2026年3月18日 上午10:02 UTC / 路透社
作者：蒂姆·里德
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[1/8] 美国科罗拉多州第一国会选区民主党众议院候选人梅拉特·基罗斯（Melat Kiros）于2026年3月15日在美国弗吉尼亚州阿灵顿的Punch Bowl Social活动中与华盛顿特区的埃塞俄比亚侨民会面。路透社/伊丽莎白·弗兰茨
- 伊朗战争成为部分民主党初选中的争议议题
- 辩论揭示党内对未来方向存在更深层次分歧
- 随着民主党寻求2028年总统候选人，进步派与温和派之间的摩擦可能加剧
华盛顿，3月18日（路透社） – 伊朗战争正在影响11月中期选举前的民主党初选，进步派指责温和派对手未能足够强烈地反对唐纳德·特朗普总统的轰炸行动，以及他们所谓的与国防承包商和以色列过于密切的联系。
路透社调查显示，密歇根州、科罗拉多州、伊利诺伊州、缅因州和北卡罗来纳州的参议院和众议院民主党初选中均出现此类紧张局势。至少有六位进步派正在挑战获得建制派支持或温和派对手，他们认为对手从国防承包商和亲以色列团体获得的捐款削弱了其反战立场。
路透社伊朗简报新闻通讯将为您提供伊朗战争的最新动态和分析。点击此处订阅。
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这些初选斗争凸显了民主党在2024年选举失利后试图重建的过程中，对未来方向的更广泛挣扎，同时开始考虑2028年总统选举的潜在候选人。
对进步派而言，美国与以色列对伊朗的轰炸重新点燃了长期以来结束美国领导的战争、遏制国防工业和亿万富翁捐赠者影响力的要求，同时将注意力转向国内的经济公平和平等权利。
进步派在演讲、媒体采访、电视广告和筹款呼吁中抓住伊朗战争问题，指责部分对手接受国防承包商和美国以色列公共事务委员会（AIPAC）关联团体的捐款，后者是有影响力的亲以色列政治游说组织。
密歇根州参议院民主党初选候选人阿卜杜勒·艾尔-赛义德（Abdul El-Sayed）表示：”很难信任那些接受武器制造商和AIPAC资金的政客，而这些人都支持这场战争，然后却声称自己反对战争。”
艾尔-赛义德等候选人表示，仅反对伊朗战争是不够的，民主党人必须通过拒绝此类捐款来支持这一言论。而较为温和的对手则激烈反驳这些攻击，称他们迅速反对伊朗战争，指责进步派为选举利益制造冲突。
尽管国会民主党议员在很大程度上一致反对这场不受大多数美国人欢迎的战争，但初选季的争议凸显了该党在共和党面临重大政治逆风的中期选举之际，可能浪费潜在政治优势的风险。
2028年大战在即
摩擦的主要点在于该党应更多地吸引摇摆选民，还是专注于激励核心支持者。这些关于意识形态和策略的内部矛盾已在多个选举周期中存在。
紧张局势不仅涉及外交政策，还涉及如何大胆推进经济改革，以及该党应与美国企业界保持多大程度的联系。
民主党资深策略师比尔·高尔斯顿（Bill Galston）表示：”11月中期选举结束后的第二天，这些紧张局势就会爆发。”
本月在北卡罗来纳州民主党众议院初选中，县专员尼达·阿拉姆（Nida Allam）发布了一则聚焦伊朗战争的广告，攻击对手民主党现任议员瓦莱丽·富谢（Valerie Foushee）。
阿拉姆竞选活动的核心部分强调，根据联邦选举委员会（FEC）的申报，富谢的竞选团队在本选举周期从两家武器制造商洛克希德·马丁公司和诺斯罗普·格鲁曼公司控制的政治行动委员会各获得3000美元捐款。
根据FEC申报，富谢2022年竞选国会席位时，AIPAC政治行动委员会花费超过200万美元支持她的竞选活动，尽管她表示本周期将放弃AIPAC关联的支持。
阿拉姆在广告中表示：”我永远不会接受国防承包商或亲以色列游说团体的一分钱。我在整个职业生涯中一直反对这些无休止的战争。”
富谢在3月3日的初选中以1个百分点的微弱优势获胜，预计11月将再次当选。但高尔斯顿表示，阿拉姆针对伊朗的攻击是该党在2028年面临的内部斗争的先发制人。
富谢在给路透社的声明中表示：”特朗普在伊朗的无意义战争将国外平民和我们的军人置于危险之中。美国人厌倦了将纳税人的钱投入无休止的战争，而国内食品杂货、医疗和住房成本却持续上涨。”
进步派挑战者还表示，对手投票增加了五角大楼预算，而非支持国会试图削减国防开支以增加国内项目资金的失败努力。
在科罗拉多州民主党参议院初选中，43岁的州参议员朱莉·冈萨雷斯（Julie Gonzales）挑战74岁的现任议员约翰·希肯卢珀（John Hickenlooper）。希肯卢珀预计将赢得初选和11月的大选。
冈萨雷斯对希肯卢珀在10月支持特朗普政府增加美国国防预算的投票提出质疑。她表示，在发表反战言论的同时却投票资助美国的战争机器，这是虚伪的。
冈萨雷斯告诉路透社：”无论他说什么，约翰·希肯卢珀都要为这场战争负责。”
与大多数参议院民主党人一样，希肯卢珀本月投票支持一项限制特朗普在国外发动战争的决议。
希肯卢珀在X平台（原推特）发布的视频中表示：”我认为他对伊朗发动了一场非法战争。美国人不希望中东再次陷入无休止的战争。”
民调显示，约四分之一的美国人支持这场战争，而只有10%的民主党选民支持。
2月28日美以对伊朗轰炸行动开始当天上午，科罗拉多州众议院初选中的进步派民主党候选人梅拉特·基罗斯抓住伊朗问题展开行动。
在一段她走在街上拍摄的Instagram视频中，基罗斯谴责接受国防工业捐款的政客。
她说：”事情发生改变的唯一途径是确保我们的民选代表不受军工复合体的影响。”
在接受路透社采访时，基罗斯批评对手戴安娜·德盖特（Diana DeGette）在2020年和2021年两次投票反对进步派议员提出的削减五角大楼预算的动议。
“我看到的最大虚伪是这些人现在说我们不应该把钱花在战争上。”
德盖特的竞选团队未回应路透社置评请求，但在3月5日的声明中表示：”这场战争每天至少花费10亿美元。这些资金本可以用于负担得起的医疗保健和住房。我拒绝支持这场战争。”
伊朗将成为民主党未来的”试验场”
中间派民主党智库Third Way联合创始人马特·贝内特（Matt Bennett）表示，进步派推动党内关于伊朗战争和该党更广泛方向的辩论，可能会破坏民主党在中期选举中的前景。
他认为，击败共和党人并重新夺回白宫需要候选人能够吸引温和派选民。
“这些极端进步派在初选中参选不会帮助我们，这是令人担忧的。”
进步派团体认为，选民对常规政治感到不满。
支持今年进步派民主党候选人（包括阿拉姆和基罗斯）的Justice Democrats组织发言人乌萨姆·安德拉比（Usamah Andrabi）表示，该党的支持者希望领导人挑战企业主义和国防工业。
“与伊朗的战争是检验民主党未来走向的绝佳试验场。”
监督选举策略和候选人支持的民主党全国委员会（DNC）未回应路透社关于伊朗内部分歧的问题，而是强调希望选民关注的经济和政治问题。
DNC发言人米娅·埃伦伯格（Mia Ehrenberg）表示：”特朗普任期超过一年，物价比以往任何时候都高，而特朗普最新的对外冲突使我们国家陷入一场无人要求的致命且代价高昂的战争。”
蒂姆·里德在华盛顿报道，杰森·兰格补充报道，罗斯·科尔文和阿利斯泰尔·贝尔编辑
Iran war fuels tensions in US Democratic primary races
March 18, 2026 10:02 AM UTC / Reuters
By Tim Reid
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Item 1 of 8 Melat Kiros, Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives from Colorado’s 1st Congressional District, meets with members of Washington, D.C.’s Ethiopian diaspora during an event at Punch Bowl Social in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., March 15, 2026. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
[1/8]Melat Kiros, Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives from Colorado’s 1st Congressional District, meets with members of Washington, D.C.’s Ethiopian diaspora during an event at Punch Bowl Social in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., March 15, 2026. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
- Iran war becomes contentious issue in some Democratic primaries
- Debate reveals deeper divisions inside the party over its future direction
- Friction may intensify between progressives and moderates as party seeks a 2028 presidential candidate
WASHINGTON, March 18 (Reuters) – The Iran war is influencing Democratic primaries ahead of November’s midterm elections, with progressives faulting moderate rivals for not opposing President Donald Trump’s bombing campaign strongly enough and for what they call overly close ties with defense contractors and Israel.
The tensions are emerging in Democratic primaries for Senate and House seats in Michigan, Colorado, Illinois, Maine and North Carolina, a Reuters review shows. At least half a dozen progressives are challenging establishment-backed or moderate rivals, arguing that donations to their opponents from defense contractors and pro-Israel groups undercut their opposition to the war.
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These primary battles highlight a broader struggle inside the party over its future as it tries to rebuild after election losses in 2024 and starts to consider potential candidates for the 2028 presidential election.
For progressives, the U.S.-Israeli bombing of Iran has sparked anew longstanding demands to end American-led wars and curb the influence of defense industry and billionaire donors, while shifting attention to economic fairness and equal rights at home.
Progressives have seized on the Iran war in speeches, media interviews, TV ads and fundraising appeals, accusing some of their opponents of taking donations from defense contractors and from groups affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the powerful pro-Israel political lobbying group.
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“It’s difficult to trust politicians who take money from weapons manufacturers and AIPAC, all of whom are for this war, and for those politicians to then stand up and say they against the war,” said Abdul El-Sayed, who is a Democratic primary candidate for a Senate seat in Michigan.
Candidates like El-Sayed say it’s not enough to oppose the Iran war – Democrats must back that rhetoric by refusing such donations. Their more moderate opponents have sharply rebutted the attacks, saying they have been quick to oppose the Iran war and that progressives are manufacturing a conflict for electoral gain.
While Democratic lawmakers in Congress have largely unified against a war that is unpopular with most Americans, the primary-season disputes underscore how the party risks squandering a potential political advantage at a time when Republicans are heading into the midterms facing significant political headwinds.
FIGHT LOOMING IN 2028
The main point of friction is whether the party should be appealing more to swing voters or focus on energizing its core supporters. These internal cross-currents, about ideology but also tactics, have been swirling for many election cycles.
The tensions are not just over foreign policy, but how boldly to pursue economic reforms and how closely the party should align itself with corporate America.
“The day after the midterms are over in November these tensions will burst forth,” said Bill Galston, a veteran Democratic strategist.
In a North Carolina Democratic House primary this month, Nida Allam, a county commissioner, issued an ad focused on the Iran war and her opponent, Democratic incumbent Valerie Foushee.
A central part of Allam’s campaign focused on the fact that in this election cycle, Federal Election Commission filings show Foushee’s campaign took $3,000 each from political committees controlled by two weapons manufacturers, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.
When Foushee ran for Congress in 2022, AIPAC’s political action committee spent over $2 million in support of her campaign, according to FEC filings, although she said she would forgo AIPAC-linked assistance this cycle.
“I will never take a dime from defense contractors or the pro-Israel lobby,” Allam said in her ad. “I have opposed these forever wars my entire career.”
Foushee narrowly won the March 3 primary by one percentage point and is likely to win re-election in November. But Allam’s attack over Iran was part of an opening salvo in the party’s internal fight heading into 2028, Galston said.
“Trump’s senseless war in Iran puts civilians abroad and our servicemembers at risk,” Foushee said in a statement to Reuters. “Americans are tired of sending taxpayer money abroad for endless wars while the cost of groceries, healthcare, and housing continues to rise here at home.”
Progressive challengers also say their opponents have voted to increase the Pentagon’s budget, rather than backed failed congressional efforts to siphon money away from the Defense Department and towards domestic programs.
In Colorado’s Democratic U.S. Senate primary, Julie Gonzales, 43, a state senator, is challenging incumbent John Hickenlooper, 74. He is expected to win his primary and the general election in November.
Gonzales has taken issue with Hickenlooper’s vote in October to increase the U.S. defense budget under Trump. She says it is hypocritical to make anti-war statements while simultaneously voting to fund America’s war machine.
“Whatever he says, John Hickenlooper owns this war,” Gonzales told Reuters.
Like most Senate Democrats, Hickenlooper voted in favor of a resolution this month to curb Trump’s ability to wage war abroad.
“I think he started an illegal war with Iran. Americans don’t want another endless war in the Middle East,” Hickenlooper said in a video he posted on X.
Opinion polls show that about one in four Americans support the war, with just 10% of Democratic voters backing it.
Melat Kiros, a progressive Democratic candidate running against a Democratic incumbent in a House primary in Colorado, seized on Iran the morning the U.S.-Israeli bombing campaign started on February 28.
In an Instagram video filmed as she walked down a street, Kiros denounced politicians who take contributions from the defense industry.
“The only way things change is if we make sure that our elected representatives aren’t in the pockets of the military industrial complex,” she said.
In an interview with Reuters, Kiros criticized her opponent, Diana DeGette, for twice voting against motions by progressive lawmakers to cut the Pentagon’s budget in 2020 and 2021.
“The greatest hypocrisy I’m seeing is these folks now saying we shouldn’t be spending this money on war.”
DeGette’s campaign did not respond to Reuters for comment, but in a March 5 statement she said, “This war is costing at least $1 billion every day. That is billions of dollars that could go towards affordable health care and housing. I refuse to support this war.”
IRAN TO BE ‘TESTING GROUND’ FOR DEMOCRATS’ FUTURE
Matt Bennett, a co-founder of the centrist Democratic think tank Third Way, said that efforts by progressives to press internal party debates over Iran and the party’s broader direction could undermine Democratic prospects in the midterms.
He argued that winning against Republicans and regaining the White House would require nominees who can attract moderate voters.
“These hyper progressives that are running in these primaries don’t do that, and that’s the concern.”
Progressive groups argue voters are frustrated with politics as usual.
Usamah Andrabi, a spokesperson for Justice Democrats, a group that has endorsed a slate of progressive Democrats this year – including Allam and Kiros – said the party’s supporters want leaders to take on corporatism and the defense industry.
“The war with Iran is a great testing ground for that sort of future of the Democratic Party,” Andrabi said.
The Democratic National Committee, which oversees election strategy and candidate support, did not respond to Reuters’ questions about internal disagreements over Iran, instead emphasizing the economic and political issues it wants voters to focus on.
“More than a year into his term, prices are higher than ever and Trump’s latest foreign conflict has plunged our nation into a deadly and costly war that no one asked for,” said Mia Ehrenberg, a DNC spokesperson.
Reporting by Tim Reid in Washington. Additional reporting by Jason Lange, editing by Ross Colvin and Alistair Bell