President Donald Trump will not appear on Tuesday’s ballot, but his presidency faces a national judgment that could cost Republicans control of Congress, trigger investigations into his administration, and give Democrats the power to challenge policies that have angered voters from Pennsylvania to Arizona.
Americans enter the Nov. 3 midterms confronting expensive groceries, immigration crackdowns, economic uncertainty and a White House whose aggressive use of presidential authority has repeatedly drawn legal challenges. Democrats need a net gain of four seats in each chamber to take control, with the House appearing more vulnerable to a Republican defeat than the Senate.
“I saw my vote today as trying to put the brakes on just the madness,” Arthur Horner, a 59-year-old businessman whose food importing company has suffered under Trump’s tariffs, told reporters after voting for Democrats.
Washington Prepares for New Leadership
In D.C., where federal decisions can override the wishes of locally elected officials, voters are preparing to replace two of the District’s longest-serving political leaders while remaining powerless to elect a voting member of Congress.
District Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) is leaving office after 12 years, and congressional Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton is retiring after 35 years representing a city whose residents pay federal taxes but have no voting representation on Capitol Hill.
Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George (D), a Democratic socialist who defeated the party establishment in June’s mayoral primary, faces independent Rhonda Hamilton and Statehood Green Party candidate Robert L. Gross.
Lewis George has promised to confront federal interference in District affairs, a position that has already provoked Trump, who threatened to take control of Washington if she became mayor.
Her campaign has focused on affordable housing, childcare, public transportation and economic relief for working families. She would inherit a city confronting federal job losses, financial pressures and disputes over immigration enforcement.
Councilmember Robert C. White Jr., a former Norton aide, is favored to become the District’s next nonvoting congressional delegate. He faces Republican Denise Rosado and Statehood Green candidate Kymone Freeman.
White announced plans to resign from the Council effective Monday after legal concerns arose over a law prohibiting candidates from holding paid public office on Election Day.
The former mayoral candidate said he abandoned another campaign for the city’s highest office to defend Washington from federal interference.
“We may not have a vote yet, I don’t even have the seat yet, but we are already making a huge impact,” White wrote on X on Sept. 6.
Democrats Fight Trump and Each Other
The Democratic effort to regain congressional power suffered an extraordinary rupture in Michigan, where Rep. Haley Stevens endorsed Republican Mike Rogers over Abdul El-Sayed, the Democrat who defeated her in the Senate primary.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer called Stevens’ endorsement a “despicable betrayal,” exposing divisions within a party attempting to capitalize on public dissatisfaction with Trump.
Democrats are campaigning against tariffs, immigration enforcement, rising living costs and Republican efforts to protect the president from congressional scrutiny. Republicans are defending their economic and border policies while warning that Democratic victories would obstruct Trump’s agenda.
In Arizona, David Lee, 63, a former Republican voter, told the AP that the administration’s treatment of immigrants had pushed him toward Democratic candidates.
“Nobody wants open borders, but you’re treating these people without due process, sending people to countries they don’t even belong to,” Lee said. “There are no more rules.”
A Capital Without a Vote in Congress
District polling places open Tuesday at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. Voters will also decide contests for attorney general, Council seats, school board positions and a ballot initiative restricting the sale of foie gras produced through force-feeding birds.
A Democratic congressional victory could provide Washington with stronger allies in disputes over home rule, federal policing and local spending. Republican victories would preserve Trump’s ability to advance legislation with congressional support.
For Linda Markle, a 72-year-old Democrat, the election has become a judgment about the country’s character and the hostility she believes Trump has encouraged.
“All people do now is just hate each other,” Markle told reporters, adding that Trump “seems to have given them the courage to go ahead and be like that. … The division is horrible, absolutely horrible, and I can’t wait to see the back of him.”
