United States President Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama participate this Wednesday in campaign events in Ohio and Georgia, two states with decisive disputes in the midterm elections. The outcome of the vote will determine which party will control the US Congress for the next two years.
The campaign enters its final week amid Trump's declining popularity. Americans show growing dissatisfaction with the high cost of living and the war against Iran, factors that threaten the narrow Republican majority in the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Trump is expected to participate in an event alongside Republican Senator Jon Husted of Ohio, who is facing former Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown. The dispute is considered one of the most fierce in the country and could influence the maintenance of the Republican majority in the Senate, currently 53 to 47 seats.
In Georgia, Obama is expected to campaign alongside Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff, who faces Republican Representative Mike Collins. The state has seen fierce disputes in recent federal elections, and its last three Senate elections were decided in second rounds. This time, independent analysts consider that Ossoff is in a favorable position to win re-election.
Obama kept a relatively low public profile for much of the campaign, but returned to events last week with scathing speeches against his successor.
Democrats aim for majority in the House
Americans have been voting early for weeks. More than 36.4 million votes had already been recorded, according to the University of Florida Elections Laboratory.
In the 2022 midterm elections, held during the administration of Democrat Joe Biden, 45.9 million Americans voted early.
Independent analysts consider that Democrats have a good chance of winning a majority in the House of Representatives. The race for the Senate, however, is seen as more difficult, as the party needs to win seats in traditionally Republican states, such as Ohio, Iowa and Alaska, to reach the 51 seats needed to control the House.
In Pennsylvania, four tight House races are expected to play an important role in defining the majority. The state also reflects the discontent of part of the electorate with the Republicans.
"I think the Republican Party has lost touch with reality. They don't understand what's really going on, and they seem to have broken their promises to the people," said Joshua Brazezicke, 26, a real estate manager who recently changed his voter registration from independent to Democrat.
Candidates mobilize allies in Michigan
In Michigan, Republican Mike Rogers and Democrat Abdul El-Sayed are vying for the Senate seat that will be vacated by Democratic Senator Gary Peters.
The two candidates count on the support of prominent allies to mobilize voters in the final stretch of the campaign.
Rogers campaigned this Wednesday alongside Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas. The two participated in a four-stop bus tour that ended in Imlay City, northeast of Detroit.
El-Sayed, meanwhile, had an evening voter mobilization rally scheduled with Peters and Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin in Downriver, southwest of Detroit.
Trump steps up action on election rules
In the final weeks of the campaign, Trump announced measures to try to reduce energy prices and promised billions of dollars in direct payments to millions of Americans. The president is also seeking to mobilize supporters of the MAGA movement, his political base, in rural areas of states where he has electoral strength, but where participation is often a challenge in midterm elections.
At the same time, the Republican intensified actions related to electoral rules. Trump claims, without evidence, that his defeat in the 2020 presidential election was the result of widespread fraud.
Since returning to the presidency, his administration has issued more than 100 subpoenas to state and local election officials in at least 12 states, demanding records from tens of thousands of voters, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, a judge expressed skepticism about a Justice Department request to stop California from counting mail-in votes from more than 20,000 registered voters who the federal government says are not U.S. citizens.
Campaign finance registration system is down
Another problem in the final stretch of the election involves the Federal Election Commission's (FEC) electronic registration system, which had been down for more than 24 hours after the agency disabled it on Monday night to contain a security breach.
The commission said it was working to resolve the problem. The interruption prevented those responsible for campaign financing from submitting expenditure reports on time, making it difficult for voters to access information about who finances the candidacies and how the resources are used.
