President Trump’s four-year term is nearly at its midpoint, which means we will be seeing 33 seats of the Senate and the entire House up for reelection this November. The elections could not come at a more tense time in Congress. Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court appointment has just been confirmed, and parties on both sides have been working to energize their bases around the issue. Many early polls project Republican control of the Senate, but Democratic control of the House. A situation with a Republican president and a Democratic Congress is referred to as a “divided government.”

Looking ahead, the Republicans seem unlikely to lose control of the Senate, as only 9 incumbents will be required to run for reelection this year, whereas the Democrats must maintain the positions of 24 senators. Sophomore Harrison Madnick identifies as mainly moderate and is uncertain about whom he wants to win. Sophomore Shevya Panda identifies as leaning Democrat and believes that “because the political climate is towards the Democrats, they have a pretty good chance.” Shevya views this potential victory as important because it will bring new issues into discussion, such as women’s and LGBT+ rights. Harrison agreed with this idea, stating that, “many new issues might be brought to the table, and depending on who’s in charge might affect those issues”. Overall, Shevya and Harrison agreed that because Robinson is comprised of such a large and diverse student body, this election will have impacts on students all across the school. Speaking about whether students should care about these elections, Harrison stated, “absolutely, we are inheriting this country, so let’s not mess it up.” This was a sentiment Shevya agreed with by asserting, “I think students should care because once we are able to vote we will have a better understanding of the way things work and our political opinions.”

Robert Marston is a current government teacher at Robinson. After the widespread voter apathy we saw in the 2016 presidential election, Marston believes that we will see an abnormally high turnout in comparison to general midterm elections. Specifically, Marston believes that women will turn out in greater numbers than we have seen before, due to the temperment of the president and possibility of overturning Roe V. Wade because of Justice Kavanaugh’s successful appointment. In terms of the effects of Kavanaugh’s successful appointment to the Supreme Court, Marston doesn’t believe one side will necessarily benefit. Marston notes that “the President said he was going to do some things when he was a candidate, and one of the big items was aligning the Supreme Court to be more conservative, and he has done that”, but, at the same time, there are a lot of voters on the left who will turn out in opposition to the appointment.

Specific races, such as Ted Cruz against Beto O’Rourke in Texas, have received a lot of attention, but Marston notes that there are a myriad of close races which are equally important. Ultimately, Marston believes that the House will flip to Democratic majority, while the Senate will likely remain the same. Over the last 2 years, the House, Senate, and Presidency have all been held by the Republicans. However, if the House were to flip, Marston believes that the most effective approach for Democrats would be to avoid an aggressive, attacking strategy, and instead opt to “cross the aisle” in an attempt to achieve effective legislation. Marston cited former congressman Henry Waxman, who advised against a “fishing expedition” (as he described it) of this manner. While President Trump has, in the past, displayed an aggressive temperament when it comes to pushing conservative legislation, Marston stated that President Trump has generally stated that he will go along with the opinions of Congress, and that Trump may continue to do so if a Democratic majority takes hold.