By Duaa K.
One question that perplexes many kids, teens, and even adults around this time is, “What are the U.S Midterms?” Is it the Presidential Election? No, but it does get mixed up with the presidential elections quite often. So what are the midterms?
The midterms are notoriously known as “midterms” because they occur in between the Presidential elections. According to the BBC News, the midterms in a nutshell are elections for Congress. The U.S. Congress is made up of two parts – the House of Representatives and the Senate. To expand on that a bit more, Congress is in charge of making nationwide laws. The House and the Senate have different jobs; the House makes the decision about which laws can be created, and the Senate can accept or block those laws. The Senate has even more perks than the House of Representatives because it can approve people that the president appoints and can investigate the president.
Each state has two senators that represent it, and the senators serve for six-year terms. Representatives mainly speak for smaller districts within bigger states, and they sit for 2-year terms. The election in November had every member of the House of Representatives up for election while only one-third of the senate was up for election.
So, why does it matter? The midterms can give the citizens some type of idea of who will be running for the presidential candidacy. For example, Republican governor Ron DeSantis hopes that re-election will help him in the 2024 Presidential Election. According to NPR News, “If the Democrats can hold on to power in swing states such as Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, that should give them some confidence as they build their 2024 campaign to get President Biden re-elected.”
Voting in the midterms is also important because it can also determine the outcomes of some of the biggest issues going on in the state or country at the moment.
