Democrats on track to win Congress in the U.S. midterms

The Democratic Party is on track to win control of the U.S. Congress in the midterm elections.

The Democrats have won the House of Representatives.

The Senate is looking very likely, but it is still too early to call.

TDA has been in the U.S. travelling to swing states over the past week.

We’ve been to Texas, Georgia, and Michigan.

Here’s what you need to know.

Background

Today is the U.S. midterm elections.

They’re called the ‘midterms’ because they come halfway through the U.S. President’s four-year term.

(Yes, it’s nearly exactly two years ago that Trump was elected president for the second time.)

These elections do not change Trump’s position as president, but they can impact his ability to pass laws.

That’s because the midterms are largely about the two houses of Congress – the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Coming into this election, the Republicans (the party Trump is from) held the majority in both.

They held a 53-47 majority in the Senate, and a 218-214 majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.

This Republican majority has helped Trump to pass laws during his first two years in his second term.

That will change now that Democrats have won the House and could win the Senate.

Elections

All of the House of Representatives seats and a third of the Senate’s seats are up for re-election in the midterms.

Midterms are often seen as a reflection on how Americans feel about the President of the day.

Trump has repeatedly told voters to “pretend [his] name is on the ballot”.

One thing to note: It is quite common for voters to swing away from the President’s party during the midterms (as it looks like is happening here).

House

The Democrats have already won a majority in the House of Representatives.

A party needs 218 seats to hold a majority.

At the time of publishing, The New York Times projects they will win 252 seats.

Note: Not all votes have been counted yet.

However, media outlets can ‘call’ an election before the official result is confirmed, based on mathematical projections using the votes counted so far.

Senate

Democrats need to ‘flip’ four Senate seats to gain a majority.

This means winning four seats currently held by Republicans.

So far, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas have flipped from Republican to Democrat.

South Carolina is a surprise result – it was not considered to be one of the key swing states.

Several other states are looking close.