America Heads to Polls for Midterm Elections

The polls opened across the United States for the 2022 midterm elections. There are huge stakes in this year’s midterms. 

All 435 seats in the House of Representatives, 35 seats in the 100-member Senate, 36 state governorships, along with numerous other races for local officials and mayors, are up for grabs. 

Republicans need to gain five seats to win a majority in the House and only one to take the Senate. Typically, an incumbent president’s party expects to lose House seats in the midterms, but this year’s races are being closely watched for any gains for election-denying candidates. 

Republicans who still believe the lie that Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election, some of whom actively worked to overturn the result that put Biden in the White House, are running for key seats across the U.S. 

In 36 states, other massive and important issues are on the ballot, including laws on abortion in California, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, and Vermont.

In a stark closing argument ahead of the U.S. midterm elections, President Joe Biden on Monday warned that a Republican victory could weaken the country’s democratic institutions, while former President Donald Trump hinted he could announce another White House bid as soon as next week.

Biden’s comments reflected the deep political divide in the country. 

“Today we face an inflection point. We know in our bones that our democracy’s at risk and we know that this is your moment to defend it,” Biden told a cheering crowd at Bowie State University. 

Trump also made a speech on the eve before the elections. 

The former president, speaking at a rally in Ohio, said he will be making a “big announcement” on November 15, hinting that he will mount a 2024 presidential run.

“I’m going to be making a very big announcement on Tuesday, 15 November at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida,” Trump told supporters at the rally for Republican Senate candidate JD Vance. 

Trump declined to elaborate, saying he did not want to “detract from tomorrow’s very important, even critical election”.