US Midterm Vote Count Begins With Democrats Poised to Retake House, Senate in Tight Race

Vote counting in the US midterm elections moved into full swing after polls closed in parts of the country.

Bloomberg reported on Nov. 3 that voting had ended in Georgia and South Carolina, with polls also closing by region in Florida, New Hampshire, Virginia and Kentucky. The election amounts to a midterm assessment of President Donald Trump’s first two years in office.

The biggest issue in the race is high inflation and the rising cost of living. Fuel prices that surged after the war between Iran and Israel appear to have added to voter frustration. In a survey by The Associated Press and polling firm SSRS, about 75% of voters said they were angry or dissatisfied with the direction of the Trump administration. About 60% cited Trump’s policies as a cause of high prices.

In the House of Representatives, Democrats are poised to reclaim the majority. The party needs to gain just three seats from its current total to take control. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report projected Democrats could pick up an additional 15 to 25 seats in the House.

The Senate remains harder to call. Democrats need to flip four Republican-held seats to win the majority. Republicans are also locked in close races in traditional strongholds such as Kansas, Texas, Alaska and South Carolina. Final results in some areas could take weeks because of mail ballot counts and ranked-choice voting.

The outcome will shape how the Trump administration governs from here. If Democrats take either the House or the Senate, congressional investigations into Trump and his allies could widen. The two parties would also be forced into negotiations on major fiscal issues, including government funding and the national debt ceiling.

Financial markets are watching for possible policy shifts tied to the results. Digital assets and the defense industry are among the sectors where changes in regulation and government spending could hinge on the balance of power in Congress. Even so, US stocks edged higher on the day, supported by a rebound in artificial intelligence-related technology shares.

Some battleground areas are also facing the prospect of legal disputes over the results. In Alaska, litigation is under way over certification of the Senate race, while legal fights over ballot handling continued in California. Attention is now focused on vote counts in key swing areas and on when control of Congress will be decided.