Americans vote in midterms as prices and Iran war test Trump
All 435 House seats and 35 Senate seats are in play, with voters citing soaring fuel and food costs as the deciding issue.
Washington — Millions of Americans went to the polls on Tuesday in midterm elections that will decide control of Congress — and, by extension, the final two years of Donald Trump's presidency. All 435 voting seats in the House of Representatives and 35 of the Senate's 100 seats are being contested, with Democrats needing a net gain of three seats for a House majority and four to take the Senate, RFI reported.
The vote lands at an awkward moment for Republicans. Voters overwhelmingly say the cost of living is their top concern, with food and fuel prices driven up in part by Trump's tariffs and the eight-month war with Iran, according to the BBC. The arithmetic is stark: a gallon of diesel, $3.75 before the war began in February, hit a record $6.52 in September. Inflation has risen from 3% when Trump took office to 3.7%, and economists estimate it would have been lower without his sweeping tariffs.
An NBC News survey released on Sunday showed 60 percent of Americans disapprove of Trump's performance, citing high prices exacerbated by the war. The final New York Times/Siena poll put Democratic candidates ahead in all seven of the most competitive Senate races, though five remained within the margin of error.
The money tells its own story. Republicans have poured hundreds of millions of dollars of advertising into traditionally safe seats, including the Senate race in Kansas. "When they start spending hard American dollars on political advertising in a state that they should be winning, that's how you know that they think they're in trouble," Carrie Dann of the Cook Political Report told the BBC.
Trump has campaigned hard, headlining dozens of rallies and telling voters in Iowa on Sunday: "In this election, I'm asking you to pretend, please, that I'm on the ballot." Democrats, he said, were "extreme and dangerous radicals who will steal your wealth". The stakes are practical as much as political: a Democratic Senate could block his lifetime judicial appointments, while even a House win would give the party control of the federal budget and committees able to investigate issues including the Jeffrey Epstein files.
The next test comes quickly. First results from eastern states are expected within hours of polls closing, and the Alaska count — where the Justice Department has appealed a ruling over certification of the Senate result — could stretch on. Read our preview of the race here.
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