Senate
US Senate seats up for grabs: Because of a staggered election structure, 34 of the 100 Senate seats are up for grabs in November.
US Senate seats up for grabs.
The United States election cycle this year has been dominated by one race: the contest for the White House between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.
However, voters will also choose representatives for other important positions outside of the presidency on November 5. Numerous of those contests will decide who controls Congress, a crucial branch of government.
The entire House of Representatives and a third of the US Senate are in the race. That equates to 435 members in the lower body of Congress and 34 seats in the upper chamber.
However, why are senators up for election every six years and representatives every two? And why, unlike in the House, aren’t all 100 Senate seats up for grabs?
Staggered races in the Senate
The explanation dates back to the US Constitution’s origins, when the men who drafted it chose to use a “three-class system” for Senate elections.
As to a Senate factsheet, “senators were divided into the three classes by lot with same-state senators assigned to separate groups at the start of the first session of Congress in 1789.”
The terms of the first group ended in two years, those of the second in four, and those of the third in six.
The factsheet states, “Subsequent elections to all classes were for a full six-year Senate term.”
The intention was to stabilize US politics. Every time there is a national election, which occurs once every two years, two-thirds of the senators hold their positions due to the Senate’s staggered voting method.
How does this compare to the House of Representatives?
In contrast, all 435 members of the lower chamber of Congress are up for election at every session and have two-year terms.
Members of the House are more likely to lose their seats since they must run for reelection every two years.
However, some lawmakers have held office for decades. Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker of the House, has been in office for 37 years.
What could happen on November 5?
Right now, the Democratic Party’s hold on the Senate is tenuous. Republicans possess 49 seats in the legislature, while the party and its allies hold 51 seats.
If Trump wins the presidential contest against Harris, Republicans will need to gain a net of one Senate seat to regain control of the chamber.
This is so because in the Senate, the vice president serves as the tie-breaking vote. JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, would assume the position and vote with Republicans should the Republicans win the presidency.
Right now, the Democratic Party’s hold on the Senate is tenuous. Republicans possess 49 seats in the legislature, while the party and its allies hold 51 seats.
If Trump wins the presidential contest against Harris, Republicans will need to gain a net of one Senate seat to regain control of the chamber.
This is so because in the Senate, the vice president serves as the tie-breaking vote. JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, would assume the position and vote with Republicans should the Republicans win the presidency.
US Senate seats up for grabs.
Republicans would need to pick up two Senate seats net in order to take control of the Senate if Harris prevails, which would give her vice president, Tim Walz, the ability to break ties
Twenty-three of the thirty-four Senate seats up for grabs next month are held by Democrats or independents.
The ambassador of Ukraine to Turkey, Vasyl Bodnar, stated that his country hopes to organize a peace summit before the end of the year and would like Russia to be a part of it. He denied holding direct bilateral conversations with Moscow during the meeting, saying that any discussions would most likely involve other parties as middlemen.
Source: Aljazeera