2026年10月23日 美国东部时间晚上10:09 / CBS新闻
爱荷华州苏城报道—— 参议院多数党领袖约翰·图恩周五在爱荷华州与共和党众议员阿什利·辛森一同开展竞选活动，这是他为支持共和党候选人在竞选行程中开展的最新行动，强调这个近年来一直是共和党铁票仓的“鹰眼州”（爱荷华州别称）如今可能掌握着参议院控制权的关键。
“美国参议院的多数党控制权必须经过爱荷华州，”图恩表示。
爱荷华州是近几个月来进入中期选举讨论范畴的几个州之一，尽管在选举周期开始时这些州的参议院席位竞争都被认为是毫无悬念的，但如今却有多个席位的竞争变得激烈。而在大选日的最后冲刺阶段，共和党正尽一切努力守住现有优势。
图恩在一家烧烤餐厅举办的圆桌会议上，与辛森和六七名当地工人一同发表讲话，警告称如果民主党赢得多数党席位，未来两年内将只会忙于“调查、弹劾审判以及诸如此类的事情”。他表示：“这对美国人民来说可不是什么好状况。”
“还有很多事情要做。我们期待着撸起袖子、全力以赴，把事情推进下去，”图恩说，“但我们必须挺过11月3日。”
辛森正在与民主党州众议员乔希·图雷克竞争一个空缺席位。民主党上一次赢得爱荷华州的联邦参议员选举还是在2008年，但随着民生成本压力向爱荷华州民众袭来，农民承受的压力尤其大，民调显示辛森与图雷克的竞争已陷入胶着状态。
辛森曾是当地新闻主播，自2021年起代表爱荷华州出任众议员，她强调需要有可靠的人选为该州民众掌舵，向选民讲述自己作为一名有年幼子女的母亲的经历，还开玩笑说，她抚养青少年的经历让她做好了与国会里“难以沟通的人”共事的准备。尽管她最初的竞选重点是自己与白宫的密切关联，但近几周来，她在不受欢迎的伊朗战争和高能源价格问题上与白宫划清界限。不过她仍在周四与特朗普总统一同出席了仅几英里外的一场集会。
图恩来自邻州南达科他州，并未陪同总统出席那场集会。他对记者表示，周五他和辛森的竞选活动“非常充实”，包括参观了当地的一个空军基地，了解了跑道翻修的必要性，之后还参加了那场圆桌会议。
活动结束后，图恩对记者表示，这是一次很好的机会，可以听到爱荷华州选民“内心所想和关心的问题”。
“而且我认为，和许多地方一样，这里的核心问题也是经济问题，”他补充道。
在那场活动上，包括一家化肥分销网络负责人和一位餐厅老板在内的当地商界人士，谈到了物价高企、儿童保育服务的可及性、供应链问题以及住房和柴油成本等议题。辛森列出了一系列优先事项，包括将“小费收入免税”政策永久化、专注住房问题以及降低农民的成本。
近几周来，辛森一直在推动暂停征收汽油税、暂停美国的柴油出口，并向农民和卡车司机提供柴油补贴。
图恩表示，作为代表邻州的议员，“我们面临着许多共同的问题——无论是交通问题，还是国家安全、水资源以及一系列将我们联系在一起的事务。”
当被问及政治环境时，鉴于总统和参议院多数党领袖为助力她的竞选而访问了该州历来共和党基础最牢固的地区之一，辛森告诉CBS新闻，她“专注于爱荷华州的所有问题，努力为所有人降低生活成本。”
“她正走遍全州各地，”图恩插话道。
当被问及为何爱荷华州的竞争会变得如此激烈——而该州在2024年总统选举中由总统以13个百分点的优势赢得——时，图恩将原因归结为共和党候选人面临的“经济和政治逆风”。
这种情况也延伸到了其他中西部州，比如内布拉斯加州和堪萨斯州，共和党在那里的竞选也陷入了比预期更激烈的竞争。参议院目前有53名共和党人，民主党需要赢得4个席位，同时守住其他一些席位，才能掌控参议院。虽然民主党仍承认，他们要夺回多数党席位几乎需要所有条件都向他们倾斜，但这已不再是不可想象的 scenario。
但至少在爱荷华州，图恩对辛森的胜选充满信心。
“你要知道，中期选举是非总统选举年，这些都是影响整体选举环境的因素，”图恩说，“但尽管如此，她还是会赢。”
By
October 23, 2026 / 10:09 PM EDT / CBS News
Sioux City, Iowa — Senate Majority Leader John Thune campaigned with GOP Rep. Ashley Hinson in Iowa on Friday in his latest effort to prop up Republican candidates on the campaign trail, emphasizing how the Hawkeye State, reliably red in recent elections, now may hold the key to control of the Senate.
“The majority in the United States Senate must run through the state of Iowa,” Thune said.
Iowa is one of several states that entered the midterm conversation in recent months, with a number of Senate races appearing in play for Democrats despite being unthinkable at the start of the cycle. And in the final sprint to Election Day, Republicans are doing everything they can to hold the line.
Speaking at a roundtable event at a bar and grill alongside Hinson and a half dozen local workers, Thune warned that if Democrats win the majority, the next two years will be spent doing “nothing but investigations and impeachment trials and all that sort of thing.” He said, “That’s not a good place for the American people to be.”
“There’s a lot more to do. And we look forward to rolling up our sleeves and lacing them up and getting after it,” Thune said. “But we’ve got to get through Nov. 3.”
Hinson is facing off against Democratic state Rep. Josh Turek for an open Senate seat. Democrats haven’t won a U.S. Senate race in Iowa since 2008, but as affordability issues squeeze Iowans, with extra strain on farmers, polls have shown Hinson and Turek locked in a dead heat.
Hinson, a former local news anchor who’s represented Iowa in the House since 2021, has emphasized the need for someone responsible at the wheel for Iowans, speaking to voters about being a minivan mom and joking that her experience parenting teenagers has prepared her to work with “unreasonable people” in Congress. And although she initially campaigned on her close proximity to the White House, she’s pushed back in recent weeks over the unpopular war in Iran and high energy prices. But she still appeared alongside President Trump on Thursday at a rally just a few miles down the road.
Thune, who hails from neighboring South Dakota and did not attend the rally with the president, told reporters that he and Hinson had “a good full day” campaigning on Friday, including a visit to a local air base, where they heard about the need to complete a runway, along with the roundtable later on.
Speaking to reporters after the event, Thune called it “a great opportunity” to hear the issues on the “hearts and minds” of Iowa voters.
“And I think, like a lot of places, it’s economic issues,” he added.
At the event, local business leaders, including the head of a fertilizer distribution network and a restaurant owner, spoke of high prices, the availability of childcare, supply chain issues and housing and diesel costs. Hinson outlined a list of priorities, including making the no-tax-on-tips policy permanent, focusing on housing and lowering costs for farmers.
In recent weeks, Hinson has pushed for suspending the gas tax, pausing diesel exports from the United States and offering diesel relief to farmers and truckers.
Thune said as someone who represents a neighboring state, “we share a lot of common issues that we deal with — whether it’s transportation or whether it’s national security issues, water, a whole bunch of things that kind of bind us together.”
Asked about the political environment, as the president and the Senate majority leader made visits to one of the state’s reddest areas to boost her candidacy, Hinson told CBS News that she’s “focused on all Iowa issues and driving down prices for everyone.”
“She’s going border to border,” Thune chimed in.
Questioned about why the race has grown so competitive in Iowa more broadly, in a state that the president won by 13 points in 2024, Thune cited “economic and political headwinds” for GOP candidates.
The picture extends to other Midwestern states, like Nebraska and Kansas, where Republicans are locked in more-competitive-than-expected contests. With 53 Republicans in the Senate, Democrats would need to flip four seats, and defend a handful of others, to take control of the chamber. And while Democrats still acknowledge that nearly everything would need to go right for them to secure the majority, it’s no longer an unthinkable scenario.
But at least in Iowa, Thune expressed confidence that Hinson will pull it off.
“You’re talking about a midterm election, a non-presidential year, those are all factors that, you know, sort of weigh into what the overall environment is,” Thune said. “But in spite of that, she’s going to win.”