2026-09-19T10:05:01.939Z / 路透社
华盛顿9月19日路透电 —— 民主党正试图夺回国会控制权，但11月选举前激烈选战留下的持续分歧，可能危及该党从唐纳德·特朗普总统的共和党手中夺回权力的努力。
两院控制权均悬而未决之际，民主党一直试图摆脱初选期间的不和，但在多个摇摆州，有影响力的党内人士要么 withholding 提名背书，要么迄今拒绝与11月3日美国中期选举的候选人共同竞选。
在缅因州，州长尚未背书民主党联邦参议院候选人。在得克萨斯州，一名国会女议员拒绝与在民主党参议院初选中击败她的州众议员共同竞选。在密歇根州，建制派中间派正避开该党进步派提名的参议院候选人。在纽约州，获胜的民主社会主义者批评国会民主党人与共和党人一道谴责社会主义。在佛罗里达州，该党尚未团结起来支持其参议院提名候选人。
“无论你是进步派、建制派民主党人还是保守派民主党人，我们所有人都有既得利益，确保每个人都能在11月顺利过关，”谋求连任的宾夕法尼亚州民主党联邦众议员萨默·李说道。
她警告称，如果民主党不能团结一致并赢得至少一个议院的控制权，“此后我们的所有工作都将更加艰难。”
民主党赢得参议院多数席位的最佳途径，是击败缅因州的苏珊·柯林斯。柯林斯被广泛认为是全美最弱势的共和党参议员。但前缅因州参议院议长特洛伊·杰克逊——民主党提名候选人——在没有获得州长珍妮特·米尔斯背书的情况下参选。米尔斯曾是希望击败柯林斯的参议院候选人。米尔斯的办公室未回应置评请求。
“我想说他们大体上是团结的，”缅因大学法明顿分校政治学教授吉姆·梅尔彻在谈到缅因州民主党人时表示。“突出的一点是珍妮特·米尔斯尚未背书特洛伊·杰克逊。”
当路透社联系时，缅因州民主党未直接回应米尔斯的角色，而是援引提名过程的投票率和现场的干劲作为团结的证据。“缅因州民主党人团结一致，专注于11月的胜选，”该州民主党执行主任德文·墨菲-安德森说道。“特洛伊毕生都在为缅因州的工薪阶层奋斗，他击败苏珊·柯林斯的竞选活动背后有真正的动力。”
得克萨斯州的前竞争对手
在得克萨斯州，联邦众议员贾斯敏·克罗克特已承诺支持州众议员詹姆斯·塔拉里科——他在参议院初选中击败了她，并将挑战共和党人肯·帕克斯顿。但克罗克特多次拒绝塔拉里科提出的两人共同竞选的提议，甚至拒绝在6月的得克萨斯州民主党州代表大会上介绍他。
上周，克罗克特因与R&B歌手克里斯·布朗同台亮相而未与塔拉里科同台遭到社交媒体用户批评。塔拉里科本有可能成为数十年来首位在得克萨斯州赢得全州选举的民主党人。2009年，布朗承认殴打当时的女友蕾哈娜，并表示家庭暴力课程帮助他从错误中吸取教训。
克罗克特转而表示，她将专注于知名度较低的竞选活动，辩称这也将有利于塔拉里科的参议院竞选。
“作为民主党提名候选人，我相信他有计划，”克罗克特本月告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻。“我知道他们的计划不一定是要包括他的对手。”
向埃尔赛义德致以“全力支持”
在密歇根州，持续的分歧围绕民主党参议院提名候选人阿卜杜勒·埃尔赛义德展开。这位进步派候选人在该党必须拿下的州之一的民调中以微弱优势领先共和党人迈克·罗杰斯。一些民主党人对埃尔赛义德与有争议的流媒体主播哈桑·皮克尔的交往，以及他在以色列和犹太人问题上的言论表示不安，多名知名党内人士尚未背书他。
在竞争激烈的参议院初选结束后，密歇根州联邦众议员黑利·史蒂文斯向埃尔赛义德提供了“全力支持”，两人在次日的团结早餐会上拥抱。埃尔赛义德竞选团队的一名顾问告诉路透社，双方阵营保持定期沟通，竞选团队将史蒂文斯视为“击败迈克·罗杰斯的联盟中的关键成员”。
但目前尚不清楚史蒂文斯是否会与埃尔赛义德共同竞选，党内其他人士则公开持批评态度。
联邦众议员希拉里·斯科尔滕和州参议员杰里米·莫斯——国会席位的民主党提名候选人——均未背书埃尔赛义德。他们的竞选团队均未立即回应置评请求。
“我们的革命”组织执行董事约瑟夫·吉瓦格塞表示，当进步派击败建制派候选人时存在双重标准。“我们的革命”是一个致力于选举进步派候选人的组织。
“建制派期望进步派在他们在投票箱中获胜后听从指挥，但当进步派获胜时，虽然有一些团结的迹象，但整个建制派并没有真正紧跟我们的候选人，”他说道。“我认为这损害了我们的首要任务，也就是在11月击败共和党人的能力。”
其他人则以不同的视角看待紧张局势。
“当你开展一场完全诋毁建制派的竞选活动，然后赢得了这场竞选……接着转身说‘我需要这个机器来赢得胜利’，这有点不诚实，”民主党顾问罗德尔·莫林诺说道。
针对像我这样的民主社会主义者
本月早些时候，八名温和派民主党人与共和党人一道通过一项谴责社会主义的决议，这一决议在国会山引发了分歧，遭到纽约州民主社会主义者达里亚利扎·阿维拉·谢瓦利耶和克莱尔·巴尔德斯的批评。两人在初选中击败了建制派支持的对手，有望在11月赢得美国众议院席位。
“这项决议直指像我这样的民主社会主义者，”谢瓦利耶在一份声明中说道。“我们不需要一个背离自身历史的帐篷。我们需要一个团结的政党，对抗企业权力，将金钱从政治中清除，并为工薪阶层谋福利。”
佛罗里达州的不团结
在佛罗里达州，民主社会主义者、民主党参议院提名候选人安吉·尼克松在8月份以两位数的优势击败了资金更充裕的退休中校亚历克斯·文德曼。
文德曼表示，他将站在她身边“共同对抗”共和党参议员阿什利·穆迪，并已捐赠82.5万美元帮助民主党候选人，其中包括向州民主党捐赠40万美元，以支持尼克松和其他佛罗里达州民主党人。
但目前尚不清楚该党是否像文德曼那样全力支持尼克松。
佛罗里达州埃斯坎比亚县民主党主席德里克·斯科特表示，该党的“无论谁是民主党人都投票”的口号——支持民主党候选人的简称——现在似乎有例外情况，因为尼克松已是提名候选人。
“我们仍未看到佛罗里达州民主党主席尼基·弗里德站出来明确、全力地支持安吉·尼克松，”他说道。
民主党一名发言人表示，称该党未团结支持尼克松的说法并不准确，并指出弗里德最近与尼克松和另一名全州候选人共同出席了新闻发布会。该发言人表示，该党正与尼克松密切合作，并经常与她的团队保持联系。
尼克松竞选团队前组织主管查奈·杰克逊表示，选民对低估尼克松的党内领导人感到沮丧，民主党组织往往在不建立对黑人领导的竞选活动的持久支持的情况下寻求黑人选民的投票率。
“他们想要我们的劳动，但不想要我们的领导，”她说道。“他们希望我们像狗一样工作，而他们却邀功。”
诺兰·D·麦卡斯克尔报道；比安卡·弗劳尔斯补充报道；迈克尔·利尔蒙特、安迪·沙利文和霍华德·戈勒编辑
Lingering feuds threaten Democrats’ bid to reclaim US Congress
2026-09-19T10:05:01.939Z / Reuters
WASHINGTON, Sept 19 (Reuters) – Democrats are seeking to reclaim Congress, but lingering divisions from a bruising run-up to the November election threaten to imperil the party’s attempt to claw back power from President Donald Trump’s Republicans.
With control of both chambers at stake, Democrats have sought to move past the bad blood of the primaries, but in several competitive states, influential party figures have withheld endorsements or so far declined to campaign with nominees for the November 3 US midterm elections.
In Maine, the governor has yet to endorse the Democratic US Senate candidate. In Texas, a congresswoman has declined to campaign alongside the state representative who defeated her in the Democratic Senate primary. In Michigan, establishment centrists are steering clear of the party’s progressive Senate pick. In New York, victorious democratic socialists are criticizing congressional Democrats for joining Republicans in condemning socialism. In Florida, the party has yet to rally behind its Senate nominee.
“Whether you are a progressive or an establishment Democrat or a conservative Democrat, we all have a vested interest in getting every single person over the finish line in November,” said US Representative Summer Lee, a progressive Pennsylvania Democrat up for reelection.
If Democrats fail to unify and win at least one chamber, she warned, “all of our work after that is going to be harder.”
Democrats’ best path to a Senate majority requires defeating Susan Collins in Maine. Collins is widely considered the most vulnerable Republican senator in the country. But former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, the Democratic nominee, is running without the endorsement of Governor Janet Mills, a onetime Senate candidate who hoped to unseat Collins herself. Mills’ office did not respond to a request for comment.
“I would say they’re mostly unified,” Jim Melcher, a political science professor at the University of Maine at Farmington, said of Maine Democrats. “The one piece of it that stands out is that Janet Mills has not endorsed Troy Jackson.”
Contacted by Reuters, the Maine Democratic Party did not directly address Mills’ role but cited turnout for its nominating process and energy on the ground as evidence of unity. “Maine Democrats are united and focused on winning in November,” said Devon Murphy-Anderson, the state party’s executive director. “Troy has spent his career fighting for working Mainers and there is real energy behind his campaign to defeat Susan Collins.”
FORMER RIVALS IN TEXAS
In Texas, US Representative Jasmine Crockett has pledged her support to state Representative James Talarico, who defeated her in the Senate primary and is taking on Republican Ken Paxton. But Crockett has repeatedly rejected Talarico’s overtures for the two to campaign together, even declining to introduce him at Texas Democrats’ state convention in June.
Crockett drew criticism from social media users last week for appearing on stage in Texas with R&B singer Chris Brown, but not with Talarico, who could become the first Democrat in decades to win a statewide race in Texas. In 2009, Brown pleaded guilty to assaulting then-girlfriend Rihanna and has said domestic violence classes helped him learn from his mistakes.
Crockett has instead said she will focus on lower-profile races, arguing that will also benefit Talarico’s Senate campaign.
“As the Democratic nominee, I trust that he has a plan,” Crockett told CBS News this month. “I know that their plan wasn’t necessarily to include his opponent.”
‘FULL SUPPORT’ TO EL-SAYED
In Michigan, lingering divisions have centered on Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive who narrowly leads Republican Mike Rogers in polling in one of the party’s must-win states. Some Democrats have expressed discomfort with El-Sayed’s association with controversial streamer Hasan Piker and with his rhetoric on Israel and Jews, and multiple prominent party figures have yet to endorse him.
After their closely contested Senate primary, US Representative Haley Stevens of Michigan offered her “full support” to El-Sayed, and the two hugged at a unity breakfast the following day. An El-Sayed campaign adviser told Reuters the two camps are in regular communication and that the campaign sees Stevens “as a critical member of the coalition that will beat Mike Rogers.”
But it’s unclear whether Stevens will campaign with El-Sayed, and others in the party have been openly critical.
US Representative Hillary Scholten and state Senator Jeremy Moss, the Democratic nominee for a congressional seat, have not endorsed El-Sayed. Neither of their campaigns immediately responded to a request for comment.
Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of Our Revolution – a group that works to elect progressive candidates – said there’s a double-standard when progressives win against establishment candidates.
“The establishment expects progressives to fall in line when they prevail at the ballot box, but when progressives win, there are some signs of unity, but the entire establishment doesn’t really fall in lockstep behind our candidates,” he said. “I think that hurts our ability to do job No. 1, which is to beat the Republicans in November.”
Others see the tensions differently.
“When you run a campaign that completely shits on the establishment and then you win that campaign … then you turn around and say, ‘I need this machine in order to win,’ it is a little bit disingenuous,” Democratic consultant Rodell Mollineau said.
TARGETING DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS ‘LIKE ME’
The divisions surfaced on Capitol Hill earlier this month when eight moderate Democrats joined Republicans in approving a resolution condemning socialism, drawing criticism from New York democratic socialists Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez, who are poised to win US House seats in November after defeating establishment-backed rivals in their primaries.
“This resolution was aimed squarely at democratic socialists like me,” Chevalier said in a statement. “We don’t need a tent that shrinks from its own history. We need a unified party that takes on corporate power, gets money out of politics and delivers for working people.”
DISUNITY IN FLORIDA
In Florida, Democratic Senate nominee Angie Nixon, a democratic socialist, defeated the better-funded retired Lieutenant Colonel Alex Vindman by a double-digit margin in August.
Vindman said he would stand beside her “in the fight against” Republican Senator Ashley Moody and has donated $825,000 to help Democratic candidates, including $400,000 to the state party to support Nixon and other Florida Democrats.
But it’s less clear whether the party is as supportive of Nixon as Vindman has been.
Derrick Scott, chair of Florida’s Escambia County Democratic Party, said the party’s “vote blue no matter who” message, shorthand for supporting Democratic candidates, appears to come with an exception now that Nixon is the nominee.
“We still have yet to see Nikki Fried, the chair of the Florida Democratic Party, come out and unequivocally and full-throatedly support Angie Nixon,” he said.
A Democratic Party spokesperson said it’s inaccurate to say the party hasn’t rallied behind Nixon, noting Fried recently joined Nixon and another statewide candidate for a joint press conference. The spokesperson said the party is working closely with Nixon and is frequently in touch with her team.
Chanae Jackson, the Nixon campaign’s former organizing director, said voters are frustrated with party leaders who underestimated Nixon and Democratic organizations too often seek Black voter turnout without building durable support for Black-led campaigns.
“They want our labor, but they don’t want our leadership,” she said. “They want us to work like a dog while they take credit for it.”
Reporting by Nolan D. McCaskill; Additional reporting by Bianca Flowers; Editing by Michael Learmonth, Andy Sullivan and Howard Goller