中期选举通常对在任总统所属政党不利。但2026年的选举带来了那种令人感觉更像清算的强烈谴责。全美范围内，一股蓝色浪潮涌入红色腹地深处，冲刷过特朗普总统过去许多安全的地盘，让他青睐的候选人陷入险境，并使他的总统任期——以及他更广泛的“让美国再次伟大”联盟——面临历史性崩塌的风险。
Midterm elections typically go poorly for an incumbent president’s party. But the 2026 election delivered the kind of resounding rebuke that feels more like a reckoning. Across America, a blue wave has crested deep into red territory, washing through many of President Trump’s formerly safe spaces, endangering his preferred candidates and putting his presidency—and his broader MAGA coalition—at risk of a historic collapse.
如果这是美国对一位总统近两年来无视规范、推高物价、违背承诺、敛聚数十亿美元、肆意践踏伦理防线的回应，那么这是一个毫无歧义、极为强烈的回应。民主党人、独立选民和共和党人大量投票，表达对特朗普及其政党的不满，夺回参议院控制权，并让共和党在原本不被视为有竞争力的选战中也陷入苦战。
If this is America’s response to what has been almost two years of a president flouting norms, driving up prices, breaking promises, raking in billions of dollars, and running roughshod over ethical guardrails, it is an unmistakably emphatic one. Democrats, independents, and Republicans turned out in massive numbers to showcase their displeasure with Trump and his party, flipping the Senate and making the GOP sweat even in contests that were not previously considered competitive.
参议员乔恩·奥索夫在原本预计将是一场艰难竞选中轻松获胜，这是选举之夜后续走势的早期信号。“美国人民谴责了失败的跛脚鸭总统唐纳德·J·特朗普的堕落、腐败和无能，”这位来自佐治亚州的民主党人在胜利庆祝会上对着雷鸣般的欢呼声说道。“黎明的第一缕曙光已在天边显现。”奥索夫的胜利本身对民主党人来说并不算特别意外，但他的观战派对能在晚上8点前就在库尔与帮乐队的《Celebration》歌声中欢庆，为整个夜晚定下了基调。
An easy win by Senator Jon Ossoff, in what was once expected to be a tough race was an early sign of what was to come throughout election night. “The American people have rebuked the depravity, corruption, and incompetence of the failed lame-duck President Donald J. Trump,” the Georgia Democrat said to raucous cheers at his victory party. “The first light of dawn is on the horizon.”Ossoff’s victory itself wasn’t a particular surprise for Democrats, but the fact that his watch party could celebrate to the strains of Kool & The Gang’s “Celebration” before 8 p.m. set the tone for the night.
民主党的大获全胜迅速蔓延至南部各州。在自1998年以来从未选出过民主党参议员的南卡罗来纳州，安妮·安德鲁斯击败了现任参议员达琳·格雷厄姆。安德鲁斯的崛起显示出，就在特朗普获胜让民主党陷入无舵迷茫和沮丧绝望仅仅两年后，政治风向已多么迅速地转向有利于民主党。“这关乎民众感受到的痛苦，关乎华盛顿特区做出的决策导致了创纪录的高汽油和柴油价格，”安德鲁斯在选举日告诉我的同事马德琳·卡莱尔。
The deluge of Democratic gains quickly flooded across the South. In South Carolina, which has not sent a Democrat to the Senate since 1998, Annie Andrews prevailed over incumbent Senator Darline Graham. Andrews’s ascendance was a sign of how quickly the political winds have shifted in Democrats’ favor just two years after Trump’s victory left the party rudderless and despondent. “It’s about the pain people are feeling, decisions that are being made in Washington, D.C. that have resulted in record high gas and diesel prices,” Andrews told my colleague Madeleine Carlisle on Election Day.
在边境另一侧，罗伊·库珀在北卡罗来纳州轻松获胜——这是特朗普在2024年赢下的一个州。这位该州前州长的竞选活动，或许是所有在竞争激烈州份角逐参议员席位的民主党人中最平淡、最低调的。库珀的胜利看似板上钉钉，以至于主要共和党超级政治行动委员会在10月初将竞选开支从该选战转移开，转而用于防守传统上稳固的红州席位，包括堪萨斯州。
Across the border, Roy Cooper won his race handily in North Carolina—a state Trump carried in 2024. The state’s former governor had run perhaps the most boring and low-key campaign of all Democrats vying for the Senate in competitive states. Cooper’s victory appeared so assured that top Republican super PACs shifted their spending away from the contest toward defending seats in traditionally solid red states, including Kansas, in early October.
投票结束不到一小时，库珀就在社交媒体发布视频感谢选民：画面展示北卡罗来纳州各地的祥和场景，除妮娜·西蒙的《Feeling Good》作背景音乐外，全程无人声旁白。
Just shy of an hour after polls closed, Cooper posted a video on social media to thank voters: peaceful scenes from across North Carolina, with no spoken words except Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good.”
随后目标转向更具挑战性的目标，包括让德克萨斯州变蓝这一难以实现的梦想。参议员提名人詹姆斯·塔拉里科的支持者聚集在科罗拉多河畔的一座表演艺术中心，那里可尽览奥斯汀天际线的壮阔景色。他们品尝着餐车提供的街头塔可和冰淇淋，喝着酒吧供应的啤酒，巨大屏幕上播放着新闻报道。当CNN宣布塔拉里科胜选时，现场爆发出“USA! USA! USA!”的欢呼，随即响起“Tal-a-rico! Tal-a-rico! Tal-a-rico!”的呼喊。
From there it was on to more challenging targets, including the elusive dream of turning Texas blue. Supporters of Senate nominee James Talarico gathered at a performing arts center on the banks of the Colorado River, with sweeping views of the Austin skyline.
约一分钟后，州长选战宣布吉娜·伊诺霍萨获胜。欢呼声变得更加震耳欲聋。人们跳跃拥抱，有人热泪盈眶。“我感觉太棒了！我们赢了！”54岁的推销员马里奥·希门内斯说，他和妻子从拉雷多驱车四小时赶来。他不断发出感叹。“太棒了。太神奇了。太惊人了。这是真正的蓝色浪潮！”随着民主党胜利的深度逐渐显现，共和党人开始寻找替罪羊，部分人将矛头指向过去十年重塑该党面貌的那个人。
They ate street tacos and ice cream from food trucks, and drank beers from a bar as news coverage played on a giant screen. The screens were on CNN when the race was called and cheers of “USA! USA! USA! broke out, followed by “Tal-a-rico! Tal-a-rico! Tal-a-rico!” About a minute later, the governor’s race was called for Gina Hinojosa. The screams grew even louder. People jumped and hugged. Others had tears in their eyes. “I’m feeling great! We’re winning!” said Mario Jimenez, a 54-year-old salesman who drove four hours from Laredo with his wife. He kept repeating exclamations. “This is great. Fantastic. Amazing. It’s a true blue wave!” As the depth of the Democratic victories sunk in, Republicans looked for a scapegoat, with some turning their attention toward the man that has reshaped the party in his likeness over the past decade.
“很难想象有哪个白宫比这一届更致力于破坏自家队友了，”前副总统迈克·彭斯的幕僚长马克·肖特在X平台上写道，当时计票结果正陆续传出。他在另一条帖子中补充道，选举结果显示，“选民不喜欢”全球关税、政府入股私营企业以及价格管制。
“It’s hard for me to think of a White House that has done more to sabotage their own fellow members than this one has,” Marc Short, former chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence, wrote on X as the result trickled in. The election results showed, he added in another post, that “voters don’t like” global tariffs, the government taking stakes in private companies, and price controls.
特朗普试图以空前的方式为这场选举施加影响，要求选民假装他在选票上，结果选民否定了他。他清洗了他认为不够忠诚的共和党现任议员，换上了忠诚追随者，结果这些人却输了。他敦促共和党执政的州在十年一次的人口普查前几年就重划国会选区，这一尝试似乎适得其反。他无视美国民众对通胀的担忧，称飙涨的生活成本是“骗局”，尽管在他发动一场战争后，食品杂货和汽油价格变得更贵了。
Trump tried to put his thumb on the scale in unprecedented ways for this election, asking that voters to pretend he was on the ballot, and they repudiated him. He pushed out Republican incumbents he considered insufficiently loyal and replaced them with acolytes who lost. He urged Republican states to redraw their congressional districts years before the decennial census, an attempt that appears to have backfired. He dismissed Americans’ concerns about inflation and called the skyrocketing cost of living a “hoax,” even though groceries and gas got even more expensive after he started a war.
在选举的最后一周，他详细谈论了自己重新装饰国家首都的努力，以及一位俄亥俄州参议员的体格。
In the closing week of the election, he spoke in great detail about his efforts to redecorate the nation’s capitol and an Ohio senator’s physique.
即便如此，当结果揭晓时，民主党人仍感到震惊，试图理解他们的党派——就在两年前还陷入绝望——是如何设法在全国如此多的地方成为一股力量的。特朗普在2024年获胜后似乎势不可挡，闯入传统的民主党腹地，随后以极大化的方式行使总统权力。“混乱、腐败、经济衰退、灾难性的战争：唐纳德·特朗普在历史上极其不得人心，共和党因从未站出来对抗他而付出了代价，”进步组织MoveOn的执行主任乔尔·佩恩告诉我。
Even so, Democrats were in shock when the results came in, seeking to make sense of how their party, so despondent just two years ago, had managed to become a force in so many parts of the country. Trump had seemed unstoppable after winning in 2024, barreling into traditionally Democratic territory and then governing with a maximalist approach to presidential power. “Chaos, corruption, a failing economy, a catastrophic war: Donald Trump is historically unpopular, and Republicans are paying for never standing up to him,” Joel Payne, executive director of MoveOn told me.
但决定性胜利并不意味着，在一位对国会不屑一顾、并表示计划绕过由民主党控制的该机构、自封“否决先生”的总统领导下，立法工作会变得容易。特朗普在选举之夜接受福克斯新闻采访时阐述了他对未来两年分裂政府运作方式的设想。“他们会送来一些疯狂的东西，我会否决它们，”他说，并预测民主党在“几个月的否决”之后最终会进行谈判。在任何这些发生之前，该党还必须处理进步派与温和派之间的内部斗争，而选举之夜进步派和温和派的成员都当选，这场斗争不会就此平息。
But a decisive victory doesn’t mean that legislating will come easily under a president who gives Congress little credence and has said he plans to circumvent a body controlled by Democrats, labeling himself “Mr. Veto.”Speaking on Fox News on election night, Trump laid out his vision of how a divided government would work over the next two years. “They’ll send over things that are insane, and I’ll veto them,” he said, predicting that Democrats would eventually negotiate after “a couple months of vetoes.”Before any of that can happen, the party must also deal with its internecine battle between progressives and moderates, which will not be put to rest by an election night that saw members of both wings of the party elected.
周二，至少在当晚，这些都无关紧要。在凤凰城，亚利桑那州民主党的观看派对上，流行音乐震耳欲聋，Dos Equis啤酒畅饮。参议员马克·凯利告诉人群，民主党的胜利反映了美国人对“白宫里的混乱、腐败、不断上涨的成本以及一个想当独裁者的人”有多么厌倦。69岁的退休人员多拉·克鲁兹曾在客户服务部门工作，她围着一条美国国旗围巾，看着选举结果，洋溢着喜悦。
On Tuesday, none of that mattered, at least for a night. In Phoenix, pop music blared and Dos Equis flowed at the Arizona Democratic Party’s watch party. Senator Mark Kelly told the crowd that Democratic gains reflected just how fed up Americans are “with the chaos, the corruption, the rising costs and a wanna-be-dictator in the White House.”Dora Cruz, a 69-year-old retiree who worked in customer service and wore an American flag scarf, exuded joy as she watched the results.
这次结果让她希望自己能“拿回我们的国旗。所有这些分裂和腐败，实在太丑陋了。”在阿拉斯加，三名联邦雇员在安克雷奇的49th State Brewing酒吧问一名服务员，能否把播放大学橄榄球比赛的电视换成选举结果。这三名女性都为一家被特朗普政府削弱的机构工作，她们都是民主党人，正疯狂刷新手机。他看着她们的脸，换了频道。
The outcome gave her hope that she was “getting our flag back. It’s just been so ugly with all this division, corruption.”In Alaska, three federal employees asked a waiter at 49th State Brewing in Anchorage if he could change a television showing a college football game to the election results. The women worked for an agency that had been gutted by the Trump administration. The three women, all Democrats, were feverishly refreshing their phones. He looked at their faces and turned the channel.
现在，她们正在观看一场看似地震般的胜利。一名女性提到了新墨西哥州的州长选举。另一名女性提到了佐治亚州的胜利。“这太重大了，”她说。
Now they were watching what seemed like a seismic victory. One woman noted the New Mexico gubernatorial race. Another mentioned the Georgia victory. “This is huge,” she said.
阿拉斯加州的结果尚未出炉。“我们现在庆祝是不是太早了？”他们中的一人问道。并不早。不久后，民主党便被宣布赢得参议院控制权。
The Alaska results still hadn’t come in, yet. “Is it too early for us to celebrate?” one of them asked the others. It was not. The Senate was called for the Democrats soon after.