These elections are held for the Congress which consists of two Houses: the House of Representatives and the Senate.
By Athena Papakosta
We are 24 hours away from midterm election day in the United States of America. In these polls, the performance of the current president of the country, Joe Biden, is being judged, at a time when polls expect a Republican victory and former US president Donald Trump is hoping for it to announce that he will run for a third term.
But what are the midterm elections and why is everyone saying they are crucial? Furthermore, how do they affect the Biden presidency for the next two years and why are they in the nature of a referendum on the 2024 presidential race?
With the help of the British BBC and the Times of New York we will try to explain the importance of the mid-term elections and also to understand how the fate of the country is “played” in the polls for Congress.
What are midterm elections?
These elections are held for the Congress which consists of two Houses: the House of Representatives and the Senate.
They are held every two years and when they coincide with the halfway point of the four-year presidential term, they are called midterms.
They take place tomorrow, Tuesday, November 8.
Congress passes national laws. The House of Representatives decides which laws are passed, and the Senate can either approve or block them. It also has the ability to ratify presidential appointments and conduct an investigation against the American president.
The House of Representatives has 435 members. All seats in the House are up for election tomorrow and representatives will serve for two years.
The Senate has 100 members. Not all are elected in this election. The vote concerns the election of senators who will fill 34 seats. That is, 1/3 of the Senate. Their term of office lasts six years.
In this election 36 States are also holding elections for a new governor.
Who is going to win;
The odds are against the Democrats, but it’s been a strange year, writes the New York Times.
Traditionally, the party in power, such as the Democrats now, performs poorly in midterm elections. The irritation of the voters for the respective occupant of the White House is recorded in the election result and the victory is stolen by the opposing party.
Right now, polling, the Democrats are feeling the pressure from the Republicans. In particular, it is more likely that the Republican party will win the House of Representatives while the election result in the Senate is still played crowns or letters.
And all this while five months ago, the Democrats were hoping to… break the “tradition” since it seemed that the decision of the Supreme Court to abolish the constitutional right to abortion gave them a populist… air.
Out of a total of 435 seats in the House of Representatives, only 30 are considered ambivalent. Suburbs in the States of Pennsylvania, California, Ohio and North Carolina will play a decisive role.
In the Senate there are four unopposed seats. In this matchup Nevada, Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania are the key states.
Why are midterm elections important?
If the Democrats lose control of even one of the two Houses, then US President Joe Biden’s political agenda is in trouble.
A climate of division prevails in the US. This means that a party can only “pass” the laws it wants if it controls the presidency, the House of Representatives and the Senate.
If the Republicans win one of the two Houses then they can prevent Biden and the Democrats from achieving the goals they have set before 2024 and the next presidential election.
Conversely, if Democrats kept control of the House of Representatives and managed to increase their strength in the Senate as well, they would have a better chance of passing new laws.
Indeed, since Senators’ terms last six years, keeping control of that House would give them some room to maneuver in 2024, which would act as a shield for them during the presidential race.
What will the results bring?
If Republicans win either House, they could block Democrats’ plans on climate change, expanding government health programs, protecting abortion rights and tightening gun control.
They will even be able to end the January 2021 Capitol invasion investigation by Donald Trump supporters just because they can control the committees. That is why the Commission currently investigating the events of January 6 is racing against time to release a full report of its findings before the end of the year.
Accordingly, the control of the committees is equivalent to the initiation of new investigations of their own, such as, for example, an investigation into the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan.
At the same time, their target could be the foreign policy of the USA, specifically the military aid to Ukraine.
What could Biden do?
He has the ability to veto and block laws that Republicans pass. However, this practically amounts to a stalemate until the next presidential elections.
The “thorn” of the Constitutional Court
The Senate can approve the appointment of federal judges even at the Supreme Court level.
If in this election control passes to the Republican party
then the Biden nominations for the Supreme Court will be blocked, as it was in 2016 when Barack Obama was president of the USA. By contrast, Donald Trump has managed to appoint three conservative justices to the nation’s Supreme Court during his tenure.
Mid-term elections and the 2024 presidential race
The midterm elections could give us an idea of ​​who the Republican nominee could be in 2024.
If the candidates supported by the 76-year-old Trump do poorly, it is less likely that he will receive support from the Republican party to run for the presidency again. One could say that this is an election of endurance for the former US president.
In Florida and Texas, Republican governors Ron DeSandis and Greg Abbott are hoping their re-election will allow them to try for the White House.
If Democrats can hold onto Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, it will give them some confidence as they build their 2024 campaign to re-elect President Biden.
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I am currently a news writer for News Bulletin247 where I mostly cover sports news. I have always been interested in writing and it is something I am very passionate about. In my spare time, I enjoy reading and spending time with my family and friends.
