俄亥俄州丽莎·马斯卡罗-托莱多——民主党领袖哈基姆·杰弗里斯坐在教堂的前排，聆听牧师在周日礼拜中讲述《圣经》中关于如何平息动荡局势的教诲。
LISA MASCARO TOLEDO, Ohio — Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffrieslistened from the front row at the old Ohio church as the Sunday congregation heard of scripture’s guidance for calming a gathering storm.
“风啊，安静下来吧！”牧师说道，同时阐述了“改变”所带来的力量。
“Wind, hush!” the speaker advised, describing the power to bring about change. Jeffries nodded along, the words resonating beyond the church’s soaring brick walls, days out from the midterm elections that will determine control of Congress for the remainder of President Donald Trump’s term in the White House.
杰弗里斯点了点头；他的话语在教堂高耸的砖墙间回荡。距离决定唐纳德·特朗普总统剩余任期国会控制权的中期选举仅剩几天时间了。
“We’re on the verge of taking back control of the House,” Jeffries told The Associated Press in an interview afterward. “When this storm has passed, and it will, those of us who have served in the Congress during this time will be part of bringing about a better chapter in the United States of America,” he said.
“我们即将重新掌控众议院，”杰弗里斯在事后接受美联社采访时说，“当这场风暴过去后（它终会过去的），我们这些在此期间担任过国会议员的人，将会为美国开启一个更加美好的新篇章。这就是我们的使命——失败绝不是选项。”
“That’s the mission. And failure is not an option.”
如果民主党赢得大选并推选杰弗里斯担任众议院议长（这一职位在美国仅次于总统，拥有极大的权力），他将成为首位担任该职务的非裔美国人。杰弗里斯一直在全国50多个城市为民主党候选人奔走游说，帮助他们击败共和党人、夺回多数席位。
Jeffries is on track to become House speaker , if Democrats sweep to power and elect him to the job, one of the most powerful positions in the U.S., second in line to the presidency. He has been campaigning across the country in more than 50 cities for House Democrats as they try to oust Republicans and win back majority control .
他有望创造历史，成为美国历史上首位担任众议院议长的非裔美国人。
He would make history as the first Black American to hold the gavel.
杰弗里斯出生于纽约市，属于国会中的新一代领导层，以其深思熟虑、以冷静态度处理事务的执政风格而著称。他将成为继加利福尼亚州的南希·佩洛西之后，首位担任众议院议长的民主党人。
The New York City-born Jeffries is a new generation of leadership at the Capitol, known for his deliberative, calm-is-a-choice style of governing. He would be the first Democratic speaker since Nancy Pelosi of California.
民主党正在筹备一项聚焦降低生活成本并对特朗普的共和党政府进行监督的100天议程，正如杰弗里斯所说，要“让骗子付出代价”。
Democrats are preparing a 100-days agenda focused on lowering the cost of living and conducting oversight of Trump’s Republican administration, as Jeffries puts it, to “hold the crooks accountable.”
“我们看到的是，他行动低调却很有效，”伊利诺伊州众议员布拉德·施奈德说，他即将卸任该党中间派新民主党联盟的主席。“与其追逐兔子，杰弗里斯领袖让党团一直专注于成就、成功以及我们未来的计划。”杰弗里斯于2012年首次当选，他夹在拥有巨大国会影响力的佩洛西时代老一辈和自由派千禧一代纽约州众议员亚历山德里娅·奥卡西奥-科尔特斯的那一代人之间，起到了桥梁作用。
“What we’ve seen is he is quietly effective,” said Rep. Brad Schneider of Illinois, outgoing chairman of their party’s centrist New Democrat Coalition. “Rather than chasing rabbits, what Leader Jeffries has kept the caucus doing is focused on accomplishment, success and a plan for our future.”First elected in 2012, Jeffries is sandwiched between the Pelosi-era elders who have held great sway in Congress and liberal millennial New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s generation, bridging the two.
杰弗里斯是一名公司律师，成长于一名咨询师和一名社会工作者的家庭，深受布鲁克林角石浸信会的熏陶。他在纽约州立大学宾汉姆顿分校获得政治学学位，在乔治城大学获得公共政策硕士学位，并以优异成绩毕业于纽约大学法学院。
A corporate lawyer, he grew up the son of a counselor and a social worker, steeped in Brooklyn’s Cornerstone Baptist Church . He earned a political science degree at the State University of New York at Binghamton and a master’s in public policy at Georgetown and graduated magna cum laude at New York University School of Law.
29岁时，他第一次参选，本身就是一名挑战者，渴望击败一位长期担任纽约州议会议员的议员。他两次失败。最终，他赢得了一个州议会席位。他竞选国会，挑战一位30年的现任议员，后者退出了竞选。
At 29, he made his first run for office, an insurgent himself, eager to oust a longtime New York state Assembly member. He failed, twice. Eventually he won a statehouse seat. He ran for Congress, mounting a challenge to a 30-year incumbent who stepped aside.
此后，杰弗里斯一直稳步上升，代表曾由开拓者、众议员雪莉·奇希尔姆持有的部分选区。“信仰和社区始终是我旅程中不可或缺的一部分，”他说。
Since then Jeffries has been on a steady rise, representing parts of the district once held by trailblazing Rep. Shirley Chisholm . “Faith and the community were always a central part of my journey,” he said.
他说，他这一代的许多人也是如此，“他们成长于，你知道，一些艰难的时期——可卡因成瘾流行，社区暴力事件频发。许多人的生命过早地失去了。”“这导致了一种愿望，想要改善勤劳人民的生活质量，这些人本可以逃离艰难的处境，但他们留在了社区，努力工作，扭转了局面，”他说。
He said that’s the case for many of his generation, “who grew up in the midst, you know, of some challenging times — the crack cocaine epidemic, a lot of community violence. A lot of people’s lives were prematurely lost.”“It leads to a desire to want to improve the quality of life for hardworking people, who could have fled difficult circumstances but remained in the community, worked hard to turn things around,” he said.
在托莱多的教堂里，该地区资深民主党籍众议员马西·卡普特对会众表示，当她首次竞选公职时，奇泽姆是唯一为她助选的国会议员。如今，另一位来自布鲁克林的议员已准备好领航。“这个人想为这个国家的人民做点事，”她说。
At the Toledo church, the area’s long-serving Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur told the congregation that when she first ran for office, Chisholm was the only member of Congress to campaign for her. Now another from Brooklyn is ready to lead. “This man wants to do something for the people of this country,” she said.
杰弗里斯从未认同这样一种理论：即选民在2024年给了共和党授权，让其掌控白宫和国会，致使来自路易斯安那州的议长迈克·约翰逊拥有现代史上最微弱的多数优势之一。他着手为民主党夺回权力。
Jeffries never bought into the theory that voters gave Republicans a mandate in 2024 with control of the White House and Congress, leaving Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana with one of the smallest majorities in modern times. He set about to win power back for Democrats.
民主党利用手头可用的工具迫使投票，迫使共和党领导层不得不面对他们试图回避的议题——公开杰弗里·爱泼斯坦的档案、以及制止对伊朗的战争。
Democrats used the tools available to force votes that GOP leadership tried to avoid — on releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files and halting the Iran war .
他们投票反对共和党的大规模减税和削减开支法案，杰弗里斯发表了长达八小时的演讲，聚焦于对医疗补助和补充营养援助计划（即SNAP）的削减。
They voted against the GOP’s big tax breaks and spending cuts bill , Jeffries delivering an eight-hour speech spotlighting cuts to Medicaid healthcare and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP .
有时，似乎掌控局面的是杰弗里斯而非约翰逊——包括民主党因共和党拒绝为《平价医疗法案》的税收抵免提供资金而导致政府关门的时刻，数百万人依赖这些抵免购买医保。
At times, it seemed Jeffries, not Johnson, was in charge — including when Democrats shut down the government because Republicans refused to fund tax credits for the Affordable Care Act that millions of people relied on to buy health insurance.
杰弗里斯经常在演讲中穿插老派嘻哈歌词，他说音乐一直是生活的配乐，正如歌曲对任何一代人一样。
Jeffries often sprinkles old-school hip hop lyrics into his speeches, and he said the music has been a soundtrack to life, as songs are for any generation.
“‘Sky’s the Limit’是我最喜欢的The Notorious B.I.G.的歌曲之一，”他说，“因为它真实地记录了一条从消极走向积极、克服生活逆境的历程。”
“‘Sky’s the Limit’ is one of my favorite songs from The Notorious B.I.G.,” he said, “because it really did track a journey from negativity to positivity and overcoming life’s adversity.”
如果民主党夺回控制权，杰弗里斯将几乎立即面临考验。众议院议长将在新一届国会于1月3日召开时选出。
Jeffries will be tested almost immediately if Democrats take control. The House speaker is elected when the new Congress convenes Jan. 3.
他面临着新一代后起之秀的挑战，其中包括几位获得美国民主社会主义者支持的候选人。
He is facing a new generation of upstarts, including a handful of candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America .
来自得克萨斯州的民主党众议员格雷格·卡萨尔、国会进步核心小组主席表示，民主党往往是一个“由焦虑的律师组成的政党”，而选民正在要求变革。
Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, the chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said that Democrats are often a “party of nervous lawyers” at a time when voters are demanding change.
“值得肯定的是，”他谈到杰弗里斯时说，“在这些关键时刻和机遇中，我们能够采取行动，我们让人们感到惊讶。”杰弗里斯被描述为一位善于倾听的人，经常在会议中记下同事的发言，这种自下而上的领导风格有助于建立共识。他说他已经与所有新当选的民主党人进行了交谈。“每个人都得规划自己的道路，”他说。
“To his credit,” he said about Jeffries, “in these key moments and opportunities where we’ve been able to take action, we’ve surprised people.”Jeffries is described as a listener, who often jots down what colleagues say in meetings, a bottom-up style of leadership that works to build consensus. He said he has spoken to all the incoming Democrats. “Everybody’s got to chart their own path,” he said.
“在这次选举的另一面，我认为将众议院民主党人团结在一起的，是我们知道这个国家的事情已经坏了，”他说。“我们必须在可负担性危机上做一些变革性的事情。”礼拜结束后，教友们聚集在地下室共进午餐，庆祝主教服务周年，桌上摆着冒着热气的鸡肉、绿叶菜、红薯和甜点。
“On the other side of this election, I think what will unite House Democrats is the fact that we know things are broken in this country,” he said. “We’ve got to do something transformational about the affordability crisis.”After the service, members of the congregation gathered in the church basement for a luncheon honoring the bishop’s anniversary years of service, with steaming trays of chicken, greens, sweet potatoes and desserts.
教友洛娜·麦金斯特里，74岁，退休警察调度员，表示她希望国家能开始终结分裂。“我想让我们成为美利坚合众国，”她说。
Church member Lorna McKinstry, 74, a retired police dispatcher, said she was hopeful the country could begin to end its divisions. “I want us to be a United States of America,” she said.
杰弗里斯在午餐期间探访，随后前往下一站，内心怀着一种使命感，认为国家可以做得更好。
Jeffries visited over lunch before pushing on to the next stops, driven by a sense of purpose that the country can do better.
国会议员们“有责任阻止疯狂继续伤害普通美国人，”他说，“并规划一条更充满希望的道路，让这个国家成为最好的版本。”
Those in Congress “have a responsibility to stop the madness from continuing to hurt everyday Americans,” he said, “and chart a more hopeful path toward making this country the best version of herself.”