Washington-
More than 35 million Americans have already voted in the national general election ahead of Tuesday’s midterms, while key Republicans predicted on Sunday they would wrest control of both houses of Congress from the Democrats during the second election, halfway through the Democrat’s four-year term President Joe Biden term.
The early voting trend continues, with the US Elections Project saying this year’s total number of pre-election days has already surpassed that of the 2014 and 2018 congressional elections, which took place midway through the president’s term. Barack Obama and Donald Trump.
Election rules were changed in many states ahead of the 2020 presidential election, when Biden defeated Trump, to pave the way for early voting and allay fears of many voters afraid to vote in person at polling stations during the height of the election . the coronavirus pandemic.
FILE – A sign marks the entrance to a polling station on the first day of early voting in the general election in Phoenix, Oct. 12, 2022.
By now, many voters have gotten used to voting before Election Day, especially Democrats. Meanwhile, Trump, who has repeatedly signaled that he is about to announce a 2024 presidential campaign, and some other Republicans who have repeatedly attacked early voting claim without evidence that it encourages fraud.
All 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 seats in the Senate are up for grabs. Democrats have had the tightest control of both houses since early 2021, allowing Biden to advance some of his legislative priorities, often over near-consolidated opposition from Republican lawmakers.
Speaking on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel said, “I think we’re going to get the House and Senate back.”
The Senate is now split 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats, with Vice President Kamala Harris giving the Democrats the lead in a tie.
Florida Sen. Rick Scott, who is spearheading the Republican campaign’s effort to win a majority for his party, predicted on NBC’s Meet the Press that Republicans would win at least two seats to secure a majority in the Senate to win Senate, in which he’ll take office in January.
“I see a great night for Republicans,” Marc Short, chief of staff to former Vice President Mike Pence, predicted on CNN.
Democrats are cautious about the outcome of Tuesday’s election, and Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen told CNN, “We’re not listening to voters in this election.” He also said Democratic candidates weren’t focused enough on the rising cost of living , which the vast majority of voters cite as their top concern, rather than whether Republican candidates still deny the legitimacy of Biden’s victory over Trump in 2020, as many Republicans claim.
Still, in the face of a tough re-election campaign, New York Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, expressed confidence in the Democrats’ ability to retain control of the House of Representatives.
“We’re going to keep that majority,” he told NBC.
As it stands now, CNN forecasts that Republicans will lead 216 house races, just short of the 218 needed for a 435-strong House majority, and Democrats will lead 199 races, 20 seats too close to project.
CNN said eight competitive Senate races would determine the upper house’s control of Congress.
A leading US political polling site, fivethirtyeight.com, now gives Republicans a 55% chance of winning the Senate and an 84% chance of overcoming Democratic control of the House of Representatives.
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