America to vote for midterms, a crucial challenge between Biden and Trump. With a look to 2024

America celebrates the expected, customary

voting rite , the mid-term elections, once again showing the

that has divided the country for years.

The elections with which the

of Representatives (435 deputies), a third of the

(35 senators out of 100) and dozens of elected offices at the state and local level are renewed have always been seen as

on the incumbent president and his match.

A first fact is certain:

Americans

(in advance), surpassing the 2018 record, according to the US Elections Project website.

A number not to be underestimated, since

.

The weight of the vote changes according to the representative assembly that is going to draw.

In the case of the lower house, the ballot reflects the popular will more proportionally, as each state elects a number of deputies relative to its population (California, the most populous state, elects 53 representatives).

For the upper house each state (even on different dates) elects two senators.

Currently,

: 50 to 50 in the Senate (but the vote of Vice President

tipped the bar in favor of the dem).

In the Chamber, the Democratic Party can count on 222 deputies, ten more than the 212 Republicans (one seat is vacant).

Ap

President Biden seeks "confirmation" of his economic policies in these elections

Biden's unknowns

The unknowns are not few:

reaches the challenge penalized by a hostile economic scenario, with

, gasoline prices that have returned to rise and with the general perception by citizens that the country is going in the wrong direction, despite the excellent performance of

.

What seemed to be a key issue for Democrats,

, according to polls, is no longer at the top of the priorities of independent voters, able to shift the balance of the vote, outclassed by the theme of the economy.

Not even the other argument used insistently by the president and by many dem candidates during the election campaign, that of "

”represented by a victory for

, seems to have breached.

gettyimages

A Donald Trump rally in Florida

The great return of Trump

The vote will also be a referendum on

and his future presidential goals.

The tycoon in some key states for the control of the Senate, such as Georgia and Pennsylvania, has fielded "his" candidates, in a challenge not only to the Democrats, but also to the moderate wing of the Republicans, often defeated in the primary.

Among other things (a disconcerting aspect if you stop and think), both the Trumpian candidates and the former president himself, insist on the mantra of the illegitimacy of Biden's election two years ago, convinced that the current tenant of the White House is a usurper and that his victory was obtained "by fraud".

It is a firm belief even in the conservative electorate closest to the New York billionaire and it is safe to bet that this aspect will also play a decisive role in the results of the vote.

Trump, in the last days of the election campaign, wanted to anticipate the outcome of the game, suggesting that "

" he

for the 2024 presidential elections. "

" he told his supporters, careless of the many

that weigh on his shoulders: from the attempt to subvert the result of 2020 to the role in the

on January 6, 2021;

from

seized from his Florida residence, stolen from the White House before leaving Pennsylvania avenue, to

of its companies, which the New York Prosecutor's Office is investigating.

Joe Raedle / Getty Image

Trump in Miami, Florida on November 6

Predictions: Republican victory in the House, head to head in the Senate

The two rivals, Biden and Trump, have nonetheless shown optimism in their latest appearances.

"We will win," the president said, despite polls suggesting a

.

Trump instead assured his supporters that "we will take back the House, we will take back the Senate and, in 2024, we will take back the White House".

And if the tycoon's candidacy is expected to become official in the aftermath of the vote, pressure is also increasing on Biden to dissolve the reserve and announce his intentions to run for the next presidential elections.

It is no mystery that the progressive wing of the Dems would prefer the elderly president (he will turn 80 in a few days) step aside, to give way to a new generation of candidates.

The support of the United States, hitherto largely bipartisan, for Ukraine could also depend on the outcome of the vote.

The leader of the Republican minority in the House,

, said in recent days that in the event of victory, the Republicans will no longer sign "blank checks for Kiev".

If the US pivot were to crack, the rest of the anti-Russian alliance, painstakingly built by the Biden administration in the international forum, could also begin to creak.

's statements arouse particular concern

, the founder of the paramilitary group Wagner, in reference to the elections in the United States.

“We have interfered, we are interfering and we will interfere.

Gently, carefully, surgically and in our own way, ”Prigozhin said.

Yet another way to add fuel to the fire, exasperate the spirits and divide even more an already torn country.

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Electoral placard for the midterm vote

Challenges for State Governors

These crucial mid-term elections provide for the renewal of elective assemblies and the office of governor for many states (36 out of 50).

Here are the main duels, of great political significance.

New York

: in the blue stronghold of the Empire State, outgoing governor

is in trouble against

, the Republican rival pro-Trump.

Georgia

: spotlight on the all-black challenge between Democrat

, pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta (where he inherited Martin Luther King's pulpit) and Trumpian republican

, former anti-abortion football player, accused by two women for having pushed them to interrupt their pregnancies, paying them with fragrant checks.

Another crucial battle is that for the role of governor, for which the Democrat

challenges

again .

Pennsylvania

: the seat in the Senate is contested by the candidate supported by Donald Trump, the medical star-TV

("Dr. Oz") and the Democratic deputy governor

, the "good giant" who suffered a stroke in recent months.

For the role of governor, the challenge is between right-wing Senator

, an iron Trumpian, and

Democratic Attorney General

.

Nevada

: The close challenge in the Senate is between Democrat

, the first Latin elected to the Senate in American history, and the Republican backed by Trump and supporter of the thesis "elections stolen in 2020"

.

Decisive in this match will be the vote of the Hispanics.

Arizona

: the main duel is for the role of governor between the Democrat

and the Republican

, former star of the small screen by some defined "a Trump in the female version".

Republican

clashes for a seat in the Senate with

, former NASA astronaut husband of Congressman Gabby Giffords.

Ohio

: the battle at the last vote for the Senate is between Democratic Congressman

and Republican financier

, who hit the headlines for his book that later became a Netflix film

.

Vance has long been identified as a "

" but recently retraced his steps and embraced his theories.

Wisconsin : Republican

, who voted against the certification of Biden's election victory, and dem

, defined by far-left conservatives,

are contending for the seat for the Senate .

Getty Images

United States President Joe Biden speaks at a rally for New York Governor-in-Office Kathy Hochul

The challenges of the referendums

American voters will also vote on a series of referendums.

These are the main questions submitted for their consideration.

Abortion

: termination of pregnancy, after overturning the ruling of the Supreme Court Roe v.

Wade, is one of the hot topics on which citizens of five states are called to vote, namely

,

,

,

and

.

In Michigan and Vermont voters are asked if they want to include abortion rights in state law, while Kentucky asks if the state constitution should be changed to explicitly state that it does not guarantee the right to abortion.

Legalization of marijuana:

The question will appear on ballot papers in five states, four of which are traditionally conservative, highlighting the increasingly bipartisan support for legalization.

Voters will decide whether

can be legally used by adults in

,

,

,

, and

.

Voting

: Various

will be subject to referendums in

.

Nevada would establish classified-choice voting for congressional elections and some state voting, meaning instead of voting for just one candidate, voters cast their preferences in order of up to five.

In Ohio and Louisiana, on the other hand, decisions are being made whether to ban non-citizens from voting in local elections, while in Arizona and Nebraska, stricter identification requirements for voters are being considered.

And Connecticut will rule on a constitutional amendment to allow early voting in person.

Slavery

: Five states (

,

,

,

and

) will decide whether to eliminate from their constitutions the language that allowed slavery as a form of punishment in prisons, an exception to the 13th Amendment that abolished it more than 150 years ago .