Key takeaways:
- All 435 House seats and 35 Senate seats are on the ballot; Democrats need a net gain of three seats to win the House.
- An NBC News Exit Poll found that 62% of voters disapprove of Trump’s job performance and 65% say his policies have worsened the economy.
- Some race results may not be known until Wednesday or later as voting and counting continue.
The first polls have closed in Tuesday’s U.S. midterm elections, with Democrats seeking to take control of Congress from Republicans and voters weighing President Donald Trump’s record on the economy, tariffs and the war with Iran.
All 435 House seats and 35 of the Senate’s 100 seats are on the ballot. Voters are also choosing governors in 36 states, along with state legislators and local officials, and deciding ballot initiatives. Some race results may not be known until Wednesday or later as voting and counting continue, Al Jazeera reported.
Democrats need a net gain of three House seats to reach the 218 required for a majority. Opinion surveys suggest they are well positioned in the chamber, but their path to a Senate majority is harder: Many of the seats in play are in states Trump carried in 2024.
The president’s party typically loses congressional seats in midterm elections. Republicans have tried to protect their narrow House majority by redrawing congressional districts, while Democrats have partly countered with a new map in California, NBC News reported. Both parties have campaigned heavily in competitive districts.
Democrats have emphasized the cost of living and promised investigations of Trump, his family and his business ventures if they win the House. Republicans say a Democratic majority would obstruct the president’s agenda and launch investigations. “They would spend every waking hour for the next two years investigating the president, the Cabinet, leaders in business and industry,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said at a campaign event for Republican Rep. Mike Lawler in New York.
An NBC News Exit Poll found that 62% of voters disapproved of Trump’s job performance, while 38% approved. Three in four said the economy was in rough shape, and 65% said his policies had made it worse. Nine in 10 said corruption was a crucial or major factor in their congressional vote.
Trump urged supporters at rallies to vote for Republican candidates as though his name were on the ballot. At his final public campaign appearance Monday, he called it “the most important midterm I believe in our lifetime.”
Senate races have also brought late campaign disputes. In Michigan, Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens endorsed Republican Mike Rogers after losing her party’s Senate primary to Abdul El-Sayed. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called her decision “a despicable betrayal.” In Alaska, Democratic candidate Mary Peltola denied knowing about an alleged effort by her campaign to recruit a candidate with nearly the same name as Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, The Guardian reported. A judge dismissed a Justice Department lawsuit seeking to block certification of an Alaska Senate result in the event of a Republican defeat; the administration is expected to appeal, according to The Guardian.
Voting has proceeded largely smoothly, though The Guardian reported a temporary ballot shortage in one Kansas county, polling-site relocations after flooding in South Florida and voting-machine problems in a suburban New York county. The Justice Department plans to deploy 1,000 election monitors nationwide, a move critics have called voter intimidation.
Among the first races to close was Kentucky’s competitive sixth congressional district, where Democrat Zach Dembo faces Trump-backed Republican Ralph Alvarado. Its result could offer an early indication of the broader House contest.
Be First to Comment