Americans vote in midterms framed as a referendum on Trump's second presidency
Americans are voting today in midterm elections widely treated as a referendum on Donald Trump’s second presidency, with Republicans holding both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Democrats want those chambers back so they can constrain a presidency that has gone largely unchecked: a fierce immigration crackdown with mass arrests and deportations, tariffs on imports, war with Iran, and grand building projects including a White House ballroom. The party in the White House typically loses congressional seats at midterms; Democrats hope Trump’s falling popularity can fuel a “blue wave.”
Trump has staged several dozen rallies, urging his Maga base to vote as if his name were on the ballot, even as polls put his approval at record lows of 33 to 37 percent. Surveys suggest Democrats are well placed to take the House but face a harder Senate path, though they have targeted Republican seats in Ohio, Texas and Maine. A final New York Times/Siena University set of polls published on Sunday put Democrats ahead in five of seven key battlegrounds, including Texas and Kansas, where voters have not sent a Democrat to the Senate since 1988 and 1932 respectively.
The close has been messy. In Michigan, Democratic congresswoman Haley Stevens, who lost her Senate primary to Abdul El-Sayed, endorsed Republican Mike Rogers on Sunday after a feud over an outside ad blaming the cost of living on U.S. support for Israel; Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer called it a “despicable betrayal.” In Alaska, reports said Mary Peltola’s campaign helped recruit a near-namesake challenger to Republican senator Dan Sullivan; she denied knowledge. Before that report, the Department of Justice sued to block certification of an Alaska Senate result if Republicans lost, citing “voter confusion” over two Dan Sullivans on the ballot; a judge dismissed the suit. Democrats have also stressed affordability, the Iran conflict’s effect on living costs, and corruption: a Harris poll for the Guardian found 76 percent think elected officials care more about enriching themselves than the economy. Disclosures to the U.S. office of government ethics show Trump has earned about $2.2 billion since returning to the White House, including royalties from a name-branded meme coin.
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