(CNN Spanish) — This 2022 the midterm elections in the United Stateselections that are held every two years (or every half of the presidential term) and are crucial for the direction the country will take, not only because the control of the Republican and Democratic parties in Congress is redefined, but also because they are considered a kind of referendum on the presidency of Joe Biden.
Also 36 states will elect new governors, which might change the political map of the country.
At the center of these mid-term elections are, without a doubt, the economic uncertainty derived from the high inflation caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine combined with exhaustion from the coronavirus pandemic. The issue of abortion has also fully entered the campaigns following the Supreme Court ruling that annulled Roe vs. Wade and that leaves this right in the hands of state laws. There is of course the immigration issue and a Donald Trump who is contemplating a possible return to the White House, laying the foundations for his support for some candidates in the Republican primaries.
Parliamentary election
A third of the Senate and the entire House of Representatives will be renewed on November 8 in the midterm elections. Or to put it in concrete numbers: there are 34 of the 100 seats in the Senate and 435 vacancies in the House of Representatives.
The Senate is now split, 50 Republicans and 50 Democrats, with Vice President Kamala Harris’ vote breaking the tie. There are four Democrats running in the states Biden won in 2020: Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and New Hampshire. Republicans have incumbents seeking re-election in Wisconsin and Florida, and are defending three open seats in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Ohio.
In the House of Representatives, Republicans need to win five seats to gain control. If this happens, the Democratic Party would lose the majority it achieved in 2018, which it has held ever since, and which has allowed it since passing impeachment or impeachment Donald Trump until creating a select commission that investigates the assault on the Capitol by supporters of the former president.
Governors and local offices
Of the 50 states, there are currently 27 Republican governors and 23 Democratic governors. Of the 50 states, 36 are in contention this November, including several that might play a significant role in the 2024 election.
Beyond the gubernatorial race, the state races for secretary of state and attorney general will receive unprecedented attention as the battle over how elections are handled intensifies following the 2020 campaign.
Primary elections
The prelude to the midterm elections in the United States began last March with the Texas primaries, a process that will conclude more than 6 months later, on September 13, in Delaware, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.
In the primaries, voters decide who will be the Republican and Democratic candidates who will be running for a seat or for re-election to the Senate and the House of Representatives in the general or midterm elections.
So far, these are the states that primary elections have been held:
March 1st: Texas
May 3: Indiana at Ohio
May 10: Nebraska at West Virginia
May 17: Idaho, Kentucky, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania
May 24: Alabama, Arkansas and Georgia
June 7: California, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, South Dakota
June 14: Maine, Nevada, North Dakota, South Carolina
June 21: District of Columbia, Virginia
June 28: Colorado, Illinois, New York, Oklahoma, Utah
And these are the states that primary elections remain to be helduntil now:
July 19: Maryland
Aug. 2: Arizona, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri and Washington
4th August: Tennessee
9 de agosto: Connecticut, Minnesota, Vermont, Wisconsin
August 13: Hawaii
August 16: Alaska, Wyoming
August 23: Florida
Sept. 6: Massachussetts
September 13: Delaware, New Hampshire and Rhode Island
With reporting from CNN’s Terence Burlij, Melissa Holzberg DePalo and Ethan Cohen