It’s the first full week of October and most keen political observers are watching the British political crises playing out in the UK.
The UK is in some ways similar, with various dramas playing out here.
Brits hear a lot about US politics and the upcoming midterm elections which are a month from Saturday (Tuesday 8 November as US elections are held on Tuesdays!)
So what are the midterm US elections?
There are 535 members of Congress, which means 435 US members of House of Representatives (Congress), 100 members of the US Senate.
The 435 members of House of Representatives (Congress) serve for 2 years so all Representatives are up for re-election or election(if incumbent is not running again).
The US Senate ( Senators) serve for 6 years so approximately one third of the Senate are up for elections.
Currently the Democrats have a majority of US House of Representatives, hence the Speaker of House is a Democrat and all committee chairs are democrats.
Currently the US Senate is held by democrats, with a narrow majority.
The contest essentially is who will control the Senate and US House of Representatives (US Congress)
The US President and Vice President serve for a fixed 4 year term, the next Presidential election is scheduled for November 2024.
One final note
Congressmen or Congresswomen are based on population. A smaller state like my home state of Connecticut has 5 Congress members and a heavily populated state like California has over 50. However, each state, regardless of population, has 2 Senators which means Connecticut has 2 US Senators as does California.
Hope this is helpful comparing and contrasting UK and US politics.
Meanwhile I will be following the national UK political drama until 8 November!
Peter Jurzynski,
Naugatuck,
Connecticut
USA