美国国家公共电台 NPR--Raphael Warnock beats Herschel Walker to end the last Senate race of 2022

Raphael Warnock beats Herschel Walker to end the last Senate race of 2022

Transcript¹

Georgia's runoff election captured national attention but with votes being tallied² in the last U.S. Senate race of 2022 is finally over.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The final race of the 2022 midterms is over. Incumbent³ Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock from Georgia has defeated his opponent, Republican Herschel Walker. The victory gives Democrats⁴ a crucial 51-49 advantage in the U.S. Senate and solidifies⁵ Georgia's status as a political battleground state. Georgia Public Broadcasting's Stephen Fowler joins us now to talk about the results and their consequences. Hey, Stephen.

STEPHEN FOWLER, BYLINE⁶: Good morning.

MARTIN: So a whole lot of money went into this race and lots of national attention. Remind us how we got here.

FOWLER: So Raphael Warnock won a special election in a runoff in January, 2021, and has used that time in office so far to focus on legislation lowering health care costs. And he really hammered home this idea that he's a bipartisan moderate willing to do whatever it takes to help Georgians, even working across the aisle⁷ with the Republicans at a time where that's not really happening a lot. Here's a snippet of Warnock's victory speech.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

RAPHAEL WARNOCK: I am Georgia.

(CHEERING, APPLAUSE)

WARNOCK: I am an example and an iteration of its history...

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Yeah.

WARNOCK: ...Of its pain and its promise of the brutality⁸ and the possibility.

FOWLER: Now, Walker, on the other hand, spent most of his campaign dodging⁹ controversies¹⁰ about his past, including serious allegations of domestic violence, fabricating his past and personal achievements, and, maybe most importantly, allegedly pressuring multiple ex-girlfriends to have abortions¹² despite his public stance opposing abortion¹¹. And on the policy front, he really stuck to a far-right agenda that catered¹³ more to the GOP base than a diverse swing state.

MARTIN: So how did Warnock pull this off?

FOWLER: Well, a lot of people voted and especially voted early in person. Democrats took full advantage of extra optional days of early voting offered in some of the larger counties, particularly the Saturday after Thanksgiving, which was only an option after Warnock's campaign actually sued the state to make it happen. There was actually more turnout than you would expect for an early December race in a runoff. About 3.5 million people voted.

But the difference is, across the board, Warnock lost Republican counties by a little bit less than November and won urban and suburban¹⁴ counties by a little more than he did in November. Walker also continued to underperform incumbent Governor Brian Kemp's November margins¹⁵ in Republican areas that were just turned off by his campaign. And remember, Georgia is an outlier by holding these types of runoffs when no candidate in a general election gets above 50%. So things were really unpredictable heading into Election Day from a turnout perspective.

MARTIN: Yeah. So Democrats have not only retained control of the U.S. Senate, they actually have now picked up a seat. What does Warnock's victory mean for the next two years in Congress?

FOWLER: Well, it's a big deal to Democrats. In some ways, it's even a bigger deal than those 2021 runoffs that got the Senate to 50-50. For starters, no more power sharing on committees, which has limited some of the action Democrats could take the last two years. It also somewhat neuters the impact of fellow Democratic Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin, moderates who sometimes serve as roadblocks to President Biden's agenda.

And, Rachel, because it's always election season, especially here in Georgia, it gives Democrats one more seat for a 2024 election map that's a little bit tougher for them. That's also keeping Georgia at the forefront of battleground status for the White House, reflected in a proposed new Democratic presidential primary calendar, which puts Georgia among some of the early states to decide the party's nominee¹⁶. So at any rate, there's a lot more political and economic capital routing through the Peach State these next few years.

MARTIN: You're going to be busy. Little job security for you, Stephen. Georgia Public Broadcasting's Stephen Fowler.

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 tallied   

v.计算，清点( tally的过去式和过去分词 )；加标签（或标记）于；（使）符合；（使）吻合

参考例句：

• The girl tallied them with her eyes for a moment. 新娘用目光把这些化妆品清点了一下。 来自教父部分
• His account of the accident tallied with hers. 他对事故的陈述和她的相吻合。 来自辞典例句

3 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。

4 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》

5 solidifies   

（使）成为固体，（使）变硬，（使）变得坚固( solidify的第三人称单数 )； 使团结一致； 充实，巩固； 具体化

参考例句：

• Jelly solidifies as it gets cold. 肉冻冷却就凝固。
• It is stirred with 10%sodium carbonate solution(50ml)and then with water (50ml), after which It'solidifies. 与10％碳酸钠溶液（50毫升）混合搅拌，然后再用50毫升水混合搅拌，从而析出固体。

6 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。

7 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

8 brutality   

n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• a general who was infamous for his brutality 因残忍而恶名昭彰的将军

9 dodging   

n.避开，闪过，音调改变v.闪躲( dodge的现在分词 )；回避

参考例句：

• He ran across the road, dodging the traffic. 他躲开来往的车辆跑过马路。
• I crossed the highway, dodging the traffic. 我避开车流穿过了公路。 来自辞典例句

10 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

11 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

12 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

13 catered   

提供饮食及服务( cater的过去式和过去分词 )； 满足需要，适合

参考例句：

• We catered for forty but only twenty came. 我们准备了40客饭菜，但只来了20个人。
• They catered for everyone regardless of social rank. 他们为所有人服务而不计较其社会地位。

14 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

15 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

16 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。