Americans vote in midterm elections that will shape Trump's final 2 years in office
The Latest
- U.S. midterm elections today will determine which party controls Congress during President Donald Trump's final two years in office.
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party → vote → office
- Voters across the country are casting ballots for all 435 seats in the House of Representatives, along with 35 of the Senate's 100 seats.
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Voters → cast → seats
- The Democrats need a net gain of just three seats to take control of the House of Representatives from the Republicans, and a net gain of four seats to take control of the Senate.
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Democrats → need → Senate
- We will have a special livestream of starting at 8 p.m. ET on this page.
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We → have → page
First results will start appearing after 6 p.m. ET.
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results → appear → ET
- ask@cbc.ca
Updates
November 3
Mike CrawleyEconomy top of mind for voters, polls suggest
U.S. President Donald Trump’s approval ratings have dipped to around 30 per cent ahead of the midterm elections, according to recent polls, as affordability continues to be a top voter issue.
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affordability → suggest → polls
For nearly a year, U.S. President Donald Trump has been trying to persuade voters not to get riled up over rising prices.
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Trump → try → prices
Trump has brushed off concerns about affordability as a "con job by Democrats," insisted consumer prices have fallen during his term when they've actually risen, and repeatedly claimed the costs of gas and diesel — up sharply after he launched the war against Iran — would start falling soon.
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he → brush → Iran
Numerous polls suggest voters aren't buying Trump's sales pitch, with respondents giving him low marks on the cost of living.
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respondents → suggest → living
On average, more than 70 per cent of American respondents in recent polls disapprove of Trump's handling of inflation, according to Silver Bulletin, which aggregates public polling.
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which → disapprove → polling
Polling indicates that the economy is the top issue for voters across the U.S., says Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling Center in Boston.
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Kimball → indicate → Boston
Drill down further into the data, he says, and it's the cost of living — rather than jobs or taxes — underlying those concerns about the economy.
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it → drill → economy
"It looks like it's just everyday expenses that are beginning to pile up and people are concerned about being able to afford," Kimball told CBC News.
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Kimball → look → News
- CBC News
How CBC reports results
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CBC → report → results
The numbers in our election results dashboards come from The Associated Press (AP).
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numbers → come → Press
Those results show the states where AP has called winners.
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AP → show → states
The U.S. networks may make majority calls for the House and Senate before all of the votes are counted, based on projections.
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all → make → projections
For majority calls, CBC News monitors five American networks: NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN and Fox.
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News → monitor → networks
When three of the five networks make a majority call and that call aligns with AP numbers in individual races, CBC News feels confident to do the same.
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News → make → same
Voters across the United States head to the polls today
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Voters → head → polls
In the final hours before the U.S. midterm elections, President Donald Trump made his final pitch to voters, where he seemed to acknowledge results might not go his way, as national polls show Democrats have an edge in most key battleground states.
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Democrats → make → states
A contentious midterm campaign is set to come to an end in the United States tonight, as millions of voters nationwide decide which party — Democrats or Republicans — will control Congress for the last half of U.S. President Donald Trump's second term.
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party → set → term
Congress is made up of two chambers: the House of Representatives and the Senate.
All 435 seats in the House are up for grabs in the midterm elections, as its members are elected to two-year terms.
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members → make → terms
But only 35 of the 100 seats in the Senate are up for election this fall, with U.S. senators elected to six-year terms.
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senators → elect → terms
With slim majorities in each chamber, the Republicans have little wiggle room to lose seats and still maintain their hold on Congress.
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Republicans → have → Congress
The Democratic Party needs a net gain of just three seats to take control of the House.
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Party → need → House
They also need to take just four Republican-held states to win control of the Senate.
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They → need → Senate
But that's a tougher task than flipping the House because there are far fewer Senate seats up for election, winning each requires a statewide victory and several of the available pick-ups for the Democrats are in states that Trump won comfortably in 2024.
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Trump → flip → 2024
Tonight's results will determine how easy it will be for the Trump administration to continue carrying out its agenda.
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administration → determine → agenda
The results also serve as a report card of sorts, reflecting how satisfied — or dissatisfied — voters have been with the first half of the president's term.
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voters → serve → term