US votes to decide GOP hold on House, Senate
POLLS WILL DETERMINE CONTROL OF CONGRESS FOR NEXT TWO YEARS
Us President Donald Trump’s chaotic and divisive approach to governing drove supporters and opponents to the polls yesterday in crucial midterm elections that will determine control of Congress for the next two years.
With dozens of key races down to the wire nationwide, the balloting was set to test Republicans’ hold on the House and Senate and the groundswell of opposition to Trump among women and college-educated voters in suburban districts.
The first national election since Trump’s presidential upset in 2016 presented an opportunity for Democrats to capitalise on his terrible approval ratings, a restive national mood and frustration with one-party leadership under the GOP. The party entered yesterday in a strong position to take control of the House, while Republicans were cautiously optimistic about keeping the Senate.
At stake was control of Congress, 36 governorships and hundreds of state elected positions. To take control of Congress, Democrats would need a net gain of 23 seats in the House and two seats in the Senate, the latter posing a challenge in light of the 10 Senate seats Democrats are defending in states Trump won in 2016.
Trump spent the campaign painting a dark picture for his supporters about what would happen if Democrats take power. The incendiary rhetoric — especially on immigration — was typical of Trump’s approach to energising his base.
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Democrats were optimistic they would reclaim the House majority and Republicans remained cautiously hopeful about maintaining control of the US Senate as Americans cast their votes yesterday in the first national referendum on the Trump presidency.
The most expensive midterm in history, one that in many states already has prompted turnout at nearly presidential election levels, will test whether Democrats energised by animosity towards the president can reclaim power and hobble him or whether Donald Trump’s hardline policies and harsh rhetoric will be reaffirmed by America’s voters.
With heated campaigns concluding across the country — 35 Senate seats, all 435 House seats, 36 governor’s races, and hundreds of state legislative seats — the results could provide farreaching verdicts for the future of both parties.
Toss-ups
But dozens of key races across the country were toss-ups or close to it. And few analysts were willing to definitively predict the outcome, pointing to Democrat Hillary Clinton’s surprise loss in 2016 and the equally stunning losses by Republicans in 2017 elections.
“There’s not the certainty that there normally is,” said Dave Carney, a longtime Republican consultant. “No one knows what the Trump effect is. What the negativity and the yelling and screaming online are going to do.”
Trump, during a three-state blitz to try to support candidates in Ohio, Missouri, and Indiana, ■ concluded the campaign the way he has since entering politics, painting an ominous picture of what the country could become if Democrats regain control of the House or Senate.
But in one sign of the conflict he has injected into the closing weeks of the campaign, nearly every news platform — including CNN, Fox News, Fox Business Network, NBC News and Facebook — said Monday that they would not air Trump’s final campaign ad, calling it offensive.
The 30-second ad depicts Central Americans marching in the streets and attempting to push through a gate, while also highlighting the case of an undocumented immigrant who killed two sheriff’s deputies in 2014.
Democrats also cast the impact of the election as existential as they pleaded with voters to deliver a resounding rejection to Trump and his brash brand of politics.
“The character of this country is on the ballot, who we are is on the ballot,” former President Barack Obama said in Fairfax, Virginia. “What kind of politics we expect is on the ballot, how we conduct ourselves in public life is on the ballot. How we treat other people is on the ballot.”
Both sides were bracing for a long night yesterday. Democrats have been in a strong position to win the 23 seats needed to reclaim the House majority, largely because many of the competitive races are being fought in suburban districts filled with women and college-educated voters who Trump once struggled with, and now in many cases repels.
In dozens of those districts, Republican incumbents retired in the face of widespread protests against them after Trump’s election. A Washington PostABC News poll released Sunday showed that 50 per cent of registered voters prefer Democratic House candidates, compared with 43 per cent for Republicans.
Democrats also have history on their side. The president’s party almost always loses seats in the first election after he is sworn into office. Republicans picked up 54 seats in 1994 and 63 seats in 2010. This year’s election is projected to be closer to the 31 seats Democrats picked up in 2006.
Voters demonstrated rapt interest in yesterday’s election. All told, more than 35 million votes have already been cast in early balloting, which is up 66 per cent over the 2014 midterms. ■
number of votes cast across the United States in early voting, up 66% over the midterms of 2014