Midterm madness

Republicans aim to upset the Democratic majorities

by SEAN GROSSNICKLE

The upcoming midterm elections on Nov. 8, 2022, have a total of 469 Congressional seats up for election. All 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and 34 of the Senate seats are on the ballot this year. Primary elections to determine each party’s candidate for the state’s congressional seats have already begun in Texas. Each state has its own timeline for the congressional primaries. The first set of primaries runs from May 3 through the end of June. Following that, the second set will run from early August through the middle of September.

Midterm elections are historically troublesome for the sitting president’s party, particularly in the House where every seat is up for election. In the past four midterm elections, the president’s party has lost ground in the House. This caused Republicans to lose control of the House in 2018 under President Trump and Democrats to lose control with President Obama at the helm in 2010. This pattern is less prevalent in the Senate where only about one-third of the seats are up for election.

Democrats swept through Washington, D.C., in the 2020 elections, gaining the presidency and slim majorities in both chambers of Congress. However, the 50-50 split of the Senate allows Vice President Harris to cast the tie-breaking vote, so Republicans are seeking to strike up a net gain of just one seat to win the upper chamber.

In the House, a five-seat shift to Republican candidates would be enough to take over as the majority party. Redistricting, which occurs every 10 years, has shaken up congressional districts in a number of states. State legislatures, courts, and other political entities handle the redistricting process. Both parties have engaged in intense legal battles in states where their party does not control the line-drawing process. Republicans have the edge in the reapportionment as they oversee more than twice as many seats undergoing this process as Democrats.

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