump’s money, Republicans are being aided by the president’s ally Elon Musk, who has spent $366m on conservative groups and campaigns so far.
民主党人也认为，他们有机会净增四个席位，从而重新夺回参议院控制权，尽管分析人士认为这可能两边都有可能。
Democrats also believe they have a shot at netting the four seats necessary to retake control of the Senate, though analysts believe it could go either way.
控制任何一个议院都将使民主党人能够阻挠特朗普的立法议程，并更有效地调查其政府。如果他们在参议院赢得多数席位，该党议员还可能拒绝批准他提名的最高法院大法官和其他联邦法官人选。
Control of either chamber would allow Democrats to block Trump’s legislative agenda and more effectively investigate his administration. If they win a majority in the Senate, the party’s lawmakers could also reject his nominees for the supreme court and other federal judicial positions.
据《纽约时报》报道，布隆伯格已向支持詹姆斯·塔拉里科的一个超级政治行动委员会捐款250万美元，塔拉里科是得克萨斯州联邦参议员竞选的民主党候选人；同时还向支持纽约州州长凯西·霍楚连任竞选的一个超级政治行动委员会，以及几位民主党籍州长候选人的竞选活动捐款。
Bloomberg has donated $2.5m to a Super Pac backing James Talarico, the Democratic candidate in Texas’s US Senate race, as well as a Super Pac backing the re-election campaign of the New York governor, Kathy Hochul, and the campaigns of several Democratic gubernatorial candidates, the Times reported.
当被问及布隆伯格认为这笔钱会有多大效果时，沃尔夫森表示：“他认为资源在竞选中很重要。”他补充说，这位亿万富翁“期待看到结果”。
Asked how effective Bloomberg believed the money would be, Wolfson said: “He is of the view that resources matter in campaigns.”He added that the billionaire “expects a result”.