周二晚间计票的首批中期选举选票显示，共和党面临艰难之夜，这与民调一致，民调显示民主党在争夺国会控制权的战斗中占据明显优势，原因是公众对总统唐纳德·特朗普议程的不满。
The first midterm votes counted on Tuesday night suggest a tough night for Republicans, in line with polling that has put Democrats well ahead in the battle for Congress on the strength of public frustration with President Donald Trump’s agenda.
在印第安纳州和肯塔基州，大多数投票站于东部时间下午6点关闭，民主党的得票远超两年前的早期投票总数。他们在印第安纳州第5国会选区（印第安纳波利斯以外地区，特朗普2024年曾以17个百分点获胜）和肯塔基州第6选区（特朗普曾以15个百分点获胜）的竞选中处于竞争地位。
diana and Kentucky, where most polls closed at 6 pm ET, Democrats ran well ahead of their early vote totals two years ago. They were competitive in Indiana’s 5th Congressional District, outside of Indianapolis — where Trump won by 17 points in 2024 — and in Kentucky’s 6th District, which went for Trump by 15 points.
这两个席位在本轮选举周期开始时都不是民主党的目标，但随着环境对共和党似乎日益恶化，两场竞选都获得了后期投资。
Neither of those seats was a Democratic target at the start of this election cycle, but both races saw later investment as the environment appeared to degrade for Republicans.
印第安纳州众议员维多利亚·斯巴茨（Victoria Spartz）是第5选区的一位反复无常的候选人，此前曾表现不及党内平均水平，她面临着“投资明天联盟”（Invest in Tomorrow Coalition）的最后时刻支出，该绿色能源政治行动委员会致力于击败去年投票撤销能源税收抵免的共和党人。民主党的超级政治行动委员会“众议院多数党政治行动委员会”（House Majority PAC）为其候选人JD·福特（JD Ford）花费了近40万美元。
Indiana Rep. Victoria Spartz, an erratic candidate in the 5th District who has underperformed the party before, faced a last-minute spend from the Invest in Tomorrow Coalition, a green energy PAC working to beat Republicans who voted to revoke energy credits last year. House Majority PAC, the Democrats’ super PAC, spent nearly $400,000 for their candidate, JD Ford.
肯塔基州席位在众议员安迪·巴尔（Andy Barr）离开该选区竞选参议员后成为目标。共和党提名了前州参议员拉尔夫·阿尔瓦拉多（Ralph Alvarado），而州长安迪·贝希尔（Andy Beshear）为民主党候选人、联邦检察官扎克·登博（Zach Dembo）助选。共和党人预计，随着选举日选票的计入，他们的数字会有所改善，但在印第安纳州和肯塔基州，该党的得票率自2024年以来普遍下降。
The Kentucky seat became a target after Rep. Andy Barr left it to run for Senate. Republicans nominated former state Sen. Ralph Alvarado, while Gov. Andy Beshear campaigned for Democratic nominee Zach Dembo, a federal prosecutor. Republicans expected their numbers to improve as Election Day votes came in, but in both Indiana and Kentucky, the party’s vote share has universally fallen since 2024.
印第安纳州民主党人博·贝伊（Beau Bayh）是前参议员的儿子和孙子，在州务卿一职的早期计票中领先，这是他所在政党唯一竞争的全州范围选举。
Indiana Democrat Beau Bayh, the son and grandson of former senators, led in the early count for secretary of state, the one statewide race his party was competing for.
然而，民主党人仍对过度解读早期选票的含义保持警惕，他们记得两年前曾为卡玛拉·哈里斯（Kamala Harris）积累选票，却在选举日被压倒。
Yet Democrats remain wary about overreading the meaning of early votes, recalling that they banked votes for Kamala Harris two years ago before getting overwhelmed on Election Day.