What will the US Congress look like for Joe Biden’s last two years in office? Republicans are ahead of Democrats in the House of Representatives as the battle continues to be very close for control of the Senate, according to the results of the midterm elections in the United States, published on Wednesday 9 November by the Associated Press* agency.
>> Midterms 2022: follow the results of the midterm elections and the reactions in our live
Midterms are very regularly a sanction vote for the incumbent president. Will the Republicans win a majority in both chambers? Here is what to remember from the still partial results of these mid-term elections.
Republicans lead in House of Representatives
A soon to be red majority in the House of Representatives, the American equivalent of the National Assembly? Wednesday at midday (French time), the Republicans maintained their lead in the lower house of Congress, with 199 seats against 172 for the Democrats. This assembly was so far made up of 220 Democrats and 212 Republicans. To obtain a majority, a side must win at least 218 seats (435 seats in total).
Progressive lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez won re-election in New York, as did current Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in California. Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, close to the QAnon movement and known for her racist and conspiratorial remarks, also retained her seat.
The two camps neck and neck in the Senate
The battle promised to be very tight to renew 35 of the 100 seats in the Senate. And she is. Wednesday at midday (French time), the Democratic and Republican parties are neck and neck, with 48 seats each.
The conservative camp won a symbolic victory thanks to Republican JD Vance, supported by Donald Trump and elected senator from Ohio against Democrat Tim Ryan. On the Democratic side, candidate John Fetterman was elected in Pennsylvania against surgeon Mehmet Oz, supported by Donald Trump. A major victory for Joe Biden’s camp, which allows him to recover a seat held so far by a Republican.
Another success for the Democrats: Senator Maggie Hassan, who faced Republican Donald Bolduc, was also re-elected in the state of New Hampshire. New York State Senator Chuck Schumer, leader of the Democratic majority in the upper house, was re-elected for a fifth term.
The counting of votes continues in five states: Arizona, Wisconsin, Nevada, Georgia (where there could be a second round in early December) and Alaska (which will be whatever happens for the Republican camp) .
Republican Governors Ron DeSantis and Brian Kemp re-elected
During these midterm elections, the Americans were also called upon to choose 36 governors. Republican Ron DeSantis, Donald Trump’s rival within the party and incumbent governor of Florida, was re-elected to his post. In Georgia, outgoing Governor Brian Kemp wins again against Democrat Stacey Abrams, known for her work mobilizing new Democratic voters in the state.
In Pennsylvania, Democrat Josh Shapiro is elected against his rival Doug Mastriano, to replace current Democratic Governor Tom Wolf. Mastriano is part of the “deniers” (from the English verb “deny”, to “deny”), these many Republican candidates who question the validity of Joe Biden’s election in 2020. Another Democrat, Wes Moore, was elected governor of Maryland against Republican Dan Cox. He will replace the current Republican governor of the state, Larry Hogan. The Democrats also win the governorship in the state of Massachusetts, according to the results published by the AP agency.
More than 100 “deniers” elected among the Republicans
More than 370 Republican candidates running in these midterm elections are “deniers” (from the English verb “deny” to “deny”). According to a count of washington post*, 164 of them had been elected, late Wednesday morning (French time).
Among them, some have been elected to posts of state secretaries, a function of which one of the main missions is to oversee the organization of elections at the state level.
Democrats holding up better than expected
The still partial results of the ballot show some resistance from the Democrats to the Republican “red wave” which was announced. “While several elections are still too close to announce a winner, it is clear that House Democratic candidates and elected officials are significantly exceeding expectations, across the country,” welcomed the Democratic Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi. “It’s certainly not a Republican wave, that’s for sure”agreed for his part the republican senator Lindsey Graham on NBC.
“Republicans were hoping for a resumption of the political narrative, a message to show how remobilized they were. The result is much more mixed than that”, analysis with franceinfo Célia Belin, dPhD in political science at Panthéon-Assas University, researcher at the Brookings Institution and author of the book Democrats in America (Fayard). “The most important thing is the battle that is being played out internally within the Republican Party.”
New faces among the elect
Generation Z is coming to the US Congress. Florida Democrat Maxwell Frost, 25, was elected to the House of Representatives, where the average age is 58. In the state of Massachusetts, theDemocratic candidate Maura Healey has been elected, becoming the first openly gay governor in the United States.
Democrat Wes Moore becomes the first black governor of Maryland and, in New Hampshire, James Roesener is the first transgender man to enter a local parliament across the Atlantic.
*These links refer to content in English.