共和黨、民主黨提出期中選舉最後訴求，密西根州背書風波攪動參議員選戰

記者納森・萊恩（Nathan Layne）與南迪塔・博斯（Nandita Bose）By Nathan Layne and Nandita Bose

底特律／華盛頓，11月2日（路透社）——在期中選舉將決定未來兩年國會控制權前夕，兩黨週一都展開最後衝刺。與此同時，密西根州美國參議員選戰中，一名民主黨人倒戈背書共和黨候選人後，民主黨試圖控制黨內裂痕。DETROIT/WASHINGTON, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Democrats sought on Monday to contain a rift in Michigan's US Senate race after one of their own crossed party lines to endorse the Republican, as both parties made their final push before midterm elections that will determine control of Congress for the next two years.

美國眾議員海莉・史蒂文斯在一場激烈競爭中輸給阿卜杜勒・埃爾-薩耶德，失去密西根州民主黨參議員初選提名；她公開支持共和黨人麥克・羅傑斯，並與他一同現身底特律一間教會。週二投票中，這場選戰對民主黨終結總統唐納・川普所屬共和黨目前以53席對47席掌控參議院多數的希望至關重要。US Representative Haley Stevens, who lost the Michigan Democratic Senate primary to Abdul El-Sayed in a bitter contest, publicly backed Republican Mike Rogers and appeared with him at a Detroit church. The race is critical to Democrats' hopes of ending the 53-47 Senate majority hold of President Donald Trump's Republicans in Tuesday's vote.

史蒂文斯週日出人意料的表態，同一天一名聯邦法官駁回美國司法部一項訴訟；該訴訟尋求在戰場州阿拉斯加若共和黨現任參議員丹・S・蘇利文（Dan S. Sullivan）以些微差距落敗時，阻止認證選舉結果。Stevens' Sunday surprise came the same day a federal judge dismissed a US Justice Department lawsuit seeking to block certification of election results in Alaska if Republican incumbent Senator Dan S. Sullivan narrowly loses in the battleground state.

川普一直為共和黨候選人在全國各地每日舉行造勢活動，預定於美東時間下午2時（格林威治時間1900）在華盛頓林肯紀念堂倒影池延後重新開放時發表談話。該工程先前作為他美化美國首都行動的一部分進行整修，卻因承包商施工不良，導致「美國國旗藍」內襯剝落；川普曾錯誤地將此歸咎於破壞者。Trump, who has been holding daily rallies around the country for Republican candidates, was due to deliver remarks at 2 p.m. ET (1900 GMT) at the belated reopening of Washington's Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. An earlier renovation as part of his beautification efforts for the US capital was botched by contractors, leading to the "American flag blue" liner peeling away, which Trump had wrongly blamed on vandals.

在密西根州，史蒂文斯決定背書共和黨人羅傑斯，令黨內領袖感到意外；部分黨員，如眾議員黛比・丁格爾（Debbie Dingell）表示，此舉為民主黨造成「干擾」。In Michigan, Stevens' decision to endorse Republican Rogers surprised party leaders, with some members, such as Representative Debbie Dingell, saying that it created a "distraction" for Democrats.

史蒂文斯在發布到社群媒體的影片中說：「我不屬於阿卜杜勒的競選團隊。」Stevens said in a video posted to social media: "I don't belong in Abdul's campaign."

埃爾-薩耶德競選團隊發言人表示，該團隊週日募得240萬美元，創下單日募款最高紀錄；資金來自超過6萬5000名捐款者，平均每筆小額捐款為36.74美元。A spokesperson for El-Sayed's campaign said it raised $2.4 million on Sunday, its largest single-day fundraising haul, fueled by small-dollar donations averaging $36.74 from more than 65,000 donors.

無黨派分析人士普遍看好民主黨贏得眾議院多數席次的機會。要掌握參議院則更棘手；這些分析人士目前認為，包括德州、堪薩斯州和愛荷華州在內的傳統共和黨傾向州，對在野黨而言也具競爭性，讓民主黨有更多通往多數席次的選項。Nonpartisan analysts generally favor Democrats' chances of winning a majority in the House of Representatives. Winning control of the Senate will be trickier, with those analysts now seeing races in traditionally Republican-leaning states including Texas, Kansas and Iowa as competitive for the opposition party, giving it more options for a path to the majority.

若掌控任一院，將限制川普通過立法的能力，並讓民主黨有權調查他的政府；若取得參議院多數，民主黨也能阻擋他提名的人選進入包括最高法院在內的聯邦法院。Control of either chamber would constrain Trump's ability to pass legislation and empower Democrats to investigate his administration, while a Senate majority would also allow them to block his appointees to federal courts including the Supreme Court.

根據佛羅里達大學選舉實驗室（University of Florida Election Lab），已有5500萬張選票透過親自投票和郵寄方式投出，超過2022年期中選舉的4500萬張。According to the University of Florida Election Lab, 55 million votes have been cast in person and by mail already – more than the 45 million cast in the 2022 midterm elections.

密西根州裂痕MICHIGAN RIFT

史蒂文斯呼籲埃爾-薩耶德譴責一個外部團體的廣告；她說，該廣告將食品雜貨價格高漲歸咎於以色列。Stevens called on El-Sayed to condemn an outside group's ad that she said blames Israel for high grocery prices.

史蒂文斯週日晚間告訴CNN：「那支廣告非常令人痛心。有這麼多民主黨人想投票給我們民主黨提名人，卻只是被告知：『嘿，這不是你歸屬的政黨，或者這不是你歸屬的競選團隊。』」"That ad was very painful," Stevens told CNN on Sunday night. "There are so many Democrats who want to vote for our Democratic nominee, and they're just being told, 'Hey, this is a party you don't belong in, or this is a campaign you don't belong in.'"

一名知情人士表示，埃爾-薩耶德的競選團隊最近要求史蒂文斯在選舉日前不要出席他的活動，以便「不要分散對競選核心議題的注意力」。El-Sayed's campaign recently asked Stevens to skip his events through Election Day so as "not to distract from the central issues of the campaign," a person familiar with the matter said.

共和黨試圖利用史蒂文斯的舉動。Republicans sought to capitalize on Stevens' move.

羅傑斯說：「當你看到一個政黨，至少是其中一小部分，偏向他們一直對某一群人散播的惡毒仇恨時，情況就會變得危險。」"When you see a party, and at least a sliver of the party, veering off into the virulent hate that they have been spewing toward a group of people, it gets dangerous," Rogers said.

埃爾-薩耶德是出生於密西根州的埃及裔美國穆斯林，遭到川普和其他共和黨人鎖定攻擊；他們一再質疑他對美國的忠誠，並毫無根據地稱他是恐怖主義同情者，指稱他若當選將招致針對美國人的攻擊。埃爾-薩耶德稱，對他是否忠於美國的質疑「可恥」。El-Sayed, an Egyptian American Muslim born in Michigan, has been targeted by Trump and other Republicans who have repeatedly questioned his loyalty to the US and baselessly called him a terrorist sympathizer whose election would invite attacks on Americans. El-Sayed has called questions about his loyalty to the US "shameful."

這些言語攻擊符合部分共和黨人在期中選舉前更廣泛採取的煽動性言論模式：鎖定阿拉伯裔美國人、穆斯林和跨性別者，並把民主黨人描繪成共產主義者和危險激進分子。The verbal attacks fit a broader pattern of inflammatory rhetoric from some Republicans targeting Arab Americans, Muslims and transgender people and portraying Democrats as communists and dangerous radicals ahead of the midterms.

史蒂文斯的母親瑪麗亞・馬科特（Maria Marcotte）表示，她女兒決定背書羅傑斯，是因為她所稱埃爾-薩耶德危險的政治言論；她部分指出，埃爾-薩耶德過去曾與左翼實況主哈桑・派克（Hasan Piker）同台，派克因針對以色列和美國猶太人的言論受到批評。Stevens' mother, Maria Marcotte, said her daughter decided to endorse Rogers because of what she described as dangerous political rhetoric from El-Sayed, pointing in part to his past appearances with Hasan Piker, a left-wing streamer who has been criticized for his comments about Israel and American Jews.

馬科特在底特律北郊伯明罕自家門廊接受路透社訪問時說：「她真的已經到了某個程度，覺得她的選民、她在乎的人，以及她認識且愛著的人，都因為一些傳出的言論而害怕、驚恐。」"She's really reached a point where she felt like her constituents, the people that she cares about, and the people she knows and loves are scared and frightened by some rhetoric that's coming out," Marcotte said in an interview with Reuters from the porch of her home in Birmingham, a northern Detroit suburb.

72歲民主黨選民潘蜜拉・強森（Pamela Johnson）在底特律郊區華倫投票給埃爾-薩耶德後批評史蒂文斯：「海莉・史蒂文斯是叛徒。」Democratic voter Pamela Johnson, 72, criticized Stevens after casting her ballot for El-Sayed in Warren, a Detroit suburb: "Haley Stevens is a traitor."

阿拉斯加介入受挫ALASKA INTERVENTION FALTERS

川普政府試圖介入阿拉斯加參議員選戰的行動受挫；一名聯邦法官週日駁回美國司法部的訴訟，該訴訟尋求在共和黨現任參議員丹・S・蘇利文以些微差距落敗時，阻止認證結果。The Trump administration's attempt to intervene in Alaska's Senate race faltered when a federal judge dismissed the US Justice Department's lawsuit on Sunday that sought to block certification of the results if Republican incumbent Senator Dan S. Sullivan narrowly loses.

司法部主張，同一張選票上出現一名名叫丹尼爾・J・蘇利文二世（Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.）的挑戰者，可能會讓選民混淆。The Justice Department argued voters may be confused by the presence of a challenger named Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. on the same ballot.

過去幾天，《紐約時報》報導民主黨人瑪麗・佩爾托拉的競選團隊曾參與招募後者蘇利文投入選戰、作為攪局者後，這個問題已攪動整場選戰。The issue has roiled the campaign over the last several days after the New York Times reported that Democrat Mary Peltola's campaign was involved in recruiting the latter Sullivan into the race as a spoiler.

這名參議員週日表示，即使川普政府持續就此事推動刑事調查，他仍會接受週二選舉的結果。The senator said on Sunday he would accept the results of Tuesday's election even as the Trump administration presses a criminal investigation into the issue.

佩爾托拉否認涉入，蘇利文二世也否認與佩爾托拉競選團隊協調。Peltola has denied involvement, and Sullivan Jr. has denied coordinating with Peltola's campaign.

24歲阿拉斯加州瓦西拉居民艾琳娜・伯德（Aileena Bird）表示，她投票給佩爾托拉。她說：「我覺得它被駁回很棒。我認為應該採取更多行動，反制川普一直以來試圖壓制選民的做法。」"I think it's great that it got thrown out," said Aileena Bird, a 24-year-old resident of Wasilla, Alaska, who said she voted for Peltola. "I think that more should be done to fight against what Trump has been doing in trying to suppress the voters."

（納森・萊恩與南迪塔・博斯報導；大衛・勞德（David Lawder）華盛頓、納森・弗蘭迪諾（Nathan Frandino）阿拉斯加州瓦西拉補充報導；塞爾吉奧・農（Sergio Non）、林肯・費斯特（Lincoln Feast）與霍華德・戈勒（Howard Goller）編輯）(Reporting by Nathan Layne and Nandita Bose; Additional reporting by David Lawder in Washington, Nathan Frandino in Wasilla, Alaska; Editing by Sergio Non, Lincoln Feast and Howard Goller)