US voters choose all 435 House seats and 35 Senate seats in midterm elections

The United States holds midterm elections on Tuesday. All 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 of the Senate's 100 seats are being contested. The results will decide the makeup of Congress for the second half of Donald Trump's presidential term. Al Jazeera and MercoPress both report these core facts.

About 210 million registered voters are eligible to vote, according to Al Jazeera. More than 51 million early ballots have been cast, according to MercoPress. The reports reviewed by Vocemundi do not identify the source of either figure.

Polls and campaign

According to MercoPress, Democrats lead Republicans 51% to 42.6% on the generic congressional ballot. The figures come from a polling average compiled by The New York Times. MercoPress reports that polls suggest Republicans will lose the House and do not rule out a Republican loss of the Senate. It describes a Senate loss as a possibility considered remote before the summer.

MercoPress also reports that the Cook Political Report has moved races toward Democrats in recent weeks. Close Senate contests include Texas, Michigan, Kansas and Iowa.

Trump has headlined 28 campaign rallies, all in Republican-leaning states, according to MercoPress. Citing The New York Times, MercoPress reports that Elon Musk has spent at least US$267 million supporting Republican candidates. The reports do not describe how The New York Times reached its polling average or its spending estimate.

Voter mood

According to MercoPress, polls list the cost of living, the war with Iran and immigration policy among voters' main concerns. The reports do not identify those polls. MercoPress reports that presidential approval ratings are low, but the reports do not give a specific figure. MercoPress puts the approval rating of Congress at 14%. It describes this as one of the lowest recorded ahead of a midterm election. The reports do not identify the source of that figure.

Beyond Congress

Voters will also elect thousands of state and local officials and decide hundreds of ballot measures, according to MercoPress. These include a proposal to tax billionaires in California. They also include a Montana initiative to curb the influence of undisclosed money in campaigns.

What each side says

The Democratic Party hopes to regain control of Congress, according to MercoPress.

MercoPress quoted Trump as urging supporters to vote "as if I were on the ballot". The reports do not give the context, date or original language of that remark, so the wording may be a translation.

The reports do not include any response from Republican Party officials or campaigns. They also do not state the current partisan balance in either chamber, or how many of the contested Senate seats each party holds.

Analysis

The outcome will shape how much of the White House agenda can advance in the second half of Trump's term. According to MercoPress, a Democratic majority in either chamber would allow the opposition to block White House initiatives and open investigations into the first half of the term. If Republicans win both chambers, those constraints would not arise. Polling averages measure national preferences and do not decide individual races. Turnout and close contests in states such as Texas, Michigan, Kansas and Iowa may prove significant. Results on ballot measures, including California's billionaire tax proposal, could also offer signals about voter priorities beyond party control.

Produced by the Vocemundi newsroom with AI assistance.