By: Cooper Winkler '26
Every two years, the U.S. holds midterm elections. The midterm elections primarily focus on the two houses of Congress: the Senate and the House of Representatives. This year, several states will also host the gubernatorial elections with one of those states being our own. As of now, Democrats control both houses of Congress and the presidency. The results of the midterm elections will likely have a large impact on the presidential race in 2024.
In Georgia, Democrat Stacey Abrams is running against Republican Governor Brian Kemp. As of November 1st, Governor Kemp is ahead of Abrams by seven points. Kemp has been a successful entrepreneur with his first company being Kemp Development and Construction Company. Abrams is a well known voting-rights activist who played a key role in President Joe Biden’s victory in 2020. While encouraging all Georgian voters to go out and vote, Abrams helped Biden gain the sixteen electoral votes that Georgia has in the 2020 election. Governor Kemp and Abrams held a debate on October 17, 2022.
Both parties gained control of the Senate in 2020, with Democrats having slightly more power than Republicans. While the Senate is currently split 50-50, the Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris presides to cast the deciding vote in the case of a tie. This year, there are 35 Senate seats up for election with 14 seats held by Democrats and 21 held by Republicans. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York is running for reelection this year. As Democrats are narrowly expected to win the Senate this year, Chuck Schumer would keep his title as Senate Majority Leader, if he wins his race. One interesting race this year is in Pennsylvania between Republican Mehmet Oz (more commonly known as Dr. Oz) and Democrat John Fetterman. Currently, the election remains a tossup, but Fetterman is slightly ahead of Oz. Recently, Oz has been catching up to Fetterman and his numbers have increased. One of the most controversial elections this year is the Georgian Senate election. Senator Raphael Warnock, the current Democratic Senator from Georgia, is running against Herschel Walker. Herschel Walker has been under fire after denying he wrote a $700 dollar check for an abortion. Walker has taken a strong pro-life stance in his campaign despite these allegations. As of now, the election between Warnock and Walker is a toss-up, considering that Warnock is polling just one percent higher than Walker.
These midterm elections could have massive effects on the 2024 presidential election. In the unlikely event that Democrats maintain control of both legislative houses of Congress, it will be much easier for President Biden to get items on his agenda passed. Democrats losing one of the houses would be a great loss for the Biden administration and will likely shake the confidence that many voters have in him. As of now, it seems that Biden will likely run for his second term, yet some Democrats may not support him. It also appears that former President Trump will run again in 2024. Governor DeSantis, the governor of Florida who is up for reelection this year, has also expressed interest in running as the Republican nominee. The results of the Florida gubernatorial elections will presumably impact his decision. Undoubtedly, the midterms will likely have an immense effect on many politicians and the overall state of our nation.
Sources:
Ballotpedia Rutgers The Hill The New York Times Reuters 270 To Win Politico Cook Political NPR The New York Times FiveThirtyEight Georgia.gov Stacey Abrams Britannica The New York Times Ballotpedia Ballotpedia FiveThirtyEight Bloomberg Government FiveThirtyEight Ballotpedia FiveThirtyEight Politico The New York Times BBC
Photo Sources:
Edited by: Megan Groo '25, Katarina Radulovic '24, Natalia Cseh '23, and Ms. Brilliant
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