美国国家公共电台 NPR--Georgia will hold a runoff between U.S. Senate candidates Warnock and Walker

Georgia will hold a runoff between U.S. Senate candidates Warnock and Walker

Transcript¹

Neither U.S. Senate candidate got enough votes to win the election outright². Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker will face each other in a runoff in December.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

For a second straight time, control of the U.S. Senate may come down to a second round of voting in Georgia.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

After Tuesday's election, neither candidate received 50% of the vote in Georgia. So Democrat³ Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker will be on the ballot⁴ again December 6. Here's the way the math works. Three Senate races are undecided. Whoever wins two of them takes control. Arizona and Nevada are still counting and may need a few days. And if they do not give either party a Senate majority, Georgia takes its turn.

FADEL: Joining us now for more is Georgia Public Broadcasting's Stephen Fowler. Good morning, Stephen.

STEPHEN FOWLER, BYLINE⁵: Good morning.

FADEL: So why not just start by explaining Georgia's election rules and how we got to this point.

FOWLER: Sure. So Georgia is actually one of two states that requires a runoff for both a primary and a general election if nobody gets more than 50% of the vote. And with a libertarian in the Senate race, plus Georgia being a close battleground state, that's not always a given for candidates to get above 50%. So here, with very few ballots⁶ remaining, Senator Raphael Warnock is about half a percent under that cutoff and narrowly ahead of Herschel Walker. And since elections officials say there aren't going to be enough ballots left to be counted to change that outcome, Georgia is now headed to a runoff election again for the U.S. Senate.

Now, what's interesting is that Georgia runoff laws were initially⁷ enacted⁸ by segregationist⁹ Democrats¹⁰ trying to keep Black voters from picking a candidate of their choice, essentially¹¹ ensuring all the white voters who supported different white candidates would coalesce¹² around a white candidate in a runoff. But now, in 2022, we've got two Black candidates for one of the highest offices in the land that voters will choose from because of these runoff laws.

FADEL: Wow. So a law originally aimed at disenfranchising Black voters is the reason this runoff rule even exists. Now, Stephen, this Senate race is an outlier for Republicans, right? They otherwise dominated the election in Georgia. So what does this close race tell us about these candidates, especially Herschel Walker, really, as a Republican candidate?

FOWLER: Well, Walker is a weaker candidate, like some of the other Trump-backed candidates we've seen in states that have had issues here. He's been dogged by controversies¹³ over alleged¹⁴ payments of abortions¹⁵ to ex-girlfriends, a past history of domestic violence allegations, nonsensical statements about policy and so many other things. Voting data shows, so far, Walker's underperforming Governor Brian Kemp by a large margin¹⁶ in very Republican counties in the state at about 5% overall, meaning 1-in-10 Republican voters in Georgia opted¹⁷ for somebody else in a Senate race. Now, Warnock is a well-known figure. He's an incumbent¹⁸ who's pitched himself as a problem-solver who works in a bipartisan manner and managed to distance himself from President Joe Biden's unpopularity. They've both raised boatloads of cash. And this is the most expensive Senate race. That spending is set to continue.

FADEL: Now, the runoff is December 6, four weeks away. That's a quick turnaround. What should voters expect in the runoff? And is either candidate favored at this point?

FOWLER: Well, they should expect a lot of ads with their Thanksgiving turkey. But it's hard to say who's at the advantage. Typically, whoever finished first in the general election usually wins the runoff. A notable exception is 2021, when fellow Democratic Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff beat David Perdue in 2021. There's also some timing¹⁹ things to consider. The previous runoff used to be nine weeks. Campaigns had time to gear things up. Now they're just hitting the ground running. And early voting doesn't even start until after Thanksgiving.

FADEL: Stephen Fowler of Georgia Public Broadcasting. Thank you.

FOWLER: Thank you.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

3 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

4 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

8 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

9 segregationist   

隔离主义者

参考例句：

• Recent federal action undermined the segregationist position. 近期的联邦行动消弱了隔离主义者的地位。

10 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

12 coalesce   

v.联合，结合，合并

参考例句：

• And these rings of gas would then eventually coalesce and form the planets.这些气体环最后终于凝结形成行星。
• They will probably collide again and again until they coalesce.他们可能会一次又一次地发生碰撞，直到他们合并。

13 controversies   

争论

参考例句：

• We offer no comment on these controversies here. 对于这些争议，我们在这里不作任何评论。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史
• The controversies surrounding population growth are unlikely to subside soon. 围绕着人口增长问题的争论看来不会很快平息。 来自辞典例句

14 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

15 abortions   

n.小产( abortion的名词复数 )；小产胎儿；（计划）等中止或夭折；败育

参考例句：

• The Venerable Master: By not having abortions, by not killing living beings. 上人：不堕胎、不杀生。 来自互联网
• Conclusion Chromosome abnormality is one of the causes of spontaneous abortions. 结论：染色体异常是导致反复自然流产的原因之一。 来自互联网

16 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

17 opted   

v.选择，挑选( opt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She was co-opted onto the board. 她获增选为董事会成员。
• After graduating she opted for a career in music. 毕业后她选择了从事音乐工作。

18 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

19 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。