WASHINGTON: Americans voted yesterday in key midterm elections expected to hand control of the Senate to Republicans, an outcome that would dash Barack Obama’s hopes for a productive final two years at the White House.
Many key races could go down to the wire, but polls suggest Republicans are on course to win the six Senate seats they would need to gain control of both chambers of Congress for the first time since 2006.
Democrats — who were working feverishly to draw voters to the polls in a last-gasp effort to stave off disaster — could lose Senate seats in as many as 10 states.
The party of an incumbent president historically fares badly in elections in the middle of his second term. Every president since Ronald Reagan has left office with the opposition party controlling Congress, and Obama is likely to be no different.
Republicans have successfully capitalised on Obama’s unpopularity to convince voters of a need for new leadership on Capitol Hill.
Democrats hold a 55 to 45 seat advantage in the Senate, where 36 seats are up for grabs. Republicans control the House of Representatives. AFP
