WASHINGTON — Control of Congress hangs in the balance Tuesday, with ever-closer races for the House and Senate that will determine which party has the majority and the power to promote or block a president’s agenda, or whether the House Blanche faces a divided Capitol.
The key elections are taking place alongside the first presidential election since the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, but also in unexpected corners of the country after what was one of the most chaotic congressional sessions in modern times.
Ultimately, just a handful of seats, or even just one, could tip the scales in either chamber.
Voters said the economy and immigration were the top issues facing the country, but the future of democracy was also a top motivator for many Americans voting in the presidential election.
AP VoteCast, a massive survey of more than 110,000 voters across the country, revealed a country mired in negativity and desperate for change as Americans faced a stark choice between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
In the Senate, where Democrats now have a slim 51-49 majority, an early boost for Republicans is expected in West Virginia. The retirement of independent Sen. Joe Manchin creates an opening that Republican Jim Justice, now the state’s governor, is favored to win. A pickup there would deadlock the chamber, 50-50, as Republicans try to take control.
House elections are focused on New York and California, where, in a politically unusual twist, Democrats are trying to reclaim some of the roughly 10 seats where Republicans have made surprising gains in recent years with star lawmakers who helped bring the party to power. .
Other House races are scattered across the country, a sign of how thin the field is. Only a few dozen seats are seriously contested, the most controversial being those in Maine, the “blue dot” around Omaha, Nebraska and Alaska.
Vote counting in some races could extend well beyond Tuesday.
“We are about to take back the House,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who is poised to make history as the first black speaker if his party takes control of it. Southern California.
But House Speaker Mike Johnson, siding with Trump, predicts that Republicans will retain “and increase” the majority. He took over after Kevin McCarthy was kicked out of the president’s office.
Capitol Hill can make or break the priorities of a new White House, giving Trump or Harris potential allies or adversaries in the House and Senate, or a divided Congress that could force a season of compromise or gridlock.
Congress can also play a role in upholding the American tradition of peaceful transfer of presidential power. Four years ago, Trump sent his mob of supporters to “fight like hell” to the Capitol, and many Republicans in Congress voted to block the election of President Joe Biden. Congress will once again be called upon to certify the results of the 2025 presidential election.
What started as a lackluster race for control of Congress instantly transformed once Harris replaced Biden at the top of the ticket, energizing Democrats with massive fundraising and volunteers that lawmakers said reminded them the enthusiasm of the 2008 Obama era.
Billions of dollars have been spent by party and outside groups on the narrow battleground for the 435-member House of Representatives and the 100-member Senate.
Democrats need to win a handful of House seats to wrest control of the party from Republicans. In the Senate, the vice president becomes decisive in a 50-50 split, which would leave control of that chamber to the winner of the White House.
Senate Republicans have launched a wide range of opportunities, recruiting wealthy newcomers to put Democratic incumbents on defense across the country.
In Ohio, Trump-backed Republican Bernie Moreno, a Cleveland businessman, is seeking to unseat three-term Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown. Some $400 million was spent on the race.
One of the most watched Senate races, in Montana, could be among the last to be decided. Democrat Jon Tester, a popular three-term senator and “dirty farmer,” is fighting for his political career against Trump-backed Tim Sheehy, a wealthy former Navy Seal, who has made disparaging comments about Native Americans, a key constituency in the West. State.
And in the “blue wall” battlegrounds of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, Republicans are counting on Trump to try to unseat a trio of incumbent Democratic senators.
Outgoing Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has devoted his career to seizing and maintaining majority power, but other opportunities for Republicans are turning into long-term projects.
In the Southwestern states, Arizona firebrand Republican Kari Lake battled Democrat Ruben Gallego for the seat opened by the retirement of Sen. Krysten Sinema. In Nevada, Democratic Senator Jacky Rosen is resisting newcomer Sam Brown.
Democrats have stepped up their challenges to two Republican senators – Ted Cruz of Texas and Rick Scott of Florida – in states where reproductive rights have been a focus following the Supreme Court ruling rolling back access to the ‘abortion. Cruz is facing Democrat Colin Allred, a Dallas-area congressman, while Scott has invested $10 million of his own fortune in the race against Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a former House lawmaker.
Congress has a chance to achieve several historic milestones as it is reshaped by the American electorate and becomes more representative of a diverse nation.
Not one, but perhaps two black women could be on their way to the Senate, which would be unheard of in the United States.
Democrat Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware is favored in the Senate race against Republican Eric Hansen.
And in Maryland, Harris ally Angela Alsobrooks is in a highly competitive race against the state’s popular former governor, Republican Larry Hogan.
Americans have elected two black women, including Harris, as senators since the country’s founding, but never at the same time.
House candidate Sarah McBride, a Delaware state lawmaker close to the Biden family, is poised to become the first openly transgender person in Congress.
The fallout from redistricting, when states redraw their maps for congressional districts, leaves Republicans poised to gain several seats against Democrats in North Carolina and Democrats gaining a second majority-black seat in heavily-dominated Alabama Republican.
House lawmakers face voters every two years, while senators serve longer terms of six years.
If the two chambers actually exercise reverse control, as is possible, this would be rare.
Records show that if Democrats advance to the House of Representatives and Republicans advance to the Senate, it would be the first time that the chambers of Congress have both tilted toward opposing political parties.
Associated Press writers Stephen Groves, Kevin Freking and Farnoush Amiri contributed to this report.
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