What do the midterm elections do?

14 comments

1. Congressional representatives are up for reelection. They serve 2 year terms.

   Some senators are up for reelection. They serve 6 year terms, so 1/3 of the senate is up for grabs every two years.

2. yep, pretty much got it. They are mostly about Congressmembers, at the national level. At the state and local level, it depends by state; in NC, we’re having a bunch of NC legislature and NC supreme court elections, but no governor or AG elections until 24. And my city has city council elections.

   But at the national level, it’s congressional seats.

3. Yes.

   The President is up for election every four years. But every two years, between Presidential elections, we have midterm elections, in which all of the House of Representatives and 1/3rd of the Senate are also up for election.
   The House of Representatives, the “lower” chamber of Congress has two year terms. They are all up for re-election during midterm elections AND presidential elections.

   Likewise, the Senate, the “upper” chamber of Congress has six year terms. 1/3rd of the Senate is up for re-election during an election year, as their terms are staggered. So 1/3rd of the Senate are up for re-election during a midterm election.

4. Each individual federal representative is individually elected by their district.

   1/3 of the federal representatives and senators are up for election every two years.

   If people want the president to have more or less support for the second half of the president’s term they’ll vote accordingly. Either voting for representatives who will advocate for the president’s agenda or for representatives who will counter the president’s agenda.

5. Members of the House of Reps have 2 year terms, so they are all up for election. Senators have 6 year terms, so 1/3 of the Senate is up for election every 2 years.

   They are called midterms because they are mid presidential term (4 years). Various state and local elections happen pretty much every year as well.

6. Depending on where you are you may be electing any number of local or state government officials (in all 3 branches of government), voting on referendums or ballot measures, as well as elections for the US House and US Senate. The only thing not up for grabs is POTUS, who is in the middle of their term right now…hence the name midterms.

7. It’s just a standard election. Which means all of the Representatives and some of the Senators are up for election. It just happens to be between a presidential term.

8. A “mid term” is defined only in relation to the presidential election every 4 years. Lots of other elections and things that need voter input happen every single year, sometimes more than once a year.

   We need to have elections every two years in order to elect members to the federal house of representatives.

   There are also state governors races and state house/senate races that may happen in “midterm” years. In some locations, there may be things like referendums or ballot initiatives or bond issues that need to be voted on. Plus stuff like school boards, town councils, judges (in some locations), and other positions.

   These elections may happen at any time. For the most part we have elections every single year. It’s just that one out of every four years is a Presidential election. The election that happens two years later is called the midterm mainly because all the house and some chunk of the senate is always up for election in that year so it gets more attention than the election one year previous or one year hence.

9. Different positions are up for elections at different times. The POTUS is up every four years. When we have elections in between those four years, they are called midterms.

10. There are 2 chambers in our Congress. For laws to be passed, both chambers must pass the same bill and the President must then sign it.

    The Senate (upper chamber) is composed of 100 people with 6 year terms, and the House of Representatives (lower chamber) is composed of 435 people with 2 year terms. Every 2 years 1/3 of the Senators and all Representative must run for re-election, and because our Presidents serve 4 year terms, 2 years into their term there is what is a called mid-term election.

    So yes, ~468 parliamentarians can possibly change, but usually, most of the seats are safe and not under threat. The midterms are usually seen as a national referendum on how well a President is doing since people will vote against their party if they don’t like the President.

11. The entire House of Representatives (2 year terms) and one third of the Senate (staggered 6 year terms) are up for reelection. The President (4 year terms) is not. So, there can be (and often is) a major shift in power in Congress. But, there’s typically lower voter turnout than during a Presidential election and this won’t affect the White House (beyond how easy it is to get Congressional approval for things).

12. Basically the equivalent of parliamentary elections in Australia. Except that regardless of the results the government remains in charge; but without a majority it can’t do much without the approval of the opposition.

13. They are for congressional seats and some municipal stuff depending on where it falls on the calendar. They do often shift which party holds power in one or both the houses of congress. We don’t have parliament, just as an FYI. It seems the same, but it isn’t. we have much more separation of power.

14. The US holds general elections every two years. Presidents serve a four-year term, so every other election year is a “midterm” election, since it comes midway through a president’s term.

    Members of the House of Representatives serve two-year terms, so they are up for re-election every two years. Members of the Senate serve six-year terms, but their terms are staggered so that one-third of the Senate is up for re-election in any given election year.

    Depending on where you live, there are likely to be state and local-level elected officials up for re-election as well.