Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Americans began voting on Tuesday in an election that will determine control of the US Congress and test public support for President Donald Trump during the final two years of his second term, news agency Press Trust of India reported. The election comes amid a prolonged war in Iran, rising inflation, trade disputes and deep social divisions.
All 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 37 seats in the 100-member Senate are at stake. Republicans currently control both chambers by narrow margins, while opinion polls indicate that Democrats could win at least the House. On polling day, Trump announced that the US would stop providing Israel with USD 4 billion in aid from next year, a move Democrat Ro Khanna described as a desperate attempt to prevent a “Blue tsunami”.
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Voting began at 6 am Eastern Time in Indiana and Kentucky before opening in phases across US time zones. Polling started in California at 7 am local time and in Alaska at 11 am Eastern Time. The first results are expected from 5 am on Wednesday in India.
The election followed limited US strikes on Iran’s Qesham island in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday. Officials said the strikes were carried out in response to Iran firing at a US aircraft.
Elections for governor are also being held in 36 states. In Ohio, Indian-American candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is in a close contest with Democratic nominee Amy Acton.
Several other Indian-American candidates are contesting races ranging from governor to city council. Kerala-born Democrat Nithya Raman is facing her former boss, Karen Bass, in the election for mayor of Los Angeles.
Indian-American lawmakers Ro Khanna, Ami Bera, Pramila Jayapal and Suhas Subramanyam are seeking re-election to the House. Fellow Democrats Pia Dandiya and Amish Shah are contesting competitive races in their bids to enter Congress for the first time.
Republicans and Democrats made their final appeals to voters on Monday. Trump chose the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool for an event focused on renovations in Washington, rather than tax cuts, tariffs and border security, which had been central to his campaign rallies.
According to the White House, Trump toured 20 states, mostly Republican strongholds, and addressed 30 rallies over 32 days. Analysts said his approval ratings were at an all-time low and that he had become a liability for Republican candidates.
If Democrats take control of Congress, they would be able to increase scrutiny of Trump’s actions and restrict his ability to advance his agenda. Trump would, however, retain the power to govern through executive orders for the remaining two years of his term.
“We are reaching a boiling point in the country as a whole. There are the elites, the ruling class, the Epstein class that is truly 1 per cent that is wealthy, and there is the rest of us,” Shuchita Patel, a Democrat contesting for Forsyth County commissioner, told PTI.
Trump acknowledged the possibility of Republicans losing control of Congress but indicated that he would not allow lawmakers to slow him down. “I guess I’ll become Mr Veto,” he told the New York Post’s Pod Force One podcast when asked about Republicans losing both chambers, referring to the president’s power to veto measures passed by Congress.
Former president Barack Obama campaigned for Democrats at rallies in Ohio, Michigan and Georgia. “This election is our last, best chance of at least reining him in, reining in some of the foolishness of this administration,” Obama said in Georgia last week.
“It’s the circuit-breaker in the system, and we need to flip it,” he said while criticising Trump for focusing on White House renovations instead of issues affecting people.
Democrats suffered a late setback when Michigan Congresswoman Haley Stevens crossed over to the Republican side on Sunday and endorsed Mike Rogers, the Republican rival of Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed. Stevens, who lost the Democratic Senate primary to El-Sayed, also appeared publicly with Rogers.
The Democratic Party responded with statements condemning Stevens and backing El-Sayed, who could become the first Muslim elected to the US Senate. Stevens is a strong supporter of Israel, while El-Sayed is a vocal critic of the US ally.
Democrats hope to win seven Republican-held Senate seats in Michigan, Maine, Ohio, Kansas, Texas, Iowa and Alaska. They need a net gain of four seats to secure a majority in the Senate, which is divided 53-47 in favour of Republicans. Of the Senate seats on the ballot, 22 are held by Republicans.
Each US state is represented by two senators, who serve six-year terms. Senate seats are divided into three groups, with elections held every two years. Members of the House are elected for two-year terms.
In the House, Speaker Mike Johnson leads 218 Republicans and one independent, California’s Kevin Kiley, against 214 Democrats. Two seats are vacant.
The elections are also important for Vice-President J D Vance as he seeks to strengthen his position as a possible successor to Trump. Vance campaigned in New York and Ohio on Monday, where Republicans were contesting key House and Senate races.
Vance highlighted Trump’s moves to end taxes on tips and overtime and secure the border. He also called Democrats “lunatics” who held American voters in contempt.
About 210 million Americans are registered to vote, according to USAFacts. California has the highest number of registered voters at 23.2 million, followed by Texas with 17.4 million and Florida with 13.6 million. Together, the three states account for about 26 per cent of registered voters. Wyoming has 278,468 registered voters, Vermont 459,455 and Alaska 603,310.
More than 57 million ballots had been cast across 47 states and Washington, DC, by Monday, according to the Associated Press. This compared with just under 44.5 million ballots cast across 49 states and Washington, DC, at the same stage in 2022.
The results will decide whether Republicans retain their narrow control of Congress or Democrats gain control of one or both chambers, shaping the remainder of Trump’s second term. They will also determine several governorships and the outcome of closely watched contests involving Indian-American candidates.
With PTI Inputs
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
