2026年2月12日 / 美国东部时间下午4:18 / CBS新闻
二月的一个傍晚，在爱荷华州斯宾塞和西妮卡·沃夫妇的家中，餐厅的餐桌上堆满了笔记本、竞选地图和庭院标牌——有些标牌上是他的名字，有些则是她的名字。
自1998年结婚以来，两人都将在爱荷华州竞选公职：斯宾塞竞选州众议院席位，西妮卡竞选州参议院席位。
他们的故事并非始于一项协同的政治计划。辛普森学院副院长斯宾塞在上次选举中以17个百分点的差距败北。当他去年年初宣布再次参选时，西妮卡的第一反应很直接。“我看着他说，‘为什么？’”接下来是关于“我们对社区的工作和关怀，以及我们能在这一过程中提供的服务”的对话。作为一名小企业主，西妮卡在倾听时开始思考自己的角色。“我怎样才能利用我的天赋、技能和才能，在竞选中最好地支持他？”
起初，她以熟悉的方式提供支持：在他启动竞选活动时站在他身边，挨家挨户敲门拉票，出席竞选活动。然后，在一次竞选集会上，人群中有人说：“你知道吗，参议院席位有空缺。”在另一个活动中，同样的话再次出现。
西妮卡决定接受挑战的那一刻至今仍让他们忍俊不禁。“如果我真的参选会怎么样？”她有一天在12月底问道。“斯宾塞跑下楼，几秒钟后回来，”她回忆道。他手里拿着一张打印好的地图。“这是参议院选区地图。看看这个。”当她问他为什么已经有了地图时，他告诉她：“我几周前就打印好了。因为我能感觉到。”
事实证明，政治与沃夫妇漫长婚姻的节奏完美契合。他们的竞选活动各自独立运作，但界限却变得模糊。“我们共用餐厅的桌子，”西妮卡说，“有时我们必须轮流使用工作时间。”
当被问及为何再次竞选州众议院席位时，斯宾塞开玩笑说：“我们已经有了庭院标牌。”2024年竞选结束后，一名志愿者收集了500块标牌，斯宾塞把它们擦拭干净，准备再次使用。
他没有对这次竞选的结果做任何预测，但他表示，这次竞选的感觉已经有所不同。“人们关心他们的社区，关心教育，关心清洁的水源，”他将这次选举与上次选举进行对比时说道。西妮卡表示同意。“氛围正在改变，”她说。
对他们共同参选的反应从积极支持到难以置信不等。西妮卡笑着回忆一位朋友告诉她：“你们太疯狂了！”他们的一个孩子最初误解了两人都将参选的含义，以为妈妈是在和爸爸竞争。但斯宾塞表示，总体而言，人们的反应“压倒性地积极”。
他们对获胜几率持现实态度。“有四种可能的结果，”西妮卡说。她没有过多纠结于哪种结果最重要。“现在，我们专注于这个过程，”她说，“我们能做出什么贡献，如何服务，如何宣传？”
如果两人都获胜，有人建议他们可以一起乘车前往国会大厦。“绝对不行！”斯宾塞回答。“我们对时间的看法不同，”西妮卡笑着说。
如果只有一人获胜，西妮卡表示“也没关系”。结婚近28年，爱情似乎不再是确定无疑的，而是变成了共同的事业。餐厅的桌子最终会被清理干净，庭院标牌会被取下，地图会被折叠并收起来。无论选举结果如何，他们的承诺都不会改变。目前，斯宾塞说：“我们专注于这段旅程。”
One marriage, two campaigns: Iowa spouses launch dual campaigns for legislature
February 12, 2026 / 4:18 PM EST / CBS News
On a February evening in Iowa, the dining room table at the home of Spencer and Sinikka Waugh is buried under notebooks, campaign maps, yard signs — some with his name and some with hers.
Married since 1998, the two are both running for office in Iowa — Spencer for the state House and Sinikka for state Senate.
Their story didn’t begin as a coordinated political plan. Spencer, an associate dean at Simpson College, had run in the last election and lost by 17 points. When he announced early last year that he planned to run again, Sinikka’s first reaction was blunt. “I looked at him, I said, ‘Why?’” What followed were conversations about “the work and the care that we have for the community and the service that we can do along the way.” As she listened, Sinikka, a small business owner, began thinking about her own role. “How could I use my gifts and my skills and my talents to support him best in the campaign?”
At first, she did so in familiar ways: She stood by his side when he kicked off his campaign. She knocked on doors and showed up at events. Then, at one campaign gathering, someone in the crowd said, “You know, the Senate seat is open.” It happened again at another event.
Undated: Spencer and Sinikka Waugh, both Democrats, are running for office in Iowa. Spencer is running for a seat in the state House, while Sinikka is state Senate candidate. Photo provided by the Waughs
The moment Sinikka decided to take up the challenge still makes them laugh. “What if I really ran?” she asked one day in late December. “[Spencer] runs downstairs and he comes back like two seconds later,” she recalls. In his hands was a printed map. “This is the Senate district map. Take a look at this.” When she asked why he already had it, he told her, “I printed it a few weeks ago. Because I could tell.”
Politics, it turns out, fits neatly into the rhythm of the Waughs’ long marriage. The campaigns operate separately, but the boundaries blur. “We share the dining room table,” Sinikka said, “We have to alternate the time when we’re working sometimes.”
Asked why he chose to run for the state House again, Spencer joked, “We already had the yard signs.” After the 2024 race, a volunteer collected the 500 signs, and Spencer wiped them clean, to get them ready to be used again.
He’s not making any predictions about how this race will go, but he says it already feels different. “People care about their community. They care about education. They care about clean water,” he said, contrasting this election with the last one. Sinikka agrees. “The energy is changing,” she said.
Reactions to their joint candidacies have ranged from positive to incredulous. Sinikka laughed, recalling a friend told her, “You people are crazy!” One of their children initially misunderstood what it meant that both would be running, and thought that Mom was running against Dad. But Spencer says people have been “overwhelmingly positive, overall.”
They are realistic about the odds. “There’s four possible outcomes,” Sinikka said. She does not linger on which outcome matters most. “Right now, we’re focused on the journey,” she said. “What kind of good we can do, how we can serve, how we can educate?”
If they both win, someone suggested they could commute together to the Capitol. “Absolutely not!” Spencer replied. “We have a different relationship to time,” Sinikka laughs.
If only one of them were to win, Sinikka says “that’s okay.” Nearly 28 years into their marriage, love looks less like certainty and more like shared work. The dining room table will eventually be cleared. Yard signs will come down. Maps will be folded and put away. However the election turns out, the commitment remains. For now, Spencer says, “We’re focused on the journey.”
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