Americans are urged to vote on Tuesday to renew the entire House of Representatives and a third of the Senate. Many gubernatorial and other local elected positions may also be up for grabs. Elections are known as “midterms” — the middle of a president’s term. According to polls, Republicans are threatening not to admit possible defeat.

Ahead of Tuesday’s midterm elections, President Joe Biden urged Democrats to defend democracy by defeating Republican Donald Trump in an election that polls say could unseat Washington, AFP reported.

With Republicans well positioned to gain at least partial control of Congress and Trump hinting at a 2024 return to the White House at a rally Monday night, Democrats are bracing for the worst.

Even if Republicans win only the House, it would derail Biden’s legislative agenda for the final two years of his first term and could lead to a weakening of US support for Ukraine’s resistance to Russia.

“The power is in your hands,” he told Democrats. “So vote, get out and vote.” The influx of far-right Trump supporters into Congress will also accelerate the changes that have taken place within the Republican Party since the former real estate mogul stunned the world by defeating Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.

Despite being under criminal investigation for leaking top-secret documents from the White House and trying to overturn the 2020 election, Trump is now using the midterms to cement his status as the de facto leader of the Republican Party and the presumptive presidential nominee.

In a typical speech to fans in Dayton, Ohio, Trump said: “If you support the decline and fall of America, then you must, you must vote for the radical left, for the crazy.” In this election, voters will nominate members of Congress from the Washington state legislature and nearly all local state legislatures, as well as governors in 36 of the 50 states.

These midterm elections, organized two years after the presidential election, effectively turn into a referendum on the occupant of the White House.

That Americans are called to choose

The President of the United States will not be on the ballot this fall. As every two years, all 435 seats in the US House of Representatives are up for grabs.

In the Senate, which has 100 elected members, mandates last for six years. More than a third will be upgraded on November 8: 35 seats.

The newly elected will begin their mandate on January 3, 2023.

Americans will also elect some governors and a number of local elected officials who will determine their state’s policies on abortion, environmental regulations, and more.

What is at stake?

The impact of these elections can be decisive for the entire country

Joe Biden is pleading with Americans to give him enough of a majority to bypass parliamentary rules that currently prevent him from legalizing abortion nationwide or banning vending machines.

“Americans are the ones who choose,” the president said in a recent speech. He emphasized that abortions, weapons, and the health care system are all “on the ballot.”

For their part, Republicans promise to get tough on inflation and the opioid crisis and continue to crack down on transgender athletes.

Candidates from the “big old party” have also promised to launch a series of congressional investigations into Joe Biden, his pandemic adviser Anthony Fauci and Attorney General Merrick Garland if they win a majority in the House of Representatives. At the same time, they plan to stop the activities of the commission investigating the attack on the US Congress carried out by supporters of Donald Trump.

What do the polls say?

According to the latest opinion polls, the Republican opposition has a good chance of winning at least 10-20 seats in the lower house – enough to secure a majority.

Polls are more mixed on the fate of the Senate, where Democrats hope to retain their majority.

Double referendum

Although Joe Biden’s name is not on the ballot, many Americans see this election as a referendum on the president.

But this election is also a real test for the political future of Donald Trump, who has been heavily involved in the campaign, organizing rallies across the country.

For both, who are considering running for president in 2024, the outcome of the “mid-term elections” could be a decisive moment that will stop the momentum of one of them or, conversely, accelerate the other.