美国国家公共电台 NPR--Florida Democratic congressman forced to run against GOP colleague after map battle

Florida Democratic congressman² forced to run against GOP colleague after map battle

Transcript³

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Earlier this year, Gov. Ron DeSantis reconfigured Florida's congressional districts — there are now 28 — and eliminated two Black districts.

One of those districts was North Florida's only district where African Americans made up enough of the constituency to elect their preferred candidate. It was adopted by the state Supreme⁴ Court in 2015 to give African Americans in the region equal representation in Congress.

Now, Democrat¹ Rep. Al Lawson of Tallahassee — who is Black — is running against Republican Rep. Neal Dunn of Panama City — who is white — to represent more than a dozen Panhandle counties in the newly drawn⁵ district.

"Tallahassee needs a Democratic congressman," Lawson says. "We're not going to give it up to Panama City."

In the new map, some of those voters have been placed in a district that voted for former President Donald Trump⁶ by 11 percentage points. Lawson, who's now running in a Republican-leaning district, has his work cut out for him.

"I've been getting down in the counties," Lawson says. "Several of those counties, I've run in many times before."

That was more than a decade ago when Lawson was running for the state legislature. "I was able to pull in a lot of rural white voters who probably had never voted for an African American before."

Lawson's uphill battle

In solid red Panama City, local Democratic Party volunteers set up a voter registration⁷ table at the downtown farmer's market. Left-leaning voters are on the fringes here, says Matthew Bays, who leads the Bay County Young Democrats⁸.

"It's going to be tough," Bays says. "But, you know, Al Lawson is very well-liked by his constituents⁹. He's a very moderate, you know, mainstream¹⁰ Democrat that's been fighting for Florida for a very long time."

One of those constituents is Tallahassee resident Lisa Walker, an independent voter who says she plans to vote for Lawson in November and described him as "down to Earth."

"I kind of like Lawson better," she says. "He's been around for a long time. He knows about the changes and what people need."

In fact, Lawson represented Congressman Dunn's hometown of Panama City in the state legislature. The two have worked together in Congress on issues like Hurricane Michael recovery.

Less Republican, but still Republican

In a June interview with member station WFSU, Dunn admitted it won't be easy running against someone he knows and respects. "That's painful. It's a tough thing to do," Dunn said. "I've known Al for over 20 years. I like him. There was a time when he was my senator, state senator, and I supported him."

Even though the new 2nd Congressional District leans Republican, it leans less Republican than it did when Dunn was elected to represent it in 2018.

"I think it's going be a little bit tighter race," says Debbie Wood, who leads the Bay County GOP. "The Democrats are going to have, you know, a little bit stronger of a hold than what the district was before redistricting."

Wood says she's confident that Dunn will get reelected. That's largely because of voters' frustration¹¹ with high gas prices and rising food costs, she says. "If that doesn't tank the Democratic Party, I don't know what will."

More than three months from the November election, voters across the district aren't paying much attention to the congressional race, says Juanda Beck-Jones, president of the Democratic Club of North Florida. "Unfortunately a lot of people don't know about it, we need to make them aware of it," she says. She and her group will do that by canvassing¹², tabling and meeting voters face-to-face.

Lawson has already started touring the district, with his campaign expected to pick up after the primaries. "He's real folksy, down-to-earth and he has a self-deprecating humor about him," says Beck-Jones. "If he could reach out to people and meet people, and remind them, I think he can win this."

1 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。

2 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

3 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。

4 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

5 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

6 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

7 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

8 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》

9 constituents   

n.选民( constituent的名词复数 )；成分；构成部分；要素

参考例句：

• She has the full support of her constituents. 她得到本区选民的全力支持。
• Hydrogen and oxygen are the constituents of water. 氢和氧是水的主要成分。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

11 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

12 canvassing   

v.（在政治方面）游说( canvass的现在分词 )；调查（如选举前选民的）意见；为讨论而提出（意见等）；详细检查

参考例句：

• He spent the whole month canvassing for votes. 他花了整整一个月四处游说拉选票。
• I'm canvassing for the Conservative Party. 我在为保守党拉选票。 来自辞典例句