In the November elections, in addition to voting to elect the president for the next four years, Americans also vote for other federal, state, and local offices.

At the federal level, the members of both chambers of the U.S. Congress, the seat of legislative power, are elected: one-third of the seats in the Senate and the 435 members of the House of Representatives. These chambers go to votes every two years. When the election does not coincide with the presidential election, it is a year of midterm elections, which happens every four years, always between two presidential elections. This was the case in 2022, when the Democratic Party saw its majority in the Senate strengthened, but lost its majority in the House of Representatives to the Republican Party.

Following this year’s election, the 119th U.S. Congress will take office in January 2025.

 

How are members of Congress elected?

The House of Representatives consists of 435 members, with the number of members elected by each state being proportional to its population. The terms of office for this House are two years and therefore the 435 seats are voted on every two years (in general election years and in mid-term election years). Each member of the House of Representatives is elected to represent a district, the “congressional district”.

As for the Senate, each state elects two senators, by popular vote, for six-year terms. The beginning and end of each senator’s terms are staggered, so that every two years, about a third of the seats in the Senate go to votes.

Some Senate races are attracting particular interest this year, as they could be decisive for parties to control the chamber due to the uncertainty of the outcome. This is the case, among others, of the election in Arizona, whose primaries are scheduled for July, and in Ohio, where Republican Bernie Moreno will face current Senator Sherrod Brown, of the Democratic Party. Both elections have an uncertain outcome, being reported as “toss up” by the Cook Political Report, i.e. both outcomes seem equally possible.

The election for senator for the State of West Virginia has also received particular attention, since, after Joe Manchin’s announcement that he would not run for re-election, the Republican Party has a good chance of electing a senator to the seat.

 

What other elections take place on this day?

Since the U.S. is a federal system, each state elects its governor and its legislative assembly, as is the case at the national level (President and Congress).

On November 5, several members of state legislatures, as well as the governors of 11 states, will vote.