Edeson Online Newspaper: Facts You Should Know About Midterm Elections In United States

Thursday, November 22, 2018

Facts You Should Know About Midterm Elections In United States

Midterm elections in the United States are the general elections held in November every four
years, near the midpoint of a president's four-year term of office . Federal offices that are up for
election during the midterms are members of the United States Congress , including all 435
seats in the United States House of Representatives , and 33 or 34 of the 100 seats in the
United States Senate .

In addition, 34 of the 50 U.S. states elect their governors to four-year terms during midterm
elections, while Vermont and New Hampshire elect governors to two-year terms in both midterm and presidential elections.

Thus, 36 governors are elected during midterm elections. Many states also elect officers to their
state legislatures in midterm years. There are also elections held at the municipal level. On the
ballot are many mayors , other local public offices, and a wide variety of citizen initiatives .
Special elections are often held in conjunction with regular elections, so additional Senators,
governors and other local officials may be elected to partial terms.

Midterm elections always generate lower voter turnout than presidential elections. While the latter have had turnouts of about 50–60% over the past 60 years, only about 40% of those eligible to vote actually go to the polls in midterm elections. Midterm elections are sometimes regarded as a referendum on the sitting president's and/or incumbent party's performance.

Meanwhile, a dead man has been elected as a legislature in Nevada’s State Assembly, in the just concluded U.S. mid-term elections. According to the Huffington Post, Mr Dennis Hof died unexpectedly in mid-October, but his name wasn’t scratched off the ballot under Nevada law. The pro-Trump candidate still found favour with the voters and patrons of Hof’s Nevada brothel, even from the great beyond just to keep his memory alive.

MORE FACTS ON THIS YEAR'S MIDTERM ELECTIONS

Republicans increased their seats in the Senate – they now have 51 seats out of 100, after Democrats' dreams of the Senate majority, always unlikely, were shattered by losses in key battlegrounds: Indiana, Missouri, Tennessee, North Dakota and Texas.

But they lost control of the House of Representatives, meaning that Mr Trump's legislative agenda will likely be thwarted, and his policies face far greater scrutiny.

In an astonishingly combative 90 minute press conference the president delighted in the defeat of candidates from his own party, who had distanced themselves from him. He singled out Carlos Curbelo, a moderate Republican from Florida, and Mia Love, a Republican from Utah.

"Mia Love gave me no love, then she lost," he said. "Sorry about that Mia. Too bad." The president praised his own leadership, saying his gaining seats in the Senate had been historic, and a feat not achieved since John F Kennedy in the 1960s.

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