Washington (United States) (AFP) – Millions of Americans voted Tuesday in a midterm election seen as a referendum on Donald Trump that could wrest control of Congress from Republicans and impose major restraints on the president’s remaining two years in office. Polls predict the Democrats will win a majority in the House of Representatives and possibly seize the Senate on the back of voter resentment at an unpopular president, soaring energy costs, and the ongoing conflict with Iran. Republicans losing the House would give Democrats the power to stall Trump’s legislative agenda and launch sweeping investigations of his administration. A Senate defeat would threaten his ability to appoint Supreme Court justices and senior officials — and signal that Trump’s overwhelming dominance of US politics is finally fading.
Gabrielle Schlueter, a 69-year-old retiree casting her ballot in Atlanta, Georgia, told AFP that she was voting a straight Democratic ticket. “The way the country is going is not very good. The economy. The prices of everything,” Schlueter said. “Healthcare. I’m not suffering from it but others shouldn’t have that worry.” Trump, 80, defended his record in a final TV phone-in pitch to voters on Tuesday, saying he had rebuilt the country through his immigration crackdown, war on Iran, and tariffs. “We have to keep America great. We’re great now. We were terrible two years ago,” Trump told “Fox & Friends.” All 435 House seats and 35 of the 100 Senate seats are at stake, along with governorships in 36 states. Democrats need only three House gains and a net four seats in the Senate to take control of both chambers from the Republicans. Trump returned to office promising to bring down prices, but inflation, tariffs, and fuel costs inflated by the Middle East conflict have squeezed Americans.
Republicans insist that Trump’s tax cuts and anti-migrant stance will benefit voters, and they have portrayed Democratic candidates as left-wing radicals — a message that has seemed to resonate with some voters. “Democrats used to be decent in the past but they became very socialist,” Maru Restrepo, a 70-year-old voter of Colombian origin, told AFP in Miami. “The Republicans maintain America’s values. They love the country.” In his final public campaign appearance on Monday, Trump barely touched on the election and gave a rambling talk about his problem-plagued renovation of Washington’s Reflecting Pool. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer branded it a “pathetic closing message.” Republicans currently hold a 53-47 Senate majority, but the battlefield has extended into once reliably conservative states like Kansas, Texas, Iowa, Ohio, and Alaska. Democrats must also defend competitive seats, including in Michigan, where a bitter internal dispute saw congresswoman Haley Stevens endorse Republican Mike Rogers rather than the Democratic nominee, Abdul El-Sayed. Decision Desk HQ’s final forecast projected 241 House seats for Democrats against 194 for Republicans, and a narrower 52-48 Democratic Senate majority.
More than 57 million Americans had already voted early before Tuesday, indicating high engagement. The campaign has attracted more than $11 billion in political advertising, and mega-rich Trump ally Elon Musk has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into Republican efforts. As soon as polls close, concerns will mount over whether results will be accepted by the Republicans. Trump, who tried to overturn his 2020 presidential election defeat, has repeatedly alleged widespread voter fraud and accused Democrats — with no evidence — of cheating. Voting machines malfunctioned in a hotly contested House race in New York state on Tuesday, prompting right-wing influencers to fling unfounded allegations of fraud even as local election officials insisted all ballots would be counted.
The Justice Department, run by Trump’s former personal lawyer, has already sued to potentially block certification of Alaska’s Senate race if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan narrowly loses, although a court ruled against the effort. And the Supreme Court rejected on Monday an emergency bid to force California to set aside the mail-in ballots of more than 20,000 people on the grounds they may not be American citizens. Trump, who will watch the midterms results at the White House on Tuesday night, said that if he does lose control of Congress, he has a plan to defy Democrats. “I veto everything,” he vowed.
© 2024 AFP
