||1:First, these elections matter.||2:Control of the United States Congress—the body that writes the laws and holds the purse strings of the most important nation on Earth—is at stake.||3:(So are 36 out of 50 state governorships and thousands of local offices—see article.||4:) Individually, it may be rational not to vote: one ballot is unlikely to affect the outcome.||5:But when whole groups stay at home—centrists, young people and non-whites spring to mind—their interests will be ignored.

||1:首先，这些选举意义重大。||2:掌握了美国国会—这一制定法律并且掌管地球上最为重要的国家财政大权的国会—是十分关键的。||3:（50个州长以及千万个当地办事处所选出的36个议员同样也十分关键—见文章。||4:）单独来看，这可能是不够理性的投票：一张选票并不会影响选举的结果。||5:但当中间派、年轻人以及非白人种族都选择放弃选举，那么他们的利益将会被忽略。

||1:When a clutch of new Republican governors took office four years ago, they acted on their conservative impulses, cutting taxes, trimming welfare and restricting abortion.||2:Scott Walker of Wisconsin became a Republican hero for taking on the public-sector unions: he made state employees chip in more for their pensions, ended the automatic deduction of union dues from their wages and barred unions from collective bargaining over issues other than pay.||3:The tax cuts of Sam Brownback, the governor of Kansas, were so bold as to earn an unwieldy nickname: Brownbackonomics.||4:Both Mr Walker and Mr Brownback won re-election last year, while Republicans nabbed governorships in Democratic states like Illinois, Maryland and Massachusetts.||5:But the tide of conservative legislation may be ebbing.||6:With many states facing big fiscal challenges, Republican governors have adopted a more moderate tone when laying out their agendas for 2015.

||1:四年前，新的共和党州长走马上任，沿用保守态度，实施削减税收、福利项目，限制堕胎。||2:威斯康星州的斯科特·沃克因承接公共部门的公会而成为共和党英雄：工薪阶层投入更多到他们的养老金里，结束了公会自动扣除其工资的模式，禁止除了薪酬问题以外的劳资谈判。||3:堪萨斯州州长萨姆·布朗巴克的减税措施如此大胆，因而获得了一个“雅名”：布朗巴克经济学。||4:沃克先生和布朗巴克先生均在去年的选举中获胜，但共和党却在民主党握有的州（比如伊利诺斯州、马里兰、马萨诸塞等）中觅得州长一职。||5:然而，保守立法的浪潮渐渐褪去。||6:因许多州面临巨大的财务危机，共和党州长在提出2015年议程时采取了一种更为温和的语调。

||1:ON ELECTION nights, the results for state legislatures get short shrift.||2:Americans want to know who won the presidency or which party controls Congress, not whether the Kentucky state Senate turned red.||3:But those not paying attention to recent down-ballot results have missed something big.||4:Republicans now dominate government at the state level (see map).||5:Bolstered by victories in last year’s mid-term elections, they hold 31 state governorships , to the Democrats’ 18.

||1:在选举之夜，对于州立法机关来说，选举结果遇冷。||2:美国民众想知道谁赢得了总统一职，哪一个党派掌控国会，而不是肯塔基州参议院“变成红色”。||3:然而，无视近期的投票结果就已经错过了一些重大事情。||4:共和党现在站在国家级别的高度，控制政府（见地图）。||5:自去年中期大选获胜，共和党已经握有31个州长，而民主党只有18个（尽管阿拉斯加州长比尔·沃克在2013年以前是共和党，但现在他是独立派）。

Several women Democrats captured governorships currently held by Republicans, including Laura Kelly in Kansas and Gretchen Whitmer in Michigan.

几位女性民主党人赢得了目前由共和党人担任的州长职位，其中包括堪萨斯州的劳拉·凯莉（Laura Kelly）和密歇根州的格雷琴·惠特默(Gretchen Whitmer)。

Since 2000, the Republicans have sharply increased the number of legislatures and governorships they control. That is part of a movement that began in 1938.

自2000年以来，共和党大幅增加了他们控制的议会和州长的数量。这是一项始于1938年的运动的一部分。

The mountain West, where Democrats had recently scaled their way to power, saw Republicans hold on to governorships or win them.

此前曾帮助民主党入主白宫的西部山区（mountainWest）诸州这次任由共和党留守或赢得州长宝座。

The party won 13% of the vote, up from 8% at the general election, and took the governorships of two northern regions, Veneto and Piedmont.

该党赢得了13%的选票，高于大选中的8%，而且还在北部拿下威尼托区和皮埃蒙特区的区长席位。

The party lost all three of its races for prefectural governorships to the LDP.

民主党在所有的三个地方长官的竞选上全输给了自由民主党。

They are also projected to make a net gain of at least five governorships .

他们还计划，净收益至少得是5个州长。

It is now almost certain that the elections will be only for the national presidency and maybe for the 25 state governorships .

现在已经基本能确定了竞选就仅仅是为国家总统和那25位州长而设立的了。

In all, Republicans appear to have gained at least nine governorships , and won control of 11 state legislatures (see article).

总而言之，共和党人取得了至少9个州的州长职位，并且赢得了11个州立法机构的控制权（见参考文章）。