美国国家公共电台 NPR--Democrat Mary Peltola defeats Sarah Palin in special election for Alaska House seat

Democrat¹ Mary Peltola defeats Sarah Palin in special election for Alaska House seat

Transcript²

Democrats³ scored a notable win last night in Alaska, defeating former Republican vice⁴ presidential nominee⁵ Sarah Palin in the process.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Not for the first time this summer, Democrats won a special election for a House seat.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

This election came in a red state, Alaska. Democrat Mary Peltola won under the state's complicated new voting system. The Republicans she defeated included Trump⁶'s choice for the job, Sarah Palin.

INSKEEP: NPR political correspondent Don Gonyea is covering this story. Don, good morning.

DON GONYEA, BYLINE⁷: Good morning.

INSKEEP: OK. Several layers to the story and one of them is how Alaska voted, all the candidates together in an election to replace the late Don Young and voting in a way that people normally don't in America. How did it work out?

GONYEA: So on the first count of the votes, Peltola had 40%. Sarah Palin was in second place with 30%. Nick Begich was a very close third behind. But under the rules of ranked-choice voting, he was eliminated. So they looked at who his supporters' second choice was. Without getting too deep into the weeds, Palin needed roughly 6 in 10 of Begich's voters to move into first place. She didn't make it, so Peltola wins a very narrow victory. And I should add, it's the first time Democrats have won Alaska's U.S. House seat in 50 years.

INSKEEP: Well, if it had been Sarah Palin, we would know who the person was...

GONYEA: Yes.

INSKEEP: ...Big celebrity⁸, political celebrity, long political record. Mary Peltola is less familiar to people, so who is she?

GONYEA: She is the first Alaska Native to win this seat. She spoke⁹ about that last night after her win was announced.

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MARY PELTOLA: I will have that distinction. But I think what's most important is that I'm an Alaskan and being sent to represent all Alaskans. And, yes, being Alaska Native is part of my ethnicity, but I'm much more than my ethnicity.

GONYEA: She's 48 years old. She's a former member of the state House of Representatives. Peltola has a reputation as a person who wants to return niceness and decency¹⁰ to politics. So if the politics of Donald Trump and Sarah Palin is in-your-face bombast¹¹, she is the opposite. She is an environmentalist worried about climate change. She's an avid¹² outdoors person. And she can often be found on the river of her hometown in a fishing boat.

INSKEEP: People will try to read larger messages into this election, even though Alaska is a very distinctive¹³ state and this was a distinctive kind of election. But what can we read into it?

GONYEA: It's just one seat in the U.S. House and just to fill the remainder of a term. But this is a psychological boost for the Democratic Party. She beats a hardcore Trump supporter in a Trump state. Palin is as big a name as you get in Alaska politics - former governor, former mayor on the national ticket in '08. But don't forget, in 2009, she quit in the middle of her first term as governor to become a reality TV star. So she, throughout this campaign, had a likability problem that you can see, in that she didn't get nearly enough second-choice votes from Begich voters to win.

INSKEEP: Well, Don, Democrats seem now to have won a series of special elections in multiple states this summer. What, if anything, does that imply about the fall election?

GONYEA: Well, it's certainly unexpected good news for Democrats. Their voters have turned out in these places. And there's some hope that that is a sign of things to come. Can we use it to predict anything in November? Well, you know, we'll see. But the party hopes it is. And don't forget, it's a special election. So this win is only good until the end of the year. These exact same candidates will all also be on the ballot¹⁴ again in November for a rematch.

INSKEEP: NPR's Don Gonyea, thanks very much, as always.

GONYEA: A pleasure.

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 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。

3 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》

4 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

5 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

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 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。

8 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

10 decency   

n.体面，得体，合宜，正派，庄重

参考例句：

• His sense of decency and fair play made him refuse the offer.他的正直感和公平竞争意识使他拒绝了这一提议。
• Your behaviour is an affront to public decency.你的行为有伤风化。

11 bombast   

n.高调，夸大之辞

参考例句：

• There was no bombast or conceit in his speech.他的演讲并没有夸大其词和自吹自擂。
• Yasha realized that Wolsky's bombast was unnecessary.雅夏看出沃尔斯基是在无中生有地吹嘘。

12 avid   

adj.热心的；贪婪的；渴望的；劲头十足的

参考例句：

• He is rich,but he is still avid of more money.他很富有,但他还想贪图更多的钱。
• She was avid for praise from her coach.那女孩渴望得到教练的称赞。

13 distinctive   

adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的

参考例句：

• She has a very distinctive way of walking.她走路的样子与别人很不相同。
• This bird has several distinctive features.这个鸟具有几种突出的特征。

14 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。