With three days to go before the US midterm elections, Democrats are leading national polls as millions of Americans cast their ballots early. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has announced he will carry on with his campaigns in Kansas and Iowa as both parties make their final push ahead of Election Day on Tuesday. According to RealClearPolling’s latest national congressional ballot average, Democrats still lead Republicans by 8.2 percentage points.
Democrats lead by 51.4 percent to 43.2 percent. A separate Economist/YouGov survey released on Thursday found that 44 percent of registered voters expect Democrats to control the House of Representatives after the election, compared with 31 percent who expect Republicans to retain control. Expectations were much closer for the Senate, with 39 percent expecting a Democratic majority and 36 percent a Republican one.
Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, told Al Jazeera that the Democratic lead in national polling suggests a different picture for the two chambers. That’s nearly 10 million more than at the same point before the 2022 midterms, with some of the biggest increases recorded in states having competitive Senate races. In Texas, more than 6.3 million people had voted early as of Wednesday, compared with 4.2 million at the same point in 2022, an increase of 50 percent.
Al Jazeera’s Phil Lavelle reported from Houston on Friday that voters were continuing to arrive at polling stations as the state’s early voting period was drawing to a close. In Georgia, more than 2.5 million ballots had been cast by Friday morning, surpassing the 2.3 million recorded during the early voting period in 2022, according to Al Jazeera’s Matthew Torres. Torres reported long queues at an Atlanta polling station and more participation among young voters.
Another young voter pointed to social media as a reason for the increased interest in the election. Social media and the media has put voting in the limelight,” the voter said. Democratic political strategist Celinda Lake said many voters were looking for change.
Early voting also increased by more than 30 percent compared with the same period in 2022 in Maine, Michigan, North Carolina and Kansas, according to the AP analysis. However, early turnout figures don’t show which candidates voters have chosen or what the final results will be. Trump reversed his decision to cancel two weekend rallies in Kansas and Iowa, with the White House confirming that both events would go ahead on Sunday.
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