This November 8 and like every two years, the Americans are called to the polls to renew the entire House of Representatives, i.e. 435 members, and a third of the Senate, i.e. 35 seats. These elected officials will sit on Capitol Hill and form the Congress until 2024, the year of the next presidential elections. As their name suggests, midterm elections take place two years after the presidential election, and often resemble a referendum on who occupies the White House. In more than 160 years, the president’s party has very rarely escaped the sanction vote. What will it be this year for Joe Biden and the Democrats?
The risk of the sanction vote for Biden
According to the most recent opinion polls, the Republican opposition has a good chance of winning at least 10 to 25 seats in the lower house – more than enough to be in the majority there. Pollsters are more mixed about the fate of the Senate, but the Republicans seem to have the advantage there too. Although Joe Biden’s name does not appear on the ballots, many Americans view this election as a referendum on the president. But this election is also a life-size test for the political future of Donald Trump, who threw himself headlong into the campaign, multiplying meetings across the country. For these two men, who are flirting with a candidacy for the 2024 election, the result of the midterms could foreshadow a possible remake of the 2020 presidential election.
The midterms therefore remain a crucial election, because the American system gives great power to these two chambers. Domestically, for example, the president has his hands tied without a majority on Capitol Hill. The other issue is local. Americans also vote to elect governors and a whole series of local elected officials who will represent the electors. Elected officials who therefore have great power to influence the next elections, and in particular the presidential election of 2024. They also have an important influence on social issues, such as abortion or the legalization of cannabis.
Many social issues at stake
Joe Biden implores Americans to entrust him with sufficient majorities to circumvent parliamentary rules that currently prevent him from legalizing abortion nationwide or banning assault rifles. This election is “a choice”, he launches in almost each of his speeches. On the result of the vote will depend the future of abortion, firearms, the health system, insists the president. For their part, the Republicans promise to lead a fierce fight against inflation, immigration, crime and to continue their offensive against transgender sportswomen. Some of them are also considering cutting Washington’s aid to Ukraine.
The newly elected will begin their term on January 3, 2023.