By Alayna Treene
1小时51分钟前
发布于 2026年3月17日，美国东部时间下午6:08
参议员约翰·科宁（左）与得州总检察长肯·帕克斯顿。
AP
唐纳德·特朗普总统承诺将在共和党得州参议院决选中提供支持，并表示希望他未选中的候选人退选。但如今——由于忙于伊朗战争和一项注定失败的选举法案——他错过了一个关键截止日期。
白宫官员周二下午告诉美国有线电视新闻网（CNN），总统几天来都未将这一决定放在心上，指出他正忙于与伊朗的战争。现在，候选人从选票上撤回名字的截止日期已经过去。
这意味着现任得州参议员约翰·科宁和总检察长肯·帕克斯顿的名字都将出现在5月26日决选的选票上，这是许多参议院共和党领袖——甚至特朗普本人——都不愿看到的结果。
白宫官员表示，特朗普仍有可能选择支持这场竞选中的某一方。尽管截止日期已过，任何候选人仍可非正式地退出决选，但他的名字仍会出现在选票上。
共和党人认为得州是维持参议院多数席位的关键，他们原本希望在已经耗资巨大的初选之后，不必在决选中投入更多资源。参议院共和党领袖一直强烈施压特朗普支持科宁，因为他们认为科宁在大选中获胜的可能性要大得多。
特朗普本月早些时候誓言将支持这场激烈的决选，他在社交媒体上写道，他会要求他不支持的候选人“立即退出竞选”。
这一最后通牒令参议院共和党领袖感到兴奋，因为总统一直倾向于支持科宁。但美国有线电视新闻网此前报道，特朗普和一些高级顾问在他的意图被泄露给媒体后感到沮丧。
特朗普希望将他珍视的支持直接与他对“拯救美国法案”（SAVE America Act）的执念联系起来，这进一步使决定复杂化——该法案除其他外，还将实施更严格的选民身份证要求。
3月初，帕克斯顿宣布，如果参议院通过总统的选举限制法案——即使需要改变参议院的阻挠议事规则——他将考虑退出决选。一位特朗普官员称，白宫官员将这一策略视为“天才之举”，并认为这让帕克斯顿仍有机会。
由于得州的最终退选日期并非固定日期，这使得支持和截止日期的问题更加混乱。根据州法律，候选人必须在结果最终确定或“计票完成”后的三天内退出决选。如果得州共和党在最后可能的日期完成计票，退选截止日期将是周三，但由于他们提前一天完成了计票，截止日期顺延至周二中部标准时间下午5点。
Ethan Cohen 对本报道有贡献。
Trump said he wanted one of the Texas Senate candidates to drop out. Now he’s missed the deadline
By Alayna Treene
1 hr 51 min ago
PUBLISHED Mar 17, 2026, 6:08 PM ET
Sen. John Cornyn, left, and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
AP
President Donald Trump promised his endorsement was forthcoming in the GOP Texas Senate runoff and said he wanted whoever he didn’t pick to drop out. But now — preoccupied with the Iran war and a doomed voting bill — he’s missed a critical deadline.
The decision hasn’t been on the president’s mind for days, White House officials told CNN Tuesday afternoon, noting that he was preoccupied by the war with Iran. Now, the deadline for either candidate to withdraw their name from the ballot has passed.
That means that the names of both incumbent Texas Sen. John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton will be listed on the ballot in the May 26 runoff, something many Senate Republican leaders — and even Trump himself — acknowledged they did not want.
White House officials say Trump may still choose to endorse in the race. Either candidate could still unofficially withdraw from the runoff, despite the deadline, but his name would still appear on the ballot.
Republicans see Texas as key to maintaining their Senate majority and had hoped they wouldn’t have to spend significantly more resources on a runoff after the already expensive primary. Senate GOP leaders had been intensely pressuring Trump to back Cornyn, who they saw as much more likely to win in a general election.
Trump vowed to endorse in the bitter runoff earlier this month, writing on social media that he would be asking whichever candidate he did not support to “immediately drop out of the race.”
The ultimatum thrilled Senate GOP leaders, because the president had been gravitating toward endorsing Cornyn. But Trump and some top advisers grew frustrated after his intentions leaked to the press, CNN previously reported.
The decision was further complicated by Trump’s desire to directly tie his prized endorsement to his fixation with his “SAVE America Act” — which, among other things, would impose stricter voter ID requirements.
In early March, Paxton announced that if the Senate passed the president’s voting restrictions bill — even if it took changing the chamber’s filibuster rules — he would consider dropping out of the runoff race. White House officials viewed the ploy as a “genius move,” as one Trump official described it, and it kept Paxton in the mix.
Adding to potential confusion over the endorsement and the deadline, Texas’ final withdrawal date is not a set day. Under state law, candidates have until three days after the results are finalized, or “canvassed,” to withdraw from the runoff. If the Texas GOP had canvassed their results on the last possible date, the withdrawal deadline would’ve been Wednesday, but since they canvassed a day earlier, the deadline slid to Tuesday at 5 p.m. CST.
Ethan Cohen contributed to this report.
发表回复