托马斯·博蒙特、比尔·巴罗、史蒂文·斯隆（亚特兰大）——共和党人曾将佐治亚州和北卡罗来纳州视为掌控参议院的关键战场。然而，他们赢得这两个州的希望逐渐减弱；随着中期选举仅剩五周时间，共和党越来越将精力集中在其他可能获胜的选区上。
THOMAS BEAUMONT, BILL BARROW, STEVEN SLOAN ATLANTA — Republicans once saw Georgia and North Carolina as promising pieces of their strategy to keep control of the Senate . But hopes of winning the two states have been fading, and the GOP is increasingly focused on playing defense elsewhere with five weeks until the midterm elections .
尽管共和党人并未放弃这些南方关键州（唐纳德·特朗普在2024年以微弱优势赢得了这些州的选票），但他们正在将更多资源投入到那些被认为更具竞争力的州。目前，共和党正在大力投入资金以巩固在得克萨斯州的统治地位；特朗普也计划为俄亥俄州的共和党现任议员助选——这两个州都是特朗普在2024年轻松获胜的地方。
Republicans haven’t abandoned the Southern battlegrounds, which President Donald Trump carried narrowly in 2024, though they are shifting greater resources to states they see as more competitive. The party now is spending heavily to defend reliably Republican Texas, and Trump is planning to campaign for the Republican incumbent in Ohio, both places the president won easily in 2024.
一些共和党人开始公开抱怨特朗普浪费了在今年秋季更轻松地击败民主党的机会。他们认为特朗普未能结束在伊朗的战争、对高油价问题置之不理，并且在中期选举的筹备工作中行动迟缓。
Some Republicans also have become more vocal in their complaining that Trump has squandered an opportunity to more comfortably hold off Democrats this fall. Among their grievances, they say the president failed to bring the unpopular war in Iran to a close, has dismissed the pinch of high fuel prices and engaged late in the midterm campaigns.
虽然民主党仍需赢得共和党控制的多个席位才能重新获得参议院多数席位，但共和党目前更关注的是保卫自己已有的席位，而非争取佐治亚州。他们在北卡罗来纳州也遇到了严重的问题。
And though Democrats must still win several seats Republicans hold to win back the majority, the GOP is looking more at protecting seats they already hold than picking up Georgia, and they are signaling serious problems in North Carolina.
“由于政府未能解决选民的经济问题，共和党的选民投票率出现了下降，”北卡罗来纳州共和党策略师保罗·舒梅克在谈到该州的参议院选举时表示。
“There is a Republican turnout problem due to the administration’s failure to address the economic concerns of voters,” North Carolina Republican strategist Paul Shoemaker said of the state’s U.S. Senate race.
据两位了解共和党参议院领导层想法的人士透露，共和党参议院竞选负责人已将注意力从佐治亚州转向那些更具竞争力的州，并计划将更多资金投入到这些地方。这两位人士要求匿名以分享内部讨论内容。
Republican Senate campaign leaders are looking past Georgia businessman Mike Collins’ challenge of first-term Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff to states they viewed as more competitive to focus future spending, according to two Republican Senate campaign sources familiar with Senate leadership’s thinking. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity to share internal discussions.
奥索夫在筹款方面远超这位成功的货运公司高管。柯林斯也难以将支持基础扩大到佐治亚州的共和党基本盘之外。
Ossoff has swamped the successful trucking company executive in fundraising. Collins has also struggled to broaden his support beyond Georgia’s Republican base.
尽管参议院多数党领袖约翰·图恩本月进行为期两天的佐治亚州竞选和筹款之行，但一些地方党魁公开表达了悲观情绪。
Despite Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s two-day campaign and fundraising trip to Georgia this month, some local party leaders were publicly pessimistic.
“他根本不具备击败奥索夫的条件，”皮奇县共和党主席蒂姆·沃特斯说。“光是想击败一位在任者就已经够难了，再加上同党总统面临艰难的中期选举，对吧？我觉得他没多大机会。”共和党在2026年竞选早期曾将佐治亚州视为潜在防火墙，以防民主党在共和党议席面临选举的关键州份获胜。民主党必须净赢四个席位才能夺回多数党地位。
“He just doesn’t have what it takes to beat Ossoff,” said Tim Waters, Peach County Republican Party chair. “It’s hard enough trying to beat an incumbent, and you have the president of the same party in a tough midterm, right? I don’t think he’s got much of a shot.”Republicans had viewed Georgia early in the 2026 campaign as a potential firewall, should Democrats win in a critical number of states where Republican seats are on the ballot. Democrats must win a net of four seats to win back the majority.
但据广告追踪公司AdImpact统计，奥索夫已在广告上花费5700万美元，并预留了1300万美元用于选举前的广告投放。虽然与柯林斯结盟的外部团体已花费超过5200万美元，AdImpact显示，但柯林斯的竞选团队确认目前没有预留广告时段。
But Ossoff has already spent $57 million in advertising and had $13 million reserved through the election, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact. And while outside groups aligned with Collins had spent more than $52 million, AdImpact shows, Collins’ campaign confirmed it had no advertising time immediately reserved.
即将卸任的北卡罗来纳州共和党参议员汤姆·蒂利斯虽未直言共和党候选人迈克尔·沃特利守住该席位的希望已破灭，但暗示是时候认真审视还要继续大量投入资源对抗民主党籍前两届州长罗伊·库珀多久了。
Retiring Republican North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis stopped short of suggesting GOP candidate Michael Whatley’s chances of holding the seat for the party had vanished, but implied it was time to take a hard look at how long to continue spending heavily against Democratic former two-term Gov. Roy Cooper.
“我们必须将赌注押在竞选运作最好、要么领先要么处于追击范围内的候选人身上，”蒂利斯周一在国会大厦告诉记者。“进入最后阶段你必须调整姿态——我们还有36天。”沃特利曾任共和党全国委员会主席，深受特朗普喜爱，特朗普本月还为他助选。但蒂利斯顾问舒梅克表示，即使一些投了特朗普票的共和党人，对特朗普的热情似乎也有所下降。特朗普在2024年险胜北卡罗来纳州。
“We’ve got to place our bets on the candidates that are the best run, either ahead or within striking distance,” Tillis told reporters Monday in the Capitol. “You’ve got to change your posture going into the last — we’ve got 36 days.”Whatley, a former Republican National Committee chairman, has been a darling of Trump, who campaigned for him this month. But enthusiasm for Trump seems to have fallen even with a number of Republicans who voted for him, said Shoemaker, a Tillis adviser. Trump narrowly won North Carolina in 2024.
“蓝领、工薪阶层选民是唐纳德·特朗普带给共和党的，他们受高昂能源价格影响最大，这削弱了他们出来投票的热情，”舒梅克说。
“The blue-collar, working-class voters that Donald Trump brought to the Republican Party is the one that’s being most impacted by higher energy prices, and it’s dampened their enthusiasm to turn out and vote,” Shoemaker said.
参议院领导力基金（参议院共和党领导层的超级政治行动委员会）在北卡罗来纳州预订了1950万美元的广告，迄今已花费3040万美元。
Senate Leadership Fund, the Senate GOP’s leadership super PAC, had $19.5 million in advertising booked in North Carolina, having spent $30.4 million to date.
“罗伊·库珀会赢得这场竞选吗？我绝对这么认为，”米歇尔·伍德豪斯说，她曾任北卡罗来纳州第11国会选区共和党主席，是特朗普的忠实支持者。
“Do I think Roy Cooper is going to win the race? I absolutely do,” said Michele Woodhouse, former Republican chair for North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District and a devout Trump supporter.
“对共和党人来说，罗伊·库珀是竞选该席位的最差民主党候选人，”伍德豪斯说。“他在全州范围的竞选中从未失利。他非常受欢迎。”
“Roy Cooper, for Republicans, is the worst Democrat candidate who could be running for this seat,” Woodhouse said. “He’s never lost in a statewide race. He’s very popular.”
在德克萨斯州，民主党自1988年以来未赢得过参议院选举，共和党的参议院领导力基金在那里的支出超过了其年初设定要防守的任何州。本月该集团向德克萨斯州投入了超过1亿美元的广告资金，支持州检察长肯·帕克斯顿，他面临民主党州众议员詹姆斯·塔拉里科的挑战，这场竞选被视为竞争非常激烈。
In Texas, where Democrats have not won a Senate election since 1988, Republicans’ Senate Leadership Fund is spending more than it is in any of the states it set out to defend early in the year. The group this month pumped more than $100 million into advertising in Texas to back up state Attorney General Ken Paxton, who faces Democratic state Rep. James Talarico in a race viewed as very competitive.
特朗普在共和党初选中背书帕克斯顿，而非四届在任共和党参议员约翰·科宁。共和党竞选领导人认为帕克斯顿可能会消耗共和党资源，因为多年来他面临法律、道德和个人问题。这些包括重罪起诉、弹劾指控和婚外情，尽管帕克斯顿从未被定罪。
Trump endorsed Paxton over four-term incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn in the GOP primary. GOP campaign leaders considered Paxton a potential drain on Republican resources because he has for years faced legal, ethical and personal questions. They include a felony indictment, impeachment charges and extramarital affairs, though Paxton was never convicted.
参议院共和党领导人曾建议，特朗普的超级政治行动委员会“让美国再次伟大公司”（MAGA Inc.）将在帕克斯顿于5月共和党参议院决选中击败科宁后，承担相当一部分广告投放任务。国家共和党参议员委员会和参议院领导力基金均未在其中期预算中纳入德克萨斯州的支出。
Senate GOP leaders had suggested Trump’s super PAC, MAGA Inc., would carry a good portion of the advertising load after Paxton beat Cornyn in the May GOP Senate runoff. Neither the National Republican Senatorial Committee nor SLF had included spending on Texas in its midterm budget.
截至周一，“让美国再次伟大公司”本月迄今已承诺投入超过2000万美元广告资金支持帕克斯顿，而参议院领导力基金为1.24亿美元。
As of Monday, MAGA Inc., has committed more than $20 million to ads supporting Paxton so far this month, compared with the $124 million from SLF.
如果民主党赢得北卡罗来纳州和德克萨斯州，他们只需在剩余的竞争性共和党把持席位——阿拉斯加、爱荷华、缅因和俄亥俄——中赢得两个，同时守住佐治亚、密歇根和新罕布什尔的竞争性民主党把持席位，即可夺得多数席位。
Should Democrats win North Carolina and Texas, they would only need to win two of the remaining competitive Republican-held seats — in Alaska, Iowa, Maine and Ohio — as well as hold competitive Democratic-held seats in Georgia, Michigan and New Hampshire to capture the majority.
特朗普计划周六访问俄亥俄州，支持参议员乔恩·赫斯特德，因为这位共和党人试图抵御民主党前参议员谢罗德·布朗的有力挑战。总统计划在范代利亚与赫斯特德一起竞选造势，该地位于俄亥俄州西南部代顿市附近。
Trump plans to visit Ohio on Saturday to support Sen. Jon Husted as the Republican tries to fend off a competitive challenge from Democratic former Sen. Sherrod Brown. The president plans to campaign with Husted in Vandalia, near Dayton in southwest Ohio.
参议院共和党竞选领导人抱怨称，飙升的汽油价格——这是与伊朗长达七个月战争的结果——是拖累候选人的问题之一，而特朗普加剧了这一问题。
Senate Republican campaign leaders have complained that spiking gas prices, a result of the seven-month-long war with Iran, are among the issues weighing against candidates that Trump has exacerbated.
上周在与沃特利一起竞选时，特朗普称较高的燃油价格是“为阻止伊朗获得核武器而付出的非常廉价的代价”。尽管汽油价格接近历史高位，但仍低于2022年创下的全国纪录。
Campaigning with Whatley last week, Trump called higher fuel prices “a very inexpensive price to pay” for preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. Though gas prices are near historic highs, they are still below the nationwide record set in 2022.
这促使一些候选人发声，例如爱荷华州共和党参议员提名人、众议员阿什利·欣森。
It’s prompted some candidates, such as Iowa’s GOP Senate nominee, Rep. Ashley Hinson, to speak out.
“爱荷华人正被挤压，不应为伊朗战争在加油站或收银台买单，”她上周表示。
“Iowans are being squeezed and shouldn’t have to foot the bill at the pump or the checkout line for the war in Iran,” she said last week.
南达科他州参议员迈克·朗兹驳回了共和党多数席位正在流失的说法，但建议参议员们需要在燃油价格问题上采取行动。
South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds dismissed that the Republican majority was slipping away, but suggested senators needed to act on fuel prices.
“我们必须专注于这样一个事实：我们知道汽油价格太高，柴油价格更是高得离谱，”这位共和党人说。
“We have to stay focused on the fact that we know that gas prices are too high, and diesel is way too high,” the Republican said.
博蒙特在爱荷华州得梅因报道，斯隆在华盛顿报道。美联社记者莎拉·兰金在弗吉尼亚州里士满为本报道做出贡献。
Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa and Sloan from Washington. AP reporter Sarah Rankin in Richmond, Virginia, contributed to this report.