US midterms: What will happen today?
- The polls have started to open in the US at 05:00 EST (10:00 GMT)
- Midterm elections decide who controls US Congress, which has two chambers – the House of Representatives and the Senate
- Both the House and the Senate are controlled by Democrats at the moment
- Republicans are predicted to take the House, whilst the Senate is too close to call
- Losing either chamber would be a blow for President Biden as it will make it harder to pass laws for his final two years in office
- Americans are also electing 36 state governors – who could pass new abortion laws
- Donald Trump used a final rally in Florida to hit at a 2024 presidential run
- Midterm results are expected to start coming in after polls close in the US this evening – that’ll be early hours in the UK
Polls open in the US
The 2022 midterm elections are underway with polls opening at 06:00 EST (11:00 GMT) for residents in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and other East Coast states.
By 11:30 GMT – polls will open for people in North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia.
What’s up for grabs in this election?
This isn’t a presidential election – instead, it’s a midterm. The election is to determine the balance of power in Congress.
Congress is like the UK Parliament – with the House of Representatives or The House as it’s commonly referred to benign similar to the House of Commons in the UK; it’s the lower house of Parliament. And the Senate, on the other hand, is like the House of Lords – the upper house.
At present, the Democrats control the White House (President Joe Biden) the Senate and the House of Representatives.
They are on course to lose control of the lower house and could even lose control of the upper house too – the Senate race is too close to call.
There are also key governor elections happening today.
Regardless of whether the Democrats lose Congress, Joe Biden still has two years of his presidency to complete (the next presidential election is in 2024) – but midterms often serve as a referendum on a president’s leadership. If the Democrats lose one or both chambers of Congress it will make it harder for the President to pass laws for his final two years. It may also determine if Joe Biden runs for re-election in the 2024 presidential race.
