In two days, Americans voting in the midterm elections will decide control of the U.S. House and Senate for the next two years.
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Americans → vote → years
Republicans are defending their slim congressional majorities, but President Donald Trump predicts the GOP will hold the House and Senate.
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GOP → defend → House
"If you elect a Republican House and a Republican Senate on November 3rd, we will continue to put America first every single day," the president pledged on the campaign trail last week.
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president → elect → trail
And he claimed if the Democrats take control, "this country will go to hell."
Republicans are fighting political history, as the party in power in Washington has traditionally lost seats during midterm election years.
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party → claim → years
The GOP also faces a challenging political climate fueled by persistent inflation tied in part to what polls show is an unpopular war with Iran and Trump's increasingly negative approval ratings.
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polls → face → Iran
Plus, all but four states are holding legislative elections.
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states → hold → elections
And voters will also weigh in on 145 statewide ballot measures in states from coast to coast.
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voters → weigh → coast
Republicans currently control the chamber 53-47, with the final Fox News Power Rankings ahead of Election Day rating the race for Senate control a toss-up.
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race → control → control
Both parties are three seats short of a majority, according to the forecast.
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parties → accord → forecast
Democrats are favored in 48 seats and Republicans are ahead in 47.
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Republicans → favor → 47
The GOP needs to hold 50 seats to retain control of the chamber, since Republican Vice President JD Vance is the tie-breaking vote in the Senate.
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Vance → need → Senate
If Democrats ride a blue wave to victory by winning most or all of the competitive races, they could potentially come away from the midterms with up to 54 seats.
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they → ride → seats
But if Republicans have a good night and defy expectations, the GOP could hold the majority with up to 52 seats, according to the forecast.
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GOP → have → forecast
Republicans are playing defense in Alaska, Iowa, Maine, South Carolina and Texas, which are all rated toss-ups in the Power Rankings.
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which → play → Rankings
They're also defending seats in competitive races in Kansas, which is rated Lean Republican, and Ohio, which is rated Lean Democrat.
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which → defend → Kansas
Democrats are on defense in Michigan, which is rated a toss-up, and in Minnesota and New Hampshire, which are listed as Lean Democrat.
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which → rat → Democrat
The GOP is hanging on to a razor-thin majority in the House, and the Power Rankings point to the Democrats retaking control of the chamber.
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Democrats → hang → chamber
A good night for the Democrats could see them ending up with as many as 240 seats in the 435-seat chamber.
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them → see → chamber
But if Republicans have a good night, they could end up with 212 seats.
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they → have → seats
That’s six short of a majority, but enough to make life difficult for the next Democratic House Speaker, who would have to balance the demands of the moderate and far-left wings of the party.
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who → ’ → party
The earliest-closing districts on election night will give some sense of the House’s future.
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districts → close → future
"Keep an eye on Kentucky’s 6th district, which covers Lexington and a large central area of the state.
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which → keep → state
Trump won here by 15 points in the last presidential election.
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Trump → win → election
Thanks to a combination of left-leaning college voters and farmers grappling with higher costs, it looks close this cycle," Remy Numa, a Fox News contributor who steers the network's Power Rankings, said.
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who → lean → Rankings
The Power Rankings list three states where the GOP controls the governor's office - Alaska, Nevada, and Georgia - as toss-ups.
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GOP → list → ups
Wisconsin, which has an open-Democratic controlled governor's office, is also rated a toss up.
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which → have → office
The gubernatorial races in red states Florida, Kansas, and Texas are rated Lean Republican, according to the Power Rankings.
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races → rat → Rankings
Four other races are also seen as competitive and rated Lean Democrat.
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races → see → ?
They are Arizona, Michigan, and Oregon, where Democrats are playing defense, and Iowa and Ohio, where the GOP is defending open governor's offices.
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GOP → play → offices
BALLOT MEASURES
Referendums requiring voters to present identification when they show up the polls, or bans on noncitizen voting, are on the ballot in 11 states: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Kansas, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, South Dakota and West Virginia.
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they → require → states
Voters in Alaska will also decide if they want to repeal the state’s ranked choice voting system, open primaries and a campaign finance disclosure rule.
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they → decide → system
Voters approve the current system in 2020 and narrowly kept it in 2024.
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Voters → approve → 2024
But the voting system has come under fresh scrutiny amid the controversy over a potential spoiler candidate in Alaska's U.S. Senate race.
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system → come → race
Voters in Virginia will decide whether the right to vote should be restored to convicted felons upon their release.
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right → decide → release
California's Proposition 40 is making national headlines.
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Proposition → make → headlines
The measure, the first of its kind, would slap a one-time 5% tax on wealth for Californians worth over $1 billion, with the vast majority of the revenue generated going to pay for healthcare.
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majority → slap → healthcare
If passed, the referendum would repeal a 9.9% tax on income over $1 million a year, which state lawmakers recently approved.
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lawmakers → pass → which
Washington State currently does not have a personal income tax.
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State → have → tax
Voters in Maryland, Missouri, and Colorado weigh in on ballot measures on congressional redistricting, as the mid-decade redistricting fight between Democrats and Republicans will be waged again in 2028.
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fight → weigh → 2028
Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska, and Washington State have referendums on transgender students’ participation in sports.
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Arizona → have → sports
…and 19 more, not listed.
The Aporia
