Nov. 8 marks election day for the midterm elections, which will determine whether Democrats or Republicans will control Congress. 34 Senate seats and all 435 House seats are up for election.
Polls are favorable for Republicans to gain control of the House, but the evenly divided Senate remains a tossup. This year, Wisconsin, Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania are swing states.
Liz Huang ’24, chair of the Committee for Political Engagement, an organization under College Government that raises political awareness and engagement on campus, emphasized the necessity of voting in elections.
“People just need to vote,” Huang said. “It’s not the only thing that you can do — there’s plenty of other things that you can do to be civically and politically engaged — but voting is like the baseline for a representative democracy.”
State races are also proving to be highly competitive this year as 36 states are set to elect a governor. Georgia is a state that has garnered national attention with its tight gubernatorial and Senate race. Catherine Sneed ’25 is a Georgia native who is waiting for her absentee ballot.
“I’m checking my mailbox everyday,” Sneed said. “This election is incredibly important, especially the Senate race, because it can affect whether the Democrats or the Republicans take over the Senate.”
Arizona is in the same position as Georgia, with its closely watched gubernatorial and Senate race. Maggie Abernathy ’26 recently casted her early absentee ballot for the Arizona midterms.
“Arizona is very polarized,” Abernathy said. “I feel like it’s very important to vote anywhere, but especially Arizona because the control between the two parties fluctuates like crazy.”
Voter turnout for the midterm elections is about 40%, while voter turnout for presidential elections is about 60%
“I know that a lot of people have experienced voter fatigue,” Huang said, “but I think it is still really important to exercise that right because for a lot of us, people fought really hard for us to be represented in this nation and we shouldn’t take that for granted.”
Ann Zhao contributed reporting.
