MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

US: Democratic majority in Congress at stake

Biden is expected to have a tougher time ahead getting his agenda through Congress

The ruling Democratic Party of President Joseph Biden risks losing its Congressional majority in Tuesday's mid-term elections while many polls foresee the opposition Republicans are likely to regain some of the 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 in the Senate.

Polls have shown that the party of former President Donald Trump would gain between 10 and 25 seats in the House of Representatives when five is all it needs to control it.

The Democrats have a one-vote technical Senate majority which could easily flip over to the opposition, depending on what happens in a handful of states where the most competitive races are contested.

The lawmakers elected Tuesday will take office in January 2023. Representatives have a four-year term, and senators have a six-year term.

While the Democrats and Biden have campaigned on their stance regarding abortion and gun control, the Republicans have focused also on pregnancy terminations and the fight against crime and illegal immigration, in addition to tax cuts and spending tightening.

The elections come the same year the Supreme Court reversed the Roe v Wade ruling allowing abortions and send the decision back to each State and to the federal legislatures.

Citizens in 36 of the 50 states will also choose their governors and other local officials with inflation -referred to as Bidenflation- as the main concern.

Republicans who are already taking victory for granted have announced a series of economic and border security policies that they would want to enforce, thus shelving the Democrats' priorities, such as abortion access, climate change, and gun control.