Although the race for president of the United States of America has attracted world attention, the elections to 35 senate seats the same day, Tuesday, are also very important for whoever wins the White House.
Along with the president and 35 senators, US voters will vote to elect 438 representatives, including 3 non-voting ones from the District of Columbia.
The US Congress comprises the Senate, the upper chamber with 100 seats, and the House of Representatives with 435 active members. Senators are elected for a six-year term while the representatives are elected every two years. Elections are held to elect one third of the senators every two years.
Currently, the Republican Party controls the Senate by a 53-47 majority over the Democratic Party. The House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Congress, is controlled by the Democrats by 232-197 majority. The Democratic Party regained the control of the House of Representatives from the Republicans in the mid-term elections in 2018.
Out of 35 senate seats up for grabs on Tuesday, 12 are held by the Democrats and the remaining 23 by the Republicans.
In order to get a majority in the Senate, Democrats need to gain four seats from the Republicans. However, if the Biden-Harris ticket wins the presidency as being seen in the opinion polls, gaining three seats will be enough for the Democrats, as the sitting vice president can break the tie in senate votes.
According to opinion polls, the Democrats are likely to retain all but one of their 12 Senate seats while the Republicans may lose as high as about half a dozen seats to hand the control of the Senate over to their opponents.
The polls also say that the Democrats are set not only to retain the majority in the House of Representatives, but also to make some gains.
If Democratic candidate Joe Biden, who was also the vice president for eight years under the administration of Barack Obama, wins the presidency, the control of the Senate alongside the House of Representatives will be very important to pass legislation on key issues such as healthcare, immigration, social justice and climate change.
Even if Donald Trump is re-elected as the president, control of the Congress will be handy for the Democrats to keep the chief executive in check.