By The Bald Eagle
WASHINGTON D.C. (CWBN)_ All eyes are on Donald Trump and Joe Biden. But there are other crucial elections also taking place on 3rd November, including a titanic struggle for control of Congress – America’s parliament – comprised of the Senate (upper house) and the House of Representatives (lower house). This control is vital for the President to easily exercise the massive powers of the Oval Office.
All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are being voted on, as well as 35 of the 100 seats in the Senate. Biden’s Democratic Party currently controls the lower house with 232 seats to 198 by Trump’s Republicans (1 seat is held by the Libertarian Party). The Republicans however have a 53-45 majority in the Senate (with 2 independent Senators who have allied with the Democrats). Republicans have controlled the Senate since 2014, while the Democrats won control of the House of Representatives in 2018.
The U.S. Presidency is a powerful position, but a hostile Congress can block practically every executive order, as President Barack Obama found out for part of his 8-year term.
Also at stake on November 3 are 11 of the 50 Governorships of the individual states. Each Governor wields enormous power over his own state, including powers to call out the National Guard (an arm of the U.S. military) in times of crisis.
In addition, 44 of the 50 states are also electing lawmakers to their state legislatures on Nov. 3, with 5,876 of the 7,383 total state seats up for grabs in 86 of the 99 state legislatures.
