伊利诺伊州雪莉镇人口仅135人，似乎不太可能成为竞选活动的停靠点。
The town of Shirley, Illinois, population 135, is an unlikely place for a campaign stop.
然而，亿万富翁民主党人JB·普利兹克前往该地，与他在11月中期选举中寻求第三任州长职位的对手交锋。在当地一家有200年历史的玉米、大豆和牲畜经营场所芬克农场，他赞扬了农业的美德。该农场曾由年轻律师、未来总统亚伯拉罕·林肯代表。
Yet billionaire Democrat JB Pritzker traveled there to spar with his opponent in his bid for a third term as governor of the state in the November midterms. At Funk Farms, a 200-year-old corn, soybean and livestock operation there that was once represented by young lawyer and future president Abraham Lincoln, he extolled the virtues of farming.
“农业支撑着伊利诺伊州经济的很大一部分。我们必须尽一切努力渡过难关，并让华盛顿改变方向，”普利兹克在8月的活动上表示。
“Agriculture drives an enormous part of Illinois' economy. We've got to do all we can to weather the storm and get Washington to take a different course,” Pritzker said at the August event.
普利兹克在伊利诺伊州各地农场的访问，反映了民主党更广泛的努力，试图利用农民对因总统唐纳德·特朗普的关税和与伊朗的战争而导致的出口市场丧失和成本上升的不满。但分析人士认为，鉴于他不需要农民在11月获胜，他的行程主要是为可能在2028年竞选白宫而培养乡村形象。
Pritzker's visits to farms across Illinois reflect a broader Democratic effort to capitalize on farmer frustration over lost export markets and rising costs tied to President Donald Trump's tariffs and war with Iran. But analysts see his trips as largely an effort to cultivate a rural profile before a possible 2028 run for the White House, given he does not need farmers to win in November.
自2014年以来，共和党尚未在伊利诺伊州赢得任何州级职务，大多数政治预测者认为普利兹克对共和党候选人达伦·贝利拥有稳固领先优势。贝利是第三代大豆农民和前州立法者，普利兹克在2022年以大约12个百分点的优势击败了他。
A Republican has not won statewide office in Illinois since 2014, and most political forecasters give Pritzker a solid lead over Republican candidate Darren Bailey, a third-generation soybean farmer and former state lawmaker whom he defeated by about 12 percentage points in 2022.
作为凯悦酒店财富的继承人，普利兹克还拥有一个远超贝利的竞选资金库。该资金库最近又注入了他本人6500万美元。
Pritzker, an heir to the Hyatt hotels fortune, also boasts a campaign war chest that dwarfs Bailey's. It was recently replenished with $65 million of his own money.
“他在试镜，”伊利诺伊大学政治学教授布莱恩·J·盖恩斯说。“他并不指望伊利诺伊州的农民，但如果他找到有效的办法，他会把它留在口袋里，因为他在考虑未来的总统竞选。”普利兹克拒绝透露自己是否计划在2028年竞选总统，称民主党首先需要专注于赢得中期选举。“在我看来，任何把11月3日之后的事情放在心上的人，都搞错了，”他在一次采访中说。
“He’s auditioning,” said Brian J. Gaines, a political science professor at the University of Illinois. “He’s not banking on Illinois farmers but if he finds something that works, he’s going to keep it in his pocket because he’s thinking about the presidential contest to come.”Pritzker refused to be drawn in on whether he plans to run for president in 2028, saying Democrats need to focus on winning in the midterms first. "Anybody that's focused on anything beyond November 3rd, as far as I'm concerned, is getting it wrong," he said in an interview.
本月，普利兹克访问了哈尔平农场，这是一家位于芝加哥西南约70英里（113公里）的家族经营的谷物和牛场，推广一项低息州贷款试点项目，用于建造粮仓。他谈到，尽管他正着眼于量子计算和先进制造业来推动该州经济增长，但农业仍然是伊利诺伊州的关键产业。
This month, Pritzker toured Halpin Farms, a family grain and cattle operation about 70 miles (113 km) southwest of Chicago, promoting a pilot program of low-interest state loans to build grain silos. He talked about how agriculture remained a critical industry in Illinois, even as he looks to quantum computing and advanced manufacturing to drive economic growth in the state.
“家族农场正在破产。现在几乎不可能盈利，因为柴油价格高昂，因为伊朗战争，以及因为贸易战导致农民无法将商品销往国外，”普利兹克对路透社说。“现在，我们需要确保我们的农民能够生存下去，继续经营。”
"Family farms are going bankrupt. It's near impossible to make a profit now because of the high price of diesel, because of the war in Iran, and because of the trade wars that are causing the farmers not to be able to sell their goods abroad," Pritzker told Reuters. "Right now, we need to make sure our farmers stay alive and stay in business."
伊利诺伊州的农民一直苦苦挣扎，因为特朗普的贸易战切断了美国大豆的市场，而美以与伊朗的战争导致燃料和肥料价格飙升，尽管白宫表示已“加强了农业安全网”。盖恩斯说，如果普利兹克能证明自己能吸引像农民这样传统上保守的群体，这可能有助于他与前副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯和加利福尼亚州州长加文·纽森等民主党人区分开来，后者在农业带的可信度要低得多。普利兹克并非唯一采用这一策略的民主党人。
Farmers in Illinois have struggled as Trump's trade wars cut off markets for US soybeans and the US-Israeli war with Iran led to soaring fuel and fertilizer prices, though the White House says it has "strengthened the farm safety net." If Pritzker can demonstrate that he can appeal to a traditionally conservative bloc like farmers, Gaines said, it could help him distinguish himself from Democrats like former Vice President Kamala Harris and California Governor Gavin Newsom, potential contenders with considerably less credibility in the farm belt. Pritzker is not the only Democrat courting that strategy.
本周，代表硅谷的加利福尼亚州民主党众议员罗·卡纳飞往佐治亚州农村，强调关税和更高生产成本的影响，而前交通部长皮特·布蒂吉格则前往弗吉尼亚州农村，为当地国会候选人助选。前芝加哥市长、前总统贝拉克·奥巴马的白宫幕僚长拉姆·伊曼纽尔，在过去几个月里一直在中西部玉米带和美国南部深处往返，解决他所谓的“受特朗普政府政策影响的医疗荒漠”。
This week, US Representative Ro Khanna, a California Democrat who represents Silicon Valley, flew to rural Georgia to highlight the impact of tariffs and higher production costs while former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg traveled to rural Virginia to rally for congressional candidates there. Rahm Emanuel, a former Chicago mayor and White House chief of staff for former President Barack Obama, has been up and down the Midwestern Corn Belt and in the Deep South in recent months to address what he calls "healthcare deserts" hit by Trump administration policies.
“农村地区对民主党来说是一个政治机遇，”伊曼纽尔对路透社表示。贝利承认，共和党政府的贸易政策和对伊朗的战争伤害了农民。
"There's a political opportunity" for Democrats in rural areas, Emanuel told Reuters. Bailey acknowledges that the Republican administration's trade policies and war in Iran have hurt farmers.
“我认为每个人都会同意，我们希望伊朗的冲突结束，并且本希望这些关税早就取消了，”他说。
"I think everyone would agree that we're ready for the conflict in Iran to be over with, and would have hoped that these tariffs would have ended a long time ago," he said.
但贝利表示，普利兹克关注特朗普忽略了重点——削减房产税并取消遗产税，比“讨好”更能帮助农民，采纳农民为应对高成本所采取的一些紧缩措施也是如此。
But Bailey said that Pritzker’s focus on Trump missed the point – that slashing property taxes and doing away with an estate tax would help farmers much more than “pandering,” as would embracing some of the austerity measures that farmers have undertaken to survive high costs.
预计特朗普政府今年将向农民拨出超过500亿美元，这是美国历史上第二大救助方案。然而，许多农民表示，这些支票无法弥补高昂的投入成本。
The Trump administration is expected to send more than $50 billion to farmers this year, the second-largest relief package in US history. Yet many farmers say the checks don't make up for the high input costs.
“我们正被打击，”48岁的伊利诺伊州马伦戈玉米和大豆农民约翰·巴特曼说，并补充道，“救助不能让我们完整。它对银行的帮助大于对农民的帮助。”巴特曼计划投票给普利兹克，他认为农民会重视州长挽救重要贸易关系的努力。
"We're getting beat up," said John Bartman, 48, a corn and soybean farmer in Marengo, Illinois, adding that "a bailout doesn't make us whole. It helps the banks out more than the farmer." Bartman, who plans to vote for Pritzker, said he thinks farmers will value the governor's efforts to salvage important trade relationships.
八月，普利兹克与印度尼西亚签署协议，以扩大与美国大豆第四大市场的农业贸易。此前，他在2024年曾率领代表团访问加拿大和日本。2025年4月，特朗普政府对其所谓的“解放日”从大多数贸易伙伴进口的商品加征关税时，普利兹克正在墨西哥城推广伊利诺伊州玉米。
In August, Pritzker signed an agreement with Indonesia to expand agricultural trade with the fourth-largest market for US soybeans. He previously led trade missions to Canada and Japan in 2024. And in April 2025, as the Trump administration imposed tariffs on imports from most trading partners on what it called "Liberation Day," Pritzker was in Mexico City to promote Illinois corn.
此次访问墨西哥——美国玉米的最大市场——促成了一笔5500万美元的制造业协议，但未能促成购买伊利诺伊州玉米的新订单。“作为州长，联邦政策我能做的也只有这么多，”普利兹克说。
That visit to Mexico - the top market for US corn - landed a $55 million manufacturing deal, but did not bag new deals to buy Illinois corn. "As a governor, there's only so much you can do about federal policy," Pritzker said.
自去年以来，关于他参选总统的猜测一直在升温，当时特朗普在芝加哥地区发动了激进的驱逐行动，短暂调动了国民警卫队。
The speculation of a presidential run has soared since last year, when Trump launched an aggressive deportation campaign in the Chicago area, briefly deploying the National Guard.
普利兹克谴责该行动属于联邦越权，并将芝加哥的移民突袭与他乌克兰祖先逃离的反犹太 pogroms 相提并论。
Pritzker denounced the campaign as federal overreach, comparing the immigration raids in Chicago to the antisemitic pogroms his Ukrainian ancestors escaped from.
普利兹克还曾利用特朗普对其体重的嘲弄作为反面教材，坦率谈论自己暴饮暴食的困扰，并在Substack上撰文记录自己使用GLP-1的经历。
Pritzker has also used Trump's mockery of his weight as a foil, speaking candidly about his struggles with overeating and writing about his GLP-1 journey on Substack.
八月在伊利诺伊州博览会上，他赞美了油炸点心，随后当月帮助芝加哥创造了同一时间最多人同时饮用Malort酒的纪录——他直接从瓶中畅饮这种极苦的利口酒。
At the Illinois State Fair in August, he praised deep-fried treats and later that month helped Chicago set a record for most people taking a shot of Malort at the same time, swigging the intensely bitter liqueur straight from the bottle.
站在Halpin农场的一排安格斯黑牛面前，他开玩笑说：“这些是我的人。我肯定已经吃够了它们。”
Standing in front of a row of Black Angus cows at Halpin Farms, he joked, "these are my people. I've certainly eaten enough of them."