华盛顿——贝丝·富勒曾为疾病控制与预防中心担任承包商10年——直到去年，特朗普政府由万亿富翁埃隆·马斯克领导的所谓“政府效率部”突然终止了她的合同，与此同时，该部门草率解雇了数万名其他联邦雇员。
WASHINGTON — Beth Fuller was a contractor for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 10 years — until last year, when the Trump administration’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency, led by trillionaire Elon Musk, abruptly terminated her contract as it haphazardly fired tens of thousands of other federal workers.
富勒是一名拥有25年经验的公共卫生专业人士，她备受打击。这不仅仅是因为她失业了，更是因为她所在领域正在发生的事情。在特朗普总统大规模削减联邦劳动力、大幅削减预算并冻结数十亿美元拨款的过程中，他正在瓦解联邦公共卫生基础设施本身。
A 25-year public health professional, Fuller was devastated. It wasn’t just that she was out of work; it was what was happening to her field. Between his sweeping federal workforce reductions, deep budget cuts and freezing of tens of billions of dollars in grants, President Donald Trump has been breaking down the federal public health infrastructure itself.
“我的丈夫说，‘好吧，你可以在公共卫生领域找另一份工作。你有很多经验。’我说，‘我觉得你不明白，’”58岁的富勒在接受《赫芬顿邮报》采访时说，“‘他们正在拆解我的领域，这个我非常热爱的领域。’感觉就像是一场死亡。”她一直在参与多个疾控中心项目，包括政策学院，这是一个教导机构内员工如何让研究结果更易于公众理解的项目。富勒还在为失去工作而感到震惊时，被佐治亚州民主党州议员希娅·罗伯茨接近，罗伯茨领导一个致力于在州议会下院建立民主党多数的组织。
“My husband said, ‘Well, you can get another job in public health. You have a lot of experience.’ I’m like, ‘I don’t think you understand,’” Fuller, 58, told HuffPost in an interview. “‘They’re dismantling my field, this field that I love so much.’ It felt like a death.”She’d been working on a number of CDC projects, including the Policy Academy, a program that teaches employees across the agency how to make their research findings more accessible to the general public. Fuller was still reeling from losing her job when she was approached by Georgia Democratic state Rep. Shea Roberts, who leads an organization focused on building a Democratic majority in the state House.
罗伯茨鼓励她将才华投入到竞选公职中——将共和党人欢呼的一次裁员，转变为在关键摇摆选区的一次参选，这场参选现在威胁着共和党在佐治亚州长达数十年的完全执政控制。
Roberts encouraged her to apply her talents to a run for public office ― turning a layoff cheered by Republicans into a candidacy in a key swing district that now threatens the GOP’s decades-long grip on total power in Georgia.
参选从来不在富勒的“宾果卡”上。“政治现在看起来相当艰难，”她最初回忆道，自己曾这样想。但和其他民主党州立法者喝过几次咖啡，以及和家人围坐在厨房桌旁谈了一次之后，事情开始变得清晰起来。这次谈话包括她16岁的儿子“直视着她”，告诉她这是她让人们明白，当人们不再彼此体面相待时，她会划清底线的机会。
Running for office was never on Fuller’s Bingo card. “Politics seems pretty rough right now,” she recalls thinking initially. But things started to click after some coffees with other Democratic state legislators and a kitchen-table talk with her family, which included her 16-year-old son “looking right at me” and telling her this was her chance to teach people she draws a line in the sand when people stop being decent to one another.
“我逐渐明白，我们与罗伯茨有着共同的目标，即打造强大的社区，”她谈到与罗伯茨的对话时说。“从我所有的工作中，我知道政策是实现这一目标的绝佳杠杆。”12月，富勒启动了她竞选乔治亚州众议院第53选区的竞选活动，这是亚特兰大郊区一个竞争激烈的席位，涵盖富尔顿县的一部分。她将挑战共和党籍现任议员黛博拉·西尔科克斯，后者自2022年起一直代表该选区。
“I grew to understand that we shared the same goal of making strong communities,” she said of her talks with Roberts. “I knew from all my work that policy is a great lever for that.”In December, Fuller launched her bid for Georgia’s State House District 53, a competitive seat in the Atlanta suburbs that encompasses part of Fulton County. She’s taking on Republican incumbent Deborah Silcox, who has represented the district since 2022.
这并非完全是“书呆子的复仇”，但富勒认为，她的参选是对抗特朗普政府拒绝科学、为少数人而非公共利益制定政策的努力的一种方式。她从小就相信，这正是政府的角色。
It’s not quite revenge of the nerds, but Fuller sees her run for office as a way to counter the Trump administration’s efforts to reject science and policies being made for the public good, versus for a select few. She was raised to believe this was precisely the government’s role.
“我的父亲是乔治亚州上级法院的法官，所以我从小就接受他的观念：政府应在人们需要时提供帮助，政策应基于科学和有效性，”她说。看着特朗普政府对公共卫生机构动用“破坏锤”，就像看到“许多我从小就相信的规范被拆解”。富勒进入政坛之时，正值民主党全国范围内正审视11月选举可能出现的全面胜选。选民对高昂的汽油和杂货价格深感不满，这是特朗普对伊朗发动战争及其关税争斗的结果，而总统的支持率已降至历史最低点。
“My dad was a judge in Georgia’s Superior Court, so I grew up with his idea that government was there to help people when they need it, and that policies should be based on science and effectiveness,” she said. Watching the Trump administration take a wrecking ball to public health institutions was like seeing “so many norms that I grew up believing in get dismantled.”Fuller is entering politics at a time when Democrats nationally are looking at a potential sweep in the November elections. Voters are deeply unhappy with the high costs of gas and groceries, the result of Trump’s war in Iran and his tariff fights, and the president’s approval rating is at an all-time low.
此外，华盛顿也到了政党轮替的时候：从历史上看，总统所属政党通常会在中期选举中失去众议院席位。
It’s also just time for a party switch in Washington: Historically, the president’s party usually loses House seats in the midterms.
在佐治亚州，民主党人对夺回州议会下院的机会感到乐观。共和党人控制了该州政府21年，民主党若要赢得下院，至少需要翻转10个共和党席位。但他们有民调支持，一名参议院候选人预计将以大幅优势获胜，且党领袖正积极响应“蓝色浪潮”的预测。
In Georgia, Democrats are feeling bullish about their chances of taking back the state House. Republicans have controlled all of state government for 21 years, and Democrats would have to flip at least 10 GOP seats to win the House. But they’ve got some polling on their side, a U.S. Senate candidate set to win by wide margins, and party leaders leaning in to forecasts of a blue wave.
翻转州议会下院也可能产生实际影响，尤其是如果前亚特兰大市长基莎·兰斯·博托姆斯赢得州长选举。佐治亚州尚未全面扩大医疗补助覆盖范围，民主党控制下院可能使该党在2030年代重划选区时拥有发言权。
Flipping the state House could have real consequences, too, especially if former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms wins the governorship. Georgia has not fully expanded Medicaid coverage, and Democratic control would potentially give the party a say in redistricting the state in the 2030s.
“自2004年以来，我们首次只差10个可赢得的席位就能获得多数席位，”佐治亚州众议院民主党领袖卡罗琳·哈格利上个月在一次新闻活动上表示。共和党州领导人坚称，他们对本党的机会感到满意。西尔科克斯，富勒的共和党对手，未回应置评请求。
“We are 10 winnable seats away from a majority for the first time since 2004,” Georgia House Democratic Leader Carolyn Hugley said last month at a press event. Republican state leaders maintain they feel good about their party’s chances. Silcox, Fuller’s Republican opponent, did not respond to a request for comment.
致力于帮助民主党人当选州议员的民主立法竞选委员会，已将富勒的竞选列为值得关注的一场。她将许多竞选优先事项置于公共卫生视角下审视，无论是枪支安全、医疗补助扩大还是负担得起的医疗保健。
The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, which helps elect Democrats to state legislatures, has singled out Fuller’s race as one to watch. She’s approached many of her campaign priorities through the lens of public health, whether it’s gun safety, Medicaid expansion or affordable health care.
富勒表示，疾病控制与预防中心位于亚特兰大，并受到她所在社区的“尊崇”，这意味着这个富裕的共和党选区的大多数人都乐于以理性、科学的方式讨论问题。
The CDC is based in Atlanta and “revered” by her community, Fuller said, which means most people in this affluent GOP district are eager to talk about things in a reasonable, science-minded way.
“这是共和党选区，但并非MAGA。他们想要有效的政策，”富勒说。“我并不在乎这是民主党还是共和党的想法。它能让人们更安全吗？它能让佐治亚州变得更好吗？我对健康和代表谁持有广泛的看法，因为这关乎我们所有人。”
“It is a Republican district, but it’s not MAGA. They want policies that work,” Fuller said. “I don’t really care if it’s a Democratic or Republican idea. Does it make people safer? Does it make a better Georgia? I have a broad view of health and who to represent, because it is all of us.”
“我们不想要独裁者。人们对腐败感到厌倦。”不过，富勒在与选区内人们交谈时，最引人注目的是他们对国家分裂程度日益严重的担忧。她说，特朗普的名字不一定会被提及，但人们反复告诉她，他们担心子孙后代将继承一个怎样的国家。居民在几次场合激动不已，有时甚至哭泣。
“We don’t want to have a dictator. People are sick of the corruption.”What’s stood out the most to Fuller while talking to people in the district, though, is how worried they are about how divided the country has become. Trump’s name doesn’t necessarily come up, she said, but people tell her “over and over” they’re worried about the kind of country their children will inherit. Residents have gotten emotional on several occasions, even crying at times.
“我认为，我的选区压倒性地非常理性、务实，并且对拆除民主的长期计划感到恐惧。我们不想生活在一党制下。天哪，我们不想要独裁者，”富勒说。“人们对腐败感到厌倦。”一些居民告诉她，他们以前从未投过民主党的票，但已经到了“事情必须改变”的地步，她说。其他人则对该地区的医院关闭感到愤怒，他们认为这是佐治亚州共和党立法者常规拒绝扩大医疗补助计划的结果：“人们开始看到共和党政策的影响，”她说。
“I think, overwhelmingly, my district is very rational, pragmatic and scared about the long-term plan of dismantling democracy. We don’t want to live in a one-party system. Boy, we don’t want to have a dictator,” Fuller said. “People are sick of the corruption.”Some residents have told her they’ve never voted Democratic before, but they’ve reached a point “where things have to change,” she said. Others have fumed about hospital closures in the area, which they see as the result of Georgia GOP legislators routinely refusing to expand Medicaid: “People are starting to see the effect of the Republicans’ policies,” she said.
佐治亚州共和党人在2020年重划选区后重新划定了这个选区，将其改为共和党席位，西尔科克斯自那以后一直担任该席位。西尔科克斯在2022年以5个百分点，即1496票的优势击败了她的民主党挑战者。2024年，她的领先优势缩小，以不到4个百分点，即1351票的优势获胜。
Georgia Republicans redrew this district after the 2020 redistricting cycle, flipping it to a GOP seat that Silcox has held ever since. Silcox defeated her 2022 Democratic challenger by 5 percentage points, or 1,496 votes. Her lead narrowed in 2024, when she won by just under 4 percentage points, or 1,351 votes.
距离大选还有几周，富勒对自己的胜算感到乐观，部分原因是今年佐治亚州初选中民主党选民投票人数超过共和党，而2022年中期选举时并非如此。她表示，竞选团队内部民调也显示她与西尔科克斯势均力敌。
Weeks out from the election, Fuller is feeling hopeful about her chances, in part because more Democrats than Republicans voted in the Georgia primaries this year, which was not the case in the 2022 midterms. She said her campaign has also done internal polling that’s shown her in a dead heat with Silcox.
这位佐治亚州本地人认为，她承诺恢复政治话语中的理性与善意——即便人们观点不同——最能引起共鸣。
Ultimately, the Georgia native thinks her pledge to restore reason and kindness to political discourse, even when people have different views, is what is resonating the most.
富勒说：“演讲结束后，人们会走过来对我说：‘谢谢你提醒我们是谁。’我认为我们正处于这样一个文化时刻：‘我们作为一个国家是谁？’关心邻居没关系。事实上，让我们这么做吧。”
“When I give speeches, people come up after and say, ‘Thank you for reminding us who we are,’” said Fuller. “I do think we’re in this cultural moment of, ‘Who are we as a country?’ It’s OK to care about your neighbor. In fact, let’s do that.”