这些选举不会决定谁能入主白宫；相反，美国选民将投票决定他们希望谁进入国会山。
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，恰好在总统选举周期的正中间。美国人民将决定由谁在美国国会的两个院——众议院和参议院——中代表他们。一些州还将选举州长。这些是选票上的决定，但它们并不是选民会考虑的全部内容。
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（Center for Politics）的选举分析师J·迈尔斯·科尔曼（J. Miles Coleman）在上一次中期选举前解释说，中期选举“通常是对现任总统及执政党的一次全民公投”。如果民众感到满意，白宫领导人所属政党的表现就会比民众普遍不满时更好。总统唐纳德·特朗普的民意支持率目前处于历史最低点。
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.
总统唐纳德·特朗普的民意支持率已跌至历史最低点：超过60%的美国人对他的看法是负面的 美国人在中期选举中选出谁？
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?
美国众议院的所有席位都将面临改选。其435名成员由全国各地的合格选民选举产生。每名成员代表一个选区。这些选区是根据人口规模分配的。因此，像怀俄明州这样人口稀少但面积相对较大的美国州，在众议院中只有一席。新泽西州虽然按面积算小得多，但人口较多，拥有12席。众议员的任期为两年。
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.
相比之下，美国参议员的任期为六年。美国国会的另一个院——参议院拥有100个席位：50个美国州每州两席，不论面积大小。这些参议院席位大约每两年改选三分之一。今年有35个席位改选，这意味着并非每个州都会在这次中期选举中选举参议员。
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个州的选民将选举他们的州长，在大多数州，州长的任期为四年。美国的许多决定都是在州一级做出的，从堕胎法到教育和选举程序，无所不包。因此，民主党人还是共和党人在本州做出这些决定，会对人们的生活产生重大影响。目前谁在美国国会中拥有多数席位？
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，总统特朗普所属的政党共和党在国会两院都拥有多数席位，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1名通常与共和党投票的一名独立议员。有两个席位空缺。观察人士认为，民主党人在即将到来的选举中夺取该院多数席位是很有可能的。“如果民主党没有至少拿下众议院，那将是一个意外，”科尔曼在10月底告诉美国广播公司CBS。
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的无党籍参议员。当参议院的表决出现50比50的僵局时，美国副总统拥有决定性的一票。这意味着目前，如果参议院表决出现平局，特朗普的副总统JD·万斯将打破僵局。
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.
共和党人和民主党人正在争夺美国国会两院的席位 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选举，但选举结果将对未来几年的美国政治产生决定性影响。尽管总统被赋予了显著的行政权力，但绝大多数联邦政治决策都必须获得国会批准才能实施。
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，如果共和党人在国会两院都拥有多数席位，特朗普按自己的意愿治理国家就会容易得多。如果民主党人在一个或两个议院赢得多数席位，他在国内或外交政策上做出改变就会更加困难。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?
民主党人只需再赢得四个众议院席位即可获得多数席位。届时他们将拥有218名众议员。在435场选战中，只有少数几场仍被视为胜负难料。其中包括艾奥瓦州、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.
值得关注的一场参议院选战是得克萨斯州的选战。目前的民调显示，民主党人詹姆斯·塔拉里科（James Talarico）与他的共和党对手肯·帕克斯顿（Ken Paxton）支持率持平。民主党人需要再赢得四个参议院席位才能获得多数。得克萨斯州可能成为其中之一的可能性本身就已经是一个轰动消息。自1994年以来，还没有任何民主党人在该州赢得过州级选举。塔拉里科现在甚至得到了布什家族一些成员的支持，这个得克萨斯州的共和党政治王朝曾孕育了前总统老布什及其儿子小布什。
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、感到幻灭或漠不关心 要观看此视频，以及 在州长选举中，美国历史上可能首次出现黑人女性担任州长的情况。在明尼苏达州，民主党人艾米·克洛布查尔（Amy Klobuchar）与黑人共和党人莉萨·德穆思（Lisa DeMuth）正在争夺这一职位，而在佐治亚州，黑人民主党人基莎·兰斯·博底姆斯（Keisha Lance Bottoms）则在与共和党人里克·杰克逊（Rick Jackson）对决。
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.
德穆思不太可能在明尼苏达州获胜：该州通常投票支持民主党，而且已经在那里担任了近二十年州参议员的克洛布查尔比她的对手知名度高得多。然而，在佐治亚州，最新民调显示双方势均力敌。博底姆斯有现实的胜算。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.