Designer: Samuel Cahuao
For many, autumn is the season of falling leaves, pumpkin spice, crisp weather and football. But for those who are invested in politics, this fall is midterm season.
As the nation approaches the halfway mark of Donald Trump’s second presidential term, voters across the country will head to the polls on Nov. 3 to determine all 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 Senate seats. Additionally, governor positions are being contested in several different states, Ohio being one of them.
While most midterms naturally carry varying degrees of significance for a state or the country at large, one would be remiss to not acknowledge the immense and unprecedented impact this election could have on the U.S. government.
After the election of President Trump, all sects of the federal government officially fell into the control of the Republican party. This includes the House of Representatives, the Senate, the presidency and a conservative super-majority in the Supreme Court.
John Carmichael is an AP American Government teacher at the high school who has taught during countless elections and understands the weight of this election.
“As of right now, there is no check on President Trump due to the imbalance in the House and Senate, which has proven to be an issue for the Democratic party,” Carmichael said.
According to senate.gov, the U.S. Senate currently contains 53 Republican seats, followed by the Democrats with 45 seats. Additionally, according to pressgallery.house.gov, the House of Representatives is composed of 218 Republicans and 214 Democrats. Because of the seats being contested in this election, both the House and the Senate have the possibility of being flipped to a Democrat majority, which would constitute a major victory for the party.
“The Senate being the upper chamber has what’s called authority of advice and consent, meaning when a president makes a nomination for a cabinet position or more importantly a Supreme Court opening, members of the Senate have the authority to object or approve those nominations,” Carmichael said.
“Democrats taking control of the Senate would put them in a position to steer any of Trump’s cabinet and judicial nominations. For example, Secretary [Robert F.] Kennedy of Health and Human Services and Secretary [Pete] Hegseth of Defense would likely have not gotten through that confirmation process if Democrats had control of the Senate at the time,” Carmichael said.
This would constitute a significant advantage for the party. However, it isn’t the only benefit of controlling the Senate.
“Additionally, they would get to have oversight hearings, meaning they would have the ability to investigate the president,” Carmichael said.
Recent polls are showing that Senate races in Michigan, Iowa, Ohio and Texas will be pivotal toss-up elections that could determine the highly-desired majority.
Other important elections taking place this midterm season are several governor races, one of them being in Ohio. Democrat and former Director of the Ohio Department of Health Amy Acton is running against her Republican counterpart, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, to fill governor Mike DeWine’s position. Libertarian Don Kissick will also appear on the ballot.
Ramaswamy is running on the promise of lower taxes, better education and curbing crime rates, while the Acton is emphasizing expanding Ohio jobs and businesses, protecting workers unions and increasing funding for law enforcement.
Danny Eldredge is The Columbus Bureau Chief for The Toledo Blade and covers politics across the state of Ohio.
“Acton and Ramaswamy have more in common than most people realize,” Eldgredge said. “They are probably most different on the issue of education. Acton has said she supports increasing funding for public schools and retaining Ohio’s higher education system. Ramaswamy has expressed support for increasing Public Funding for private school vouchers and consolidating some of Ohio’s public colleges and universities,”
A victory for Acton would make her the first female governor in Ohio history, and the first Democrat in the governor’s seat since 2011. However that possibility wouldn’t come without its caveats.
“Even if Acton wins and other Democrats perform well across the state, the Ohio General Assembly is still likely to remain under Republican control because the legislative maps strongly favor Republicans in the majority of House and Senate districts,” Eldredge said. “Acton would need to work with Republicans to accomplish her policy goals,”
For many students at the high school, this will be the first election they get to participate in, and many might have questions or uncertainties before heading to the polls.
“Depending on which county students live in, if you go to that county’s board of elections, they will have a sample ballot on their webpage that will show you every election you will be voting on,” Carmichael explained.
Election day is Nov. 3, but early voting has already begun. If you are 18 years of age or older, take advantage of your right as an American citizen and let your voice be heard by voting this midterm season.
Be the first to comment