AFP, Washington :
As the US midterm election campaign enters the final stretch before Tuesday’s vote, many races are too close to call but most polls have Democrats seizing control of the House of Representatives-and Republicans clinging on to the Senate.
President Donald Trump is ratcheting up the rhetoric and campaigning furiously as he seeks to hold on to the Republican majorities in the two chambers of Congress.
All 435 seats in the House are up for grabs on Tuesday while 35 seats in the 100-member Senate are at stake. Americans will choose new governors in 36 states. Republicans currently have a slim 51-49 hold on the Senate, where Democrats have a tough hill to climb with 26 Democratic seats on the ballot, while Republicans must only defend nine.
Democrats need a net gain of 23 seats to take control of the House they lost in 2010, and House minority leader Nancy Pelosi predicted this week they would do so.
“Democrats will carry the House,” Pelosi said on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” while also forecasting victory in the Senate.
Political forecasting outlet FiveThirtyEight.com gives Democrats a 5 in 6, or 84.5 percent, chance of gaining control of the House but only a 1 in 7, or roughly 15 percent, chance of winning the Senate.
As election day approaches and with turnout a major factor, Trump has sought to drive Republicans to the polls and rekindle the enthusiasm of his successful 2016 presidential bid.
“I’m not on the ticket, but I am on the ticket because this is also a referendum about me,” he said at a rally last month in Mississippi. “Pretend I’m on the ballot.” Trump has scheduled 10 campaign rallies over the next five days in eight states-Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginia. Trump has dialed up the rhetoric on immigration, issuing dire warnings about caravans of Central American migrants heading to the US border with Mexico.
Claiming the caravans include “very bad thugs and gang members,” Trump has ordered 5,000 active-duty troops to the border and said he is considering sending up to 15,000. “This isn’t an innocent group of people,” Trump said Thursday. “This is an invasion.”
Trump also posted a political ad on his Twitter account on Wednesday that shows a Mexican man boasting about killing police officers and includes the caption “Democrats let him into the country.”
As the US midterm election campaign enters the final stretch before Tuesday’s vote, many races are too close to call but most polls have Democrats seizing control of the House of Representatives-and Republicans clinging on to the Senate.
President Donald Trump is ratcheting up the rhetoric and campaigning furiously as he seeks to hold on to the Republican majorities in the two chambers of Congress.
All 435 seats in the House are up for grabs on Tuesday while 35 seats in the 100-member Senate are at stake. Americans will choose new governors in 36 states. Republicans currently have a slim 51-49 hold on the Senate, where Democrats have a tough hill to climb with 26 Democratic seats on the ballot, while Republicans must only defend nine.
Democrats need a net gain of 23 seats to take control of the House they lost in 2010, and House minority leader Nancy Pelosi predicted this week they would do so.
“Democrats will carry the House,” Pelosi said on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” while also forecasting victory in the Senate.
Political forecasting outlet FiveThirtyEight.com gives Democrats a 5 in 6, or 84.5 percent, chance of gaining control of the House but only a 1 in 7, or roughly 15 percent, chance of winning the Senate.
As election day approaches and with turnout a major factor, Trump has sought to drive Republicans to the polls and rekindle the enthusiasm of his successful 2016 presidential bid.
“I’m not on the ticket, but I am on the ticket because this is also a referendum about me,” he said at a rally last month in Mississippi. “Pretend I’m on the ballot.” Trump has scheduled 10 campaign rallies over the next five days in eight states-Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginia. Trump has dialed up the rhetoric on immigration, issuing dire warnings about caravans of Central American migrants heading to the US border with Mexico.
Claiming the caravans include “very bad thugs and gang members,” Trump has ordered 5,000 active-duty troops to the border and said he is considering sending up to 15,000. “This isn’t an innocent group of people,” Trump said Thursday. “This is an invasion.”
Trump also posted a political ad on his Twitter account on Wednesday that shows a Mexican man boasting about killing police officers and includes the caption “Democrats let him into the country.”
