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United States
美國版塊
Georgia’s run-off elections
佐治亞州決選
So sweet and clear
暢快且清晰
Two stunning victories for Democrats in Georgia upend the Senate
民主黨在佐治亞州取得的兩次驚人的勝利顛覆了參議院
Four years ago, any pundit predicting that the solidly Republican state of Georgia would send two Democratic senators to Washington in 2020 would have been dismissed as a crank. Yet that was the outcome of two extraordinary run-off elections held on January 5th, which may set a new model for winning Democratic campaigns in the usually inhospitable South. The contests were also the costliest Senate races ever—more than $500m was spent on a deluge of advertising alone—because they will determine control of the Senate for the next two years.
在四年前，要是有任何權威預言預測堅定傾向共和黨的佐治亞州會在2020年將兩名民主黨參議員推送到華盛頓，那人們將不予理會，還會覺得這樣的預言十分古怪。而1月5日舉行的兩次非同尋常的決選結果卻正是如此，這可能為民主黨在通常不討好的美國南部贏得競選樹立了一個新的模式。這兩次競選也是有史以來最昂貴的參議院競選，僅廣告費就高達5億美元，因為這兩次競選將決定未來兩年參議院的控制權。
Raphael Warnock, the first African- American ever to be elected to the Senate from the South, defeated Kelly Loeffler, the Republican incumbent. The other Democrat, Jon Ossoff, defeated Senator David Perdue, meaning the Senate will be tied at 50-50, giving the vice-president-elect, Kamala Harris, the casting vote in the upper chamber. Democrats will thus have secured the Washington trifecta of House, Senate and White House needed to pass legislation. For the incoming president, Joe Biden, this means a chance to convert at least some of his ambitious agenda from a pile of white papers into reality. For the outgoing president, Donald Trump, it is a startling rebuke.
拉斐爾·沃諾克是有史以來首位擔任南方參議員的非裔美國人，他擊敗了現任共和黨參議員凱利·洛弗勒。另一位獲勝的民主黨人是喬恩·奧索夫，他擊敗了參議員大衛·珀杜，這意味著參議院的兩黨席位將是50比50，從而使當選副總統卡馬拉·哈里斯獲得參議院決定性的一票。因此，民主黨人將獲得通過立法所需的華盛頓三大利器——眾議院、參議院和白宮。對于即將上任的美國當選總統喬·拜登來說，這意味著至少有機會將他雄心勃勃的議程從一堆白皮書變成現實。對于即將卸任的總統唐納德·特朗普來說，這是一次驚人的指責。
Though the elections’ national ramifications may take most headlines, the contests also reflect Georgia’s idiosyncrasies. The state is unique in requiring a head-to-head run-off if no candidate commands a majority in the general election. On November 3rd Mr Perdue secured a greater share of votes than did Mr Trump, who lost the state by a razor-thin margin. The president has since been consumed with attempts to overturn that result through recounts, lawsuits and, most disturbingly, direct pressure on Georgia’s top elections officer to “find” the necessary votes to steal the election.
盡管參議院選舉的全國性影響可能占據大多數頭條新聞，但這兩次競選也反映了佐治亞州的特質。佐治亞州擁有獨特的規定，即如果沒有候選人在普選中獲得多數票，該州就要求進行正面決選。11月3日，珀杜先生在參議院選舉中獲得更多選票，而特朗普在總統競選中以微弱的劣勢失去了佐治亞州。此后，總統一直在試圖通過種種方式推翻選舉結果，包括重新計票、訴訟，以及直接向佐治亞州最高選舉官員施壓，要求他們“找到”必要的選票來竊取選舉這樣最令人不安的途徑。
Run-offs typically favour Republicans: they tend to be snoozy events that attract only the most committed voters (older, whiter and typically more conservative). That did not happen this time. Turnout was estimated to be 4.5m, or 89% of the recordsetting tally in November. It was high enough in the right places to suggest a Democratic finish ahead of Mr Biden’s.
決選通常有利于共和黨人。決選往往很懶散，只會吸引最堅定的選民參與（年齡更大，白人居多，通常更保守）。但這次情況截然不同。據估計，投票人數為450萬，占11月份競選投票人數的89%，創下紀錄。投票人數高到足以表明民主黨在佐治亞州的競選結果甚至要領先于拜登。
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