How bash the elections work?
All 435 seats successful the little enclosure of the national congress, the House of Representatives, are re-elected each 2 years. (There are nary word limits, and incumbents are often returned, truthful determination is important continuity successful the membership). House seats are broadly proportional to population, truthful California has tons of seats but Montana lone a few.
The precocious chamber, the Senate, has 100 seats; 2 for each state, nevertheless populous. In each even-numbered year, astir one-third of senators are elected for a six-year term. Legislation has to walk some chambers to go law. Senators person immoderate further responsibilities compared with their colleagues successful the House; chiefly these person to bash with confirming (or not) statesmanlike appointments.
Governors are not portion of Congress. Their interaction is mostly section to their ain state, but due to the fact that they tin impact electoral instrumentality oregon practice, they tin impact aboriginal national elections.
Going into the predetermination the Democratic enactment of the president, Joe Biden, controlled some chambers of Congress, but by precise constrictive margins. In the Senate, a 50-50 divided would mean a casting ballot went to the vice-president, Kamala Harris. (In signifier the casting ballot much often went to Joe Manchin, a Democratic legislator representing a mostly Republican state).
These elections are called midterms due to the fact that they hap successful the mediate of a four-year statesmanlike term. They are hard for sitting presidents due to the fact that the statesmanlike enactment often does severely successful them, and due to the fact that losing power of Congress makes it much hard for the president to prosecute his oregon her agenda.
About these results
The results are provided by the Associated Press, oregon AP, who person rigorous criteria for “calling” predetermination races; that is, for reporting a winner. Redrawing of House districts this twelvemonth pursuing the 2020 census mean AP is not reporting “flips”, oregon seats wherever the sitting enactment changes. The redistricting besides means that successful a fewer seats determination are 2 incumbent representatives competing for a caller district. It is besides imaginable that immoderate seats volition number 100% of votes without a victor becoming evident due to the fact that of laws that trigger an automatic recount successful races that are precise close.