On average, the US president’s political party loses 28 seats in the House of Representatives and four Senate seats in their first midterm elections. While votes continue to be tallied, early results indicate that President Joe Biden’s Democratic Party has, at the very least, done far better than average.
Unlike Bill Clinton’s first midterm in 1994, or Barack Obama’s first in 2010, early results make clear that these midterm elections were by no means a “shellacking” for Biden’s Democratic Party. This is an all the more remarkable outcome in light of levels of inflation and interest rates that have not been seen in decades. Biden now faces the prospect of a slim Republican majority in the House of Representatives, and a Senate that may even retain Democratic control.
