这些选举不会决定谁入主白宫；相反，美国人将投票决定他们希望谁在国会大厦任职。
These won't decide who gets to sit in the White House; instead, Americans will be voting on who they want to see in the Capitol.
中期选举每四年举行一次，正好在两次总统大选的中间点。美国人民决定谁将代表他们在国会两院——众议院和参议院——任职。一些州也在选举州长。这些是选票上的决定——但并非选民唯一考量的因素。
Midterm elections are held every four years, at the exact halfway point between presidential elections. The people of the United States decide who will represent them in the two chambers of the US Congress, the House of Representatives and the Senate. Some states are also voting for their governor. These are the decisions on the ballot paper — but they are not the only thing voters will be taking into account.
弗吉尼亚大学政治中心的选举分析师 J. Miles Coleman 在上届中期选举前解释说，中期选举“往往是对现任总统及其执政党的一次公投。”如果民众满意，白宫主人所属的政党表现会比民众普遍不满时要好。唐纳德·特朗普总统的支持率目前处于历史低位。
J. Miles Coleman, an election analyst at the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, explained before the last midterms that they were "often a referendum on the president and party currently in power." If the people are content, the party of the leader in the White House does better than if the people are predominantly dissatisfied. President Donald Trump 's approval ratings are currently at a record low.
唐纳德·特朗普总统的支持率已跌至历史最低点：超过 60% 的美国人对其持负面看法 美国人在中期选举中选举谁？
President Donald Trump's approval ratings have sunk to an all-time low: More than 60% of Americans view him negatively Who are Americans electing in the midterms?
美国众议院所有席位都将改选。其 435 名议员由全国合格选民选举产生。每位议员代表一个选区。选区根据人口规模划分。因此，怀俄明州等面积较大但人口稀少的州在众议院仅有一个席位。新泽西州面积小得多，但人口更多，拥有 12 个席位。众议员任期两年。
All the seats in the US House of Representatives are up for election. Its 435 members are elected by eligible voters across the country. Each member represents one electoral district. These are allocated based on population size. As a result, relatively large US states where few people live, such as Wyoming, have only one seat in the House of Representatives. New Jersey, a much smaller state by surface area but with a larger population, has 12. Representatives are elected for a two-year term of office.
另一方面，美国参议员的任期为六年。参议院是美国国会的另一个议院，共有100个席位：50个州每州两个，不论州的大小。大约三分之一的参议员席位每两年改选一次。今年有35个席位改选，这意味着并非每个州都将在本届中期选举中选出参议员。
US senators, on the other hand, are elected for a six-year term. The Senate, the other chamber of the US Congress, has 100 seats: two for each of the 50 US states, regardless of size. Around one third of these senatorial seats come up for election every two years. This year there are 35, meaning that not every state will be electing a senator in these midterms.
此外，36个州的选民将选出州长，其任期在大多数州为四年。美国许多决策是在州一级做出的，涉及从堕胎法到教育和选举程序等方方面面。因此，是民主党人还是共和党人在其州内做出这些决定，可能会对民众的生活产生重大影响。谁目前在美国国会占据多数？
Separately, voters in 36 states will elect their governor, whose term of office is four years in most states. Many decisions in the US are taken at state level, on everything from abortion law to education and electoral procedure. It can therefore make a considerable difference to people's lives whether Democrats Republicans are the ones making these decisions in their state. Who currently has a majority in the US Congress?
目前，总统特朗普所属的共和党在国会两院均占多数——但优势微弱。
At present, the Republicans, the party of President Trump, have a majority in both houses of Congress — but its margin is slim.
众议院目前有218名共和党议员、214名民主党议员，以及一名通常与共和党投票一致的独立议员。两个席位空缺。观察人士认为，民主党极有可能在即将到来的选举中夺取该议院的多数席位。“如果民主党至少不拿下众议院多数，那将是个惊人之举，”科尔曼10月底对美国哥伦比亚广播公司（CBS）表示。
The House of Representatives currently has 218 Republican deputies, 214 Democrats, and one independent, who usually votes with the Republicans. Two seats are vacant. Observers think it likely that the Democrats will seize the majority in this chamber in the upcoming elections. "It would be a surprise if the Democrats don't at least take the House [of Representatives]," Coleman told the American broadcaster CBS at the end of October.
参议院目前有53名共和党人、45名民主党人，以及两名通常与民主党投票一致的独立参议员。当参议院投票出现50:50僵局时，美国副总统拥有决定性一票。这意味着，目前如果参议院投票打平，特朗普的副总统万斯将掌握天平。
In the Senate there are currently 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats, and two independent senators who usually vote with the Democrats. When a vote in the Senate is deadlocked 50:50, the US vice president has the deciding vote. This means that currently, Trump's Vice President JD Vance would tip the scales if there were a tie in a Senate vote.
共和党和民主党正在为国会两院的席位展开角逐 为什么中期选举如此重要？
Republicans and Democrats are vying for seats in the two chambers of the US Congress Why are the midterms so important?
中期选举的投票率通常低于总统大选，但结果将对未来几年的美国政治产生决定性影响。尽管总统被授予了巨大的行政权力，但大多数联邦政治决策必须经国会批准后才能实施。
Voter turnout is typically lower for midterms than for presidential elections, but the results will decisively influence US politics for the next few years. Despite the significant executive power delegated to the presidency, the majority of federal political decisions have to be approved by Congress before they can be implemented.
因此，如果共和党在国会两院均占多数，特朗普治理国家将容易得多，可按其意愿行事。如果民主党在一院或两院赢得多数，他要在国内或外交政策上做出改变将更加困难。哪些选战至关重要？
It is therefore considerably easier for Trump to govern the country as he chooses if the Republicans have a majority in both chambers of Congress. If the Democrats win a majority in one or both chambers, it will be more difficult for him to make changes to either domestic or foreign policy. Which races are crucial?
民主党在众议院只需再赢得四个席位即可获得多数。届时他们将拥有218名议员。在435场众议院竞选中，只有少数仍被视为势均力敌。这些包括爱荷华州、弗吉尼亚州和蒙大拿州的选区。
The Democrats only need to win four more seats in the House of Representatives to gain a majority. They would then have 218 representatives. Out of the 435 races, only a few are still considered toss-ups. These include districts in Iowa, Virginia and Montana.
一场值得关注的参议员选战在得克萨斯州。目前的民调显示，民主党人詹姆斯·塔拉里科与其共和党对手肯·帕克斯顿支持率持平。民主党在参议院需要再赢得四个席位才能取得多数。得克萨斯州有可能成为其中之一，这本身已是一大轰动。自1994年以来，尚无民主党人在该州州级选举中获胜。塔拉里科现在甚至获得了布什家族部分成员的支持，该家族是前总统老布什和小布什父子的得克萨斯州共和党王朝。
One senatorial race to watch is the one in Texas. Current polls put Democrat James Talarico level with his Republican rival, Ken Paxton. The Democrats need four more seats in the Senate to win a majority. The possibility that Texas could be one of them is already a sensation. No Democrat has won here at state level since 1994. Talarico now even has the support of some members of the Bush family, the Texas Republican dynasty of former presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, his son.
许多美国选民犹豫不决、幻灭失望或漠不关心 观看此视频 ，和 在州长选举中，美国历史上有可能首次出现黑人女性州长。在明尼苏达州，民主党人艾米·克洛布彻与黑人共和党人丽莎·德穆特争夺该职位；而在佐治亚州，黑人民主党人凯莎·兰斯·博托姆斯对阵共和党人里克·杰克逊。
Many US voters are undecided, disillusioned or disengaged To view this video , and In the gubernatorial elections it is possible that, for the first time in US history, a Black woman could become state governor. In Minnesota, the Democrat Amy Klobuchar and the Black Republican Lisa DeMuth are vying for the position, while in Georgia the Black Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms is up against the Republican Rick Jackson.
德穆斯在明尼苏达州不太可能获胜：该州通常投票给民主党，而克洛布查尔在那里担任州参议员已近二十年，比她的对手知名得多。然而在佐治亚州，最新民调显示双方势均力敌。博特姆斯有现实的获胜机会。本文译自德语。
DeMuth is unlikely to win in Minnesota: The state generally votes Democrat, and Klobuchar, who has been state senator there for almost two decades, is much better known than her rival. In Georgia, however, the latest polls suggest it's neck-and-neck. Bottoms has a realistic chance of winning. This article has been translated from German.