US midterm campaign ends amid tensions as control of Congress hangs in balance

The US midterm election campaign entered its final day Monday with the tension high as Democrats and Republicans took to the campaign trail for the final time before Tuesday’s vote, which could redefine the last two years of Donald Trump’s presidency.

All 435 House of Representatives seats and 35 of the 100 seats in the Senate are up for grabs. Democrats are expected to take back the House of Representatives but will find it more difficult to win the Senate, Reuters reported.

“If our people vote, we win in a landslide,” Trump told his Republican supporters.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll found 46% of registered voters backed Democrats in congressional elections, compared with 38% for Republicans. Early voting had also reached a record 57 million ballots.

The race in Michigan was especially tense. Democrat Abdul El-Sayed is trying to make history as the first Muslim elected to the US Senate, and his Republican opponent, Mike Rogers, has been pounding him for his political positions.

Other challenges to elections came in California, where the US Supreme Court denied the Trump administration’s bid to stop the counting of mail-in ballots from more than 20,000 registered voters.

A Democratic victory in either chamber could strengthen congressional scrutiny of Trump’s administration and constrain his legislative agenda.