What Are the Midterm Elections?
This article was produced in conjunction with PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs.
In the U.S., the midterm elections are the general elections held near the midpoint of a president’s four-year term to elect the lawmakers that represent us in the legislative branch of our government, a.k.a. Congress.
Congress is comprised of two parts:
- U.S. Senate (100 members total, two from each of the 50 states)
- U.S. House of Representatives (435 members, the number varies per state)
In the Senate, there are 35 seats up for re-election across the country. Each Senate term is six years, and each senator can serve for a maximum of two terms.
Every two years, there are usually about a third of the senate seats on the ballot.
In the House of Representatives, all 435 seats are up for grabs — including each of California's 52 house districts. All 435 members are up for election every two years on a normal basis — but in 2022, there's a historic vacancy to fill in the House, in part due to a record number of retirements announced at the end of 2021 and members not running for reelection.
The "midterms" can affect government and politics on both a state and national level.
In the past, the party that holds the White House because of the party affiliation of the sitting president — this year, the Democratic party — often loses in the midterms. According to a piece that ran in VOX earlier this year, that's some voters' way of "punishing" the president.
Some call it the "Midterm Curse."
That's important because if one or both houses of Congress switch to the other side — in this case, Republican — it will make it harder for President Biden to get his (Democratic) agenda through Congress, when its members are divided along party lines.
In addition to the presidency, the Democrats currently control both the Senate and the House — but only by slim majorities.
Thanks to Effie Gross from PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs for explaining it in a way more interesting than Google:
