得克萨斯州圣安东尼奥 – 距离得克萨斯州初选仅剩数小时，美国与以色列对伊朗发动的袭击成为“孤星之州”这场关乎重大利益且一触即发的参议院对决中的最新导火索。
共和党参议员约翰·科宁与其两名初选挑战者均支持总统唐纳德·特朗普下令发动袭击的决定。目前袭击已进入第二天，导致伊朗最高领袖阿亚图拉·阿里·哈梅内伊死亡，另有三名美国军人在战斗中丧生。
但两名角逐民主党提名、试图在偏向保守的得克萨斯州拿下这个长期由共和党占据的席位的民主党人，正在谴责对伊朗的空袭。
今年得克萨斯州的参议院对决是全国少数几场可能决定共和党是否能在中期选举中维持参议院多数席位的关键战役之一。共和党目前以53-47的席位控制参议院。
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总统唐纳德·特朗普周六早些时候宣布对伊朗发动打击，行动消灭了最高领袖阿亚图拉·阿里·哈梅内伊。（特朗普总统通过Truth Social/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images提供）
科宁周日在福克斯新闻数字版采访中表示：“我认为总统做了正确的事。令我感到惊奇的是，特朗普总统是我一生中唯一愿意采取这种决定性行动，以阻止恐怖主义和激进伊斯兰教蔓延的总统。”
科宁称赞此次行动“计划周密且非常果断”，但他补充道：“仍有很多工作要做，不幸的是，伊朗仍有很多能力在该地区造成人员伤亡。”
科宁的主要初选对手、得克萨斯州总检察长肯·帕克斯顿感谢特朗普的“勇敢领导”。
帕克斯顿是一名坚定支持特朗普的“让美国再次伟大”运动的支持者，过去十年间他经历了一系列丑闻但均化险为夷。他在社交媒体上发文称：“特朗普总统的‘史诗级愤怒’行动再次取得压倒性的历史性军事胜利。哈梅内伊已被击毙，威胁我们军队和国家的恐怖主义政权已被摧毁。”
[伊朗近半个世纪针对美国人的战争]
陆军退伍军人、“让美国再次伟大”运动新星众议员韦斯利·亨特也赞扬总统：“特朗普又做到了。用美国实力实现和平！”
“伊朗的阿亚图拉·阿里·哈梅内伊死了，现在伊朗人民有机会获得自由。”亨特补充道，他是西点军校毕业生，曾在陆军服役期间驾驶阿帕奇直升机，目前是代表休斯顿地区安全共和党选区的第二届议员。
特朗普在共和党中的影响力仍然巨大，迄今为止在共和党参议院初选中保持中立。三位均寻求总统背书的候选人周五都出席了特朗普在得克萨斯州科珀斯克里斯蒂举行的活动。
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特朗普尚未在这场备受关注的初选中做出 endorse。（曼德尔·恩甘/法新社/盖蒂图片社）
“他们现在是在同一场小竞争中，”特朗普评价科宁和帕克斯顿，“你知道的，对吗？有点像一场小竞赛。这会很有趣，对吧？他们俩也都是好人。”
特朗普还称赞了亨特，并表示三位候选人都参与了一场“有趣的选举”。
[民主党潜在2028年候选人谴责对伊朗的美国打击]
角逐民主党提名的两名主要候选人——进步派激进人士众议员贾丝明·克罗克特和崛起的民主党新星州众议员詹姆斯·塔拉利科，正在谴责特朗普未寻求国会批准。
克罗克特周末在社交媒体上写道：“国会，而非总统，拥有宣战的唯一权力！议长约翰逊需要立即召集我们，现在是众议院和参议院通过战争权力决议的时候了！”
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角逐该席位的两名民主党人，众议员贾丝明·克罗克特和州众议员詹姆斯·塔拉利科，对此次打击的态度与共和党对手截然不同。（斯特林格/盖蒂图片社）
作为特朗普的直言批评者和政敌，克罗克特反问：“为什么这位总统甚至不愿假装关心遵守法律？我一直强调并告诉人们，这场选举关乎生死！”
塔拉利科周末在社交媒体上强调：“再也不要打没完没了的战争。”
但他周日在得克萨斯州圣安东尼奥的竞选活动中未就军事打击发表具体评论。
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科宁批评民主党候选人不支持美国的行动：“当总统展现政治勇气，命令美军及我们的盟友以色列击败头号支持恐怖主义的国家，并阻止其获得核武器时，他们选择哪一边？他们选择了伊朗。这令我难以理解。”
科宁预测：“这将继续成为中期选举中的一个议题，因为我认为这不是美国人民想要的——生活在一个拥有核武器的恐怖主义国家可能威胁整个地区乃至全球的新世界中。”
保罗·施泰因豪泽是新罕布什尔州摇摆州的政治记者，报道全美各地的竞选活动。
SAN ANTONIO, TX – With hours to go until primary day in Texas, the U.S. and Israeli attack on Iran is the latest flashpoint in Lone Star State’s high-stakes and combustible Senate showdown.
Republican Sen. John Cornyn and his two primary challengers are rallying around President Donald Trump’s decision to launch the attacks, which are now in their second day and resulted in the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Three American military members were also killed in the fighting.
But the two Democrats vying for their party’s nomination in a bid to try and flip the long-held Republican seat in right-leaning Texas are condemning the airstrikes on Iran.
This year’s Senate showdown in Texas is one of a handful across the country that could determine if Republicans hold their majority in the chamber in the midterm elections. The GOP currently controls the chamber 53-47.
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President Donald Trump announced strikes on Iran early Saturday, which eliminated Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.(President Trump Via Truth Social/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“I think the President did the right thing. It’s amazing to me that President Trump is the only president in my lifetime that is willing to take this kind of decisive action in order to stop the halt of terrorism and also radical Islam,” Cornyn said Sunday in a Fox News Digital interview.
Cornyn praised the operation, saying “this was well planned and was very decisive.” But he added, “There’s still a lot more to be done, and unfortunately, Iran still has a lot of ability to inflict casualties on people in the region.”
The senator’s top primary rival, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, thanked Trump for his “courageous leadership.”
Paxton, a MAGA firebrand and longtime Trump supporter who has survived a slew of scandals over the past decade, said in a social media post that “President Trump’s Operation Epic Fury is yet another overwhelming and historic military success. Khamenei’s been killed and the terroristic regime threatening our troops and nation has been decimated.”
[IRAN’S NEAR HALF CENTURY WAR ON AMERICANS]
Rep. Wesley Hunt, the Army veteran turned MAGA rising star, also praised the president, saying, “Trump did it again. PEACE THROUGH AMERICAN STRENGTH!”
“Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is DEAD, and now the people of Iran have a chance to be free,” added Hunt, a West Point graduate who flew Apache helicopters during his Army service who is in his second term representing a safe Republican district in the Houston-area.
Trump, whose clout over the GOP remains immense, has stayed neutral to date in the Republican primary. All three candidates, who have sought the president’s endorsement, were in attendance Friday as Trump held an event in Corpus Christi, Texas.
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Trump has yet to make an endorsement in the closely-watched primary.(Mandel NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
“They’re in a little race together,” Trump said of Cornyn and Paxton. “You know that, right? A little bit of a race. It’s going to be an interesting one, right? They’re both great people, too.”
Trump also complimented Hunt, and said that all three contenders were engaged in an “interesting election.”
[DEMS’ POTENTIAL 2028 HOPEFULS COME OUT AGAINST US STRIKES ON IRAN]
The two major Democrats in the race, progressive firebrand Rep. Jasmine Crockett and rising Democratic Party star state Rep. James Talarico, are chastising Trump for not seeking congressional approval.
“CONGRESS, not the PRESIDENT, but CONGRESS has the EXCLUSIVE authority to declare war! Speaker Johnson needs to call us in IMMEDIATELY & it is time for the House & the Senate to pass a war powers resolution!” Crockett wrote on social media this weekend.
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The two Democrats in the race, Rep. Jasmine Crockett and state Rep. James Talarico, sound decisively different from their GOP counterparts with regard to the strikes.(Stringer/Getty Images)
And Crockett, a vocal Trump critic and foil, asked, “Why is it that this President refuses to even pretend that he cares about following the law?! I’ve been stomping & telling people that this election is life or death!”
Talarico, taking to social media this weekend, emphasized, “No more forever wars.”
But he didn’t make specific comments about the military strikes during a campaign event Sunday in San Antonio, Texas.
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Cornyn criticized the Democratic candidates for not supporting the U.S. operation.
“When the President has, in an act of political courage, ordered the U.S. military, along with our ally Israel, to defeat the number one state sponsor of terrorism and to prevent them from acquiring a nuclear weapon. Whose side do they choose? They choose the Iranian side. It’s just mind-boggling to me,” he argued.
And the senator predicted, “this will continue to be an issue in the midterm elections, because I don’t think that’s what the American people want, to live in a new world where a nuclear-armed terrorist state can literally terrorize not just the region but the world.”
Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in the swing state of New Hampshire. He covers the campaign trail from coast to coast.