Capitol District

November 2^nd, 2010 will mark the 112th time the United States citizens will head to the polls to elect their new congressmen to represent their voice on the federal level. On this election Tuesday, all 441 seats in the House of Representatives will be up for grabs, comprised of 435 voting members, 5 non-voting delegates and 1 resident commissioner.In addition to the house spots, over a full third of the Senate spots will also be contested on election night, 34 out of total 100 (2 senators per state x 50 states). Three more special election Senate races will also be held in the states of Delaware, Illinois and West Virginia, that otherwise be up for election in another year, bringing the total to 37. For example, in the state of Delaware, the Senate seat vacated by Joe Biden in order to serve in his Vice President capacity has been sitting vacant since January 2009, with the term not set to expire until January of 2015.Barring such considerations, the Senate operates in a regularly scheduled election rotation. Senators are elected to 6-year terms, but the voting is staggered every 2 years. In this manner, approximately one third comes up for election every 2 years with each seat coming into question every six. This helps to provide some consistency from year to year as a minimum of 66 of the group could potentially be new senators, assuming no incumbents are reelected.House and Senate elections always coincide with one another, held every even numbered year on the first Tuesday of November, so long as that Tuesday follows a Monday in the month. The lone exception would be a Tuesday November 1^st, during which no election would take place, instead waiting until November 8^th. House of Representative members serve just 2-year terms, making matching election dates possible. While only a third of the Senate find themselves suddenly opposed, the entire House of Representatives must campaign every other year, save for one sole member. The Resident Commissioner of the House of Representatives serves a 4-year term, representing the interests of Puerto Rico as a territorial delegate.Heading into the 112th Congressional elections, the Democrats have had a favorable advantage since November 4, 2008, when not only was Barack Obama famously elected President of the United States, but the entire party benefited from an impressive voter turnout. As it currently sits, the House of Representatives is comprised of 225 democrats, 178 Republicans and 2 vacancies. The Senate skews even more heavily to the left, with 59 current members claiming Democratic allegiances to just 41 Republicans.Congressional elections can be a great barometer to judge the nation’s satisfaction with the work of the President thus far. Less subjective than approval ratings, in many cases state federal races will be greatly influenced by voter’s opinions of the man in the Oval Office, either more or less likely to vote for the candidate in his corresponding party depending on their perception of his body of work. It remains to be seen whether Obama and the Democrats will hold their substantial ground in both houses or whether Republican initiatives over the past 2 years have been effective in swaying public opinion to the right, largely based on concerns surrounding the President’s budget and spending in a fragile economy.