周二的选举可能是民主党数十年来击败缅因州共和党参议员苏珊·柯林斯的最佳机会。但共和党也在关注该州第二国会选区一个难得的反超良机，民主党众议员贾里德·戈登退休让出了这个席位。
Tuesday’s election may be the Democrats’ best shot in decades of defeating GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine. But Republicans are eyeing their own rare pickup opportunity in the state’s 2nd Congressional District, where Democratic Rep. Jared Golden’s retirement has opened a door.
无论是民主党人、州审计长马特·邓拉普获胜，还是共和党人、前州长保罗·勒佩奇获胜，当选者都将代表一个覆盖该州约90%土地面积的巨大选区，范围涵盖除波特兰、其北部郊区和缅因州南部海岸以外的所有地区。
Whoever wins — Democrat Matt Dunlap, the state auditor, or Republican Paul LePage, a former governor — would represent a gigantic swath of land that covers roughly 90% of the state, encompassing all but Portland, its northern suburbs and the Southern Maine Coast.
作为全国最偏远的选区之一，该选区在政治倾向上变幻莫测，近几十年来民主党和共和党籍众议员轮流执掌。贝拉克·奥巴马曾两度赢下该选区；唐纳德·特朗普则三度获胜。
One of the more rural districts in the country, it has proved politically fickle, swapping Democratic and Republican representatives in recent decades. Barack Obama won it twice; Donald Trump, three times.
“该选区面积极大、幅员辽阔，许多地区人口稀少，这让竞选活动非常困难，”缅因州民主党前主席贝弗利·乌伦海克说。
“It is incredibly large and vast and underpopulated in many areas, so it makes campaigns very difficult,” said Bev Uhlenhake, a former chair of the Maine Democratic Party.
“和缅因州大部分地区一样，这里人口构成相当单一，甚至比全州更为单一。这里仍以白人为主，仍高度农村化，仍本质上是小城镇社会，”乌伦海克说。
“Like most of Maine, it is pretty homogenous, but even more so than the state as a whole. It is still very white. It is still very rural. It is still a very small-town in nature,” Uhlenhake said.
该席位由即将退休的民主党人贾里德·戈登留出，这位四届议员被观察人士认为，切合该选区向特朗普倾斜之际，民主党籍代表的理想画像。
The seat is being vacated by retiring Democrat Jared Golden, a-four-term lawmaker who observers say cut the ideal profile for a Democrat to represent the district as it swung toward Trump.
“他完全真诚，”沃特维尔科尔比学院政治学教授丹·希亚说，并表示戈登的风格很符合缅因州的调性。
“He was completely genuine,” said Dan Shea, a professor of political science at Colby College, in Waterville, who said Golden’s style was on brand with Maine.
“他从不摆架子，”希亚说，“他穿着法兰绒衬衫、挽起袖子、开着皮卡四处奔波。”尽管戈登在某些政策立场上偏向进步——他曾联合发起“全民医保”法案——但他凭借在某些议题上更为保守的立场赢得了选区选民的青睐，其中包括枪支问题：多年来，他背离本党立场，反对民主党提出的一些枪支管制措施。
“He would never put on airs,” Shea said. “He drove around with rolled-up sleeves in flannel shirts in his pickup truck.”Though Golden holds some progressive policy positions — he co-sponsored Medicare for All — he appealed to voters in his district with more conservative stances on certain issues, including guns: For years, he broke with his party by opposing some gun control measures proposed by Democrats.
他在缅因州引发了震惊，因为他在家乡刘易斯顿发生致命大规模枪击案后，于2023年改变了这一立场。
He shocked those in Maine, though, by reversing that stance after a deadly mass shooting in his hometown of Lewiston in 2023.
随着民主党寻求在全国范围内争取众议院选区，戈登的席位是他们有可能失去的席位之一。
As Democrats seek to pick off House districts across the country, Golden’s seat is one they risk losing.
他们的希望寄托在邓拉普身上，他在今夏的初选中脱颖而出，成为一名看起来比戈登更具进步色彩的候选人。
Their hopes lie with Dunlap, who emerged from the primary this summer as a candidate who appears more progressive than Golden ever was.
“我认为他绝对来自民主党光谱中比贾里德·戈登左得多的那一侧。现在，我认为他将激活许多反特朗普选民，但他将如何应对该选区真正需要的那些温和派共和党人，还是个未知数，”希亚告诉MS NOW。
“I think he definitely comes from the much more left side of the Democratic spectrum than Jared Golden. Now, I think he’s going to activate a lot of anti-Trump Voters, but how he’ll fare with the more moderate Republicans, which you really need in that district, is an open question,” Shea told MS NOW.
不过，邓拉普在戈登曾经持不同意见的至少一个问题上与本党决裂，表示他反对联邦禁止攻击性武器。一家缅因州的枪支安全组织在8月拒绝背书邓拉普，后者曾领导缅因州体育联盟。勒佩奇则在8月获得了全国步枪协会的背书。
Dunlap, though, has broken from his party on at least one of the issues Golden once did, saying he opposes a federal assault weapons ban And a Maine-based gun safety group declined in August to endorse Dunlap, who once led the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine. LePage, for his part, earned the endorsement of the National Rifle Association in August.
“我将极力捍卫第二修正案，我不相信政府是答案，我认为宪法赋予我们拥有和携带枪支的能力，我认为我们需要保护这一点，我将反对任何试图在美国禁枪的人，”勒佩奇当时说。勒佩奇在本轮竞选中因自2019年卸任州长以来长期部分时间居住在佛罗里达州而面临批评。
“I will defend the Second Amendment to the extreme, I do not believe that government is the answer, I think the Constitution gives us the ability to own and carry guns, and I think we need to protect that, and I will fight against anyone trying to ban guns in the United States,” LePage said then LePage has faced criticism this cycle for living part time in Florida in the years since he left the governor’s mansion in 2019.
“在最近一场辩论中，当被追问此事时，他说：‘是的，我是候鸟族。我这个年纪不喜欢雪了。我也不滑雪了。我有膝盖问题，所以不滑雪也不打冰球了。所以是的，冬天我们去佛罗里达。’”作为州长，勒佩奇以直言不讳的保守派著称，“深受缅因州共和党右翼欢迎，”希亚说。“勒佩奇的风格与唐纳德·特朗普完全契合，”他说。
“Yes, I’m a snowbird,” he said, when pressed on the issue at a recent debate. “At my age I don’t like snow anymore. I don’t ski anymore. I’ve got knee problems, so I don’t ski and I don’t play hockey anymore. So yes, in the winter months, we go to Florida.”As governor, LePage was known as a brash conservative who was “popular with the right wing of the Republican Party in Maine,” said Shea. “LePage matched Donald Trump’s style to a T,” he said.
共和党人认为，勒佩奇在保守派基本盘中的资历可能助柯林斯一臂之力，因为柯林斯在试图抵御民主党人特洛伊·杰克逊的挑战时，面临失去她曾依赖的波特兰以南温和派选民支持的风险。
Republicans believe LePage’s bona fides with the conservative base could help boost Collins, who risks losing the support of moderate voters south of Portland she once relied on as she tries to fend off Democrat Troy Jackson.
“让农村选民出来投票的最佳工具，将是苏珊·柯林斯和保罗·勒佩奇同时出现在选票上，”共和党策略师、候选人女儿劳伦·勒佩奇说。
“The best tool to turn out the rural vote will be the combination of Susan Collins and Paul LePage on the ballot together,” said Lauren LePage, the candidate’s daughter who is a Republican strategist in Maine. “LePage excites the base, and Collins has delivered for rural Maine over and over again.”
“勒佩奇能激发基本盘，而柯林斯一次又一次为缅因州农村地区带来了实惠。”
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