The 2022 midterm elections are only a few months away and a recent poll shows that likely voters see the elections as a referendum of President Joe Biden’s agenda rather than local issues or candidates.
On election day, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 seats in the Senate are up for reelection throughout the country. Currently Democrats have a small majority in the House and are evenly split in the Senate with the Democrat Vice President, Kamala Harris having the final say to break a tie.
In a recent poll from Rasmussen of 1,000 likely voters in the United States, 46% of respondents viewed the midterm elections as a referendum of Biden while only 40% viewed the upcoming election on local issues or individual candidates. The remaining 14% of respondents were undecided.
When viewing the poll through a political lens, 60% of Republicans, 40% of Democrats and 38% of politically unaffiliated voters agreed that the midterms are referendum on Biden’s agenda while 49% of Democrats, 24% of Republicans and 46% of unaffiliated voters view the upcoming elections as local issue or voting on an individual candidate.
50% of all respondents believed if Republicans gained many seats in Congress then Biden must reevaluate his political agenda to the majority of the country.
After most President’s first term in office, it is common for their party to lose seats in the midterms. President Donald Trump lost 41 House seats in 2018 and President Obama lost 69 House and Senate seats in 2010.
It is common for presidents to have their party lose seats in the midterms held in their first term. In 2018 under President Donald Trump, Republicans lost 41 House seats in Congress while gaining two Senate seats. In 2010 under President Barack Obama, Democrats lost 69 House and Senate seats
According to Real Clear Politics, the “Battle for the House” election tracker has 218 seats leaning/likely GOP, while 183 seats are leaning/likely Democrat leaving only 34 races as too close to call.