金升民 华盛顿消息——美国总统唐纳德·特朗普周一将带着共和党的中期选举救援任务前往内布拉斯加州，与共和党联邦参议员皮特·里凯茨一同助选。里凯茨目前正与一名获得民主党全国组织支持的独立候选人争夺席位。
SEUNG MIN KIM WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is taking his Republican midterm rescue mission to Nebraska on Monday, campaigning alongside GOP Sen. Pete Ricketts, who is running against an independent candidate backed by national Democrats . Trump is headed to Grand Island, Nebraska, located in the solidly conservative south-central part of the state.
特朗普将前往内布拉斯加州格兰德岛。该市位于该州立场坚定保守的南中部地区。这是这位共和党总统所称11月3日前为期32天密集拉票行动的一部分；截至目前，他已前往俄克拉何马州和阿拉巴马州等共和党优势明显的地区。周三，他将在得克萨斯州圣安东尼奥举行竞选集会，这是他两周内在该州的第二站。
It’s part of what the Republican president says is a 32-day blitz of rallies ahead of Nov. 3 that so far has taken him to ruby-red territory such as Oklahoma and Alabama . On Wednesday, he’ll make his second stop in two weeks in Texas with a rally in San Antonio. “The president’s coming to Nebraska to help me campaign, so I can get reelected,” Ricketts told the Associated Press last week on Capitol Hill. Ricketts, a former governor of the state, was appointed then later elected to fill Sen. Ben Sasse’s seat when he left to run the University of Florida in 2023.
“总统要来内布拉斯加州帮助我竞选，好让我能够再次当选。”里凯茨上周在国会山告诉美联社记者。
Now he is running for his first full six-year term against independent Dan Osborn — a race that initially was not expected to be competitive but is now being watched by the national parties.
里凯茨曾任内布拉斯加州州长。2023年，联邦参议员本·萨斯离任执掌佛罗里达大学后，里凯茨先被任命填补其席位，随后又赢得选举。如今，他正竞选首个完整六年任期，对手是独立候选人丹·奥斯本。这场竞选起初并未被外界视为竞争激烈，但如今已受到两党全国组织的密切关注。
Voters across the country are frustrated with Trump’s handling of the economy , including persistently high costs for fuel and groceries. It’s a major issue for rural voters who have backed the president and his party in recent elections. The administration’s plan to allow more imports of foreign beef has particularly roiled the agriculture-rich state of Nebraska.
全国各地选民对特朗普处理经济的方式感到不满，尤其是燃油和日常食品价格持续高企。这对近年来一直支持特朗普及其所属政党的农村选民而言，是一个重要议题。
Trump wants to lower beef prices for consumers, but ranchers have rebelled against the import proposal, arguing it would undercut them. “The plan to import low-quality foreign beef is not helping Nebraska ranchers,” Ricketts told the AP.
政府计划扩大外国牛肉进口，这一做法在农业发达的内布拉斯加州尤其引发了强烈反弹。特朗普希望降低消费者的牛肉价格，但牧场主纷纷反对进口方案，认为这会损害他们的利益。
“I would advise the White House to change that policy and look for longer-term things that will help us build the size of the herd and ultimately bring the price of beef down for consumers.”In the House of Representatives, the Grand Island area is represented by Republican Rep. Adrian Smith, whose race is not expected to be close.
“进口低质量外国牛肉的计划对内布拉斯加州牧场主毫无帮助，”里奇特斯告诉美联社。“我建议白宫改变这项政策，着眼更长远的方向，采取能够帮助我们扩大牛群规模、最终降低消费者牛肉价格的举措。”在众议院，大岛地区由共和党众议员阿德里安·史密斯代表，预计他的竞选不会势均力敌。不过，内布拉斯加州更东边的奥马哈有一场竞争激烈的众议员选举。该地区被视为该州的“蓝点”，因为其在总统选举中的选举人票往往投给民主党。
But Nebraska has a competitive House race farther east in Omaha , considered the “blue dot” of the state because the area’s electoral vote in presidential elections often goes to Democrats. Osborn, a former labor union chief, ran against Republican Sen. Deb Fischer in 2024 and lost by 7 percentage points. Though national Democrats support him, he has refused to say what party he would caucus with should he be elected in November. Other independents in the Senate, including Maine’s Angus King on the moderate end and Vermont’s Bernie Sanders on the left, caucus with Democrats for organizational purposes and committee assignments.
奥斯本曾是一名工会领袖。2024年，他竞选参议员，对手是共和党参议员黛布·菲舍尔，最终以7个百分点之差落败。尽管民主党在全国层面支持他，但他拒绝说明如果11月当选，将与哪个党共同组成党团。
With the Democratic brand remaining deeply unpopular in conservative states, Osborn isn’t the only declared independent running for the Senate against Republicans this year. In South Dakota, Navy and Air Force veteran Brian Bengs is campaigning as an independent against Republican Sen. Mike Rounds.
参议院中的其他独立议员也会与民主党共同组成党团，以便进行党团运作和分配委员会席位，其中既包括立场温和的缅因州议员安格斯·金，也包括偏左翼的佛蒙特州议员伯尼·桑德斯。
Bengs ran as a Democrat for the Senate four years ago and was handily defeated by now-Senate Majority Leader John Thune. It’s a similar dynamic in Idaho, where independent Todd Achilles is challenging GOP Sen. Jim Risch.
民主党的品牌在保守州仍极不受欢迎，因此奥斯本并不是今年唯一一位宣布以独立人士身份竞选参议员、挑战共和党人的候选人。在南达科他州，海军和空军退伍军人布莱恩·本斯正以独立人士身份竞选，对手是共和党参议员迈克·朗兹。本斯四年前曾以民主党人身份竞选参议员，但被现任参奥斯本一直在内布拉斯加州各地奔波，陆续在全部93个县举行会议，并多次批评里凯茨没有举办市民大会与选民见面。
Democratic voters in Nebraska chose Cindy Burbank as their party nominee earlier this year, but Burbank specifically campaigned on ensuring that no votes would be siphoned from Osborn in the general elections in November, and she has since formally dropped out of the race. Osborn has been traveling across Nebraska to hold meetings in all 93 counties, and has repeatedly criticized Ricketts for not holding town halls to meet with constituents.
里凯茨的家族创办了TD Ameritrade，并拥有美国职业棒球大联盟芝加哥小熊队。他于2015年至2023年担任州长。
Ricketts, whose family founded TD Ameritrade and owns Major League Baseball’s Chicago Cubs, served as governor from 2015 to 2023.