Congress also being elected in USA: Forecasts
Photo: US congressional elections will be held on November 5 (Getty Images)
On November 5, the United States will hold not only presidential elections but also elections to both houses of Congress. The allocation of aid to Ukraine depends on Congress, according to RBC-Ukraine article "Beyond Presidential race: Why 2024 US Congressional elections matter for Ukraine."
As noted in the article, in the House of Representatives, two dozen majority districts are being contested. The Democratic Party has a chance to regain the majority. In the Senate, on the contrary, Republicans may gain an advantage.
“There is a relatively small number of competitive electoral battles out of more than 400 seats in the House of Representatives that will ultimately determine control over this body,” Uriel Epshtein, executive director of the American nonprofit organization Renew Democracy Initiative, says in a commentary to RBC-Ukraine.
According to him, current polls show that the Republicans have a slight advantage over the Democrats in terms of control of the House of Representatives, but it is very close to fifty-fifty, and the party that wins is likely to have a fairly small majority.
According to The Cook Political Report, 205 electoral districts are guaranteed to be won by Democrats. The Republicans have 208 such districts.
The remaining 22 districts are in a primary race.
“It is expected that Republicans will win the Senate with a majority of a few seats. There are candidates from the Democratic Party at risk of losing seats, such as Jon Tester from Montana and Sherrod Brown from Ohio, and there will also be very close races in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin,” Epshtein says.
US Congress
The US Congress consists of two chambers: The Senate and the House of Representatives.
The Senate has 100 senators, two from each state. Senators are elected for six-year terms, with elections taking place every two years for approximately one-third of senators.
House of Representatives: Consists of 435 representatives, the number of which from each state is proportional to its population. Members of the House of Representatives are elected for two-year terms, and all 435 seats are up for re-election every two years.
Congressional elections are usually held on the first Monday of November in even-numbered years.
Republicans in the House of Representatives blocked the allocation of aid to Ukraine for six months. The decision was made only in April 2024, when support for $61 billion was provided.
The US presidential election will be held on November 5. Americans are choosing between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump.
Read more about why the US elections are important for Ukraine in RBC-Ukraine's article.
