US Midterms: Here Is a List of Key US House, Senate and Gubernatorial Races

American voters on Tuesday will turn up at the polling booth as the entire House of Representatives and one-third of the House of Senate is up for reelection along with key gubernatorial races.

The outcome of these midterm elections are crucial as it could affect the 2024 Presidential Elections where former US president and Republican leader Donald Trump is eyeing a comeback and Florida’s Republican governor Ron DeSantis is planning to take on both Trump and Biden.

Here is a list of key races – House of Representatives, Gubernatorial and Senate – and the key contenders:

Key US House of Representatives Races:

• California: In California’s race for 22nd Congressional District House of Representatives, David Valadao, the incumbent will face Democrat challenger Rudy Salas. Valadao did not find help from former US president Trump on his reelection campaign as he was one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach him at the January 6 Capitol Hill riots trial
• Michigan: Democrat Elissa Slotkin will face Republican Tom Barrett in the race for Michigan’s 7th Congressional District. Experts and analysts are unclear as to who may win the race.
• New Jersey: New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District is up for election and experts are also unclear as to who will be declared winner of this election as Democrat Tom Malinowski is headed for a rematch with Republican Thomas Kean Jr. The district is a swing district and has swung back and forth between Republican and Democratic party candidates.

Key Gubernatorial Races

• Arizona: The Arizona race for the Senate has heated up as Donald Trump campaigned several times for Republican Kari Lake, who pushes the former president’s claim that the election was stolen from him and also appeared with QAnon conspiracy theorists. She faces Democrat Katie Hobbs who is currently Arizona’s secretary of state. Hobbs faces a tough task as Lake’s campaign gained momentum in the final phases.
• Georgia: Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams is aiming to become the state’s and the US first female black governor but faces a challenge from state’s current governor Brian Kemp. She lost by 55,000 votes the last time and experts say a similar outcome is likely this midterms as well.
• Florida: The Florida gubernatorial race is a chance for incumbent governor Ron DeSantis to test his ground as he eyes the US President’s role come 2024. Analysts say he will easily defeat Democrat challenger Charlie Crist and secure his reelection bid.

Key Senate Races

• Arizona: Arizona Republican Blake Masters who has called for a federal bitcoin reserve and pushed Trump’s claim that the election was stolen from him will go head-to-head against gun control activist and Arizona’s Democratic senator and retired astronaut Mark Kelly.
• Georgia: Former NFL running back Herschel Walker, backed by Donald Trump, is taking on preacher Raphael Warnock. The footballer-turned-politician’s introduction to politics through the Republicans shows the party wants to woo Black American voters, who in a record turnout in 2018 elected Warnock and made him the state’s first-ever black senator. The race is close and experts remain divided on who may win.
• Pennsylvania: Democrat leader Jon Fetterman was almost declared winner here until he suffered a stroke and Trump-backed Republican and Oprah Winfrey Show’s Mehmet Oz’s campaign gained steam. Experts say it is a close race but the health condition of Fetterman may have impacted this race where Dr Oz is emerging as a winner.
• Ohio: Republican candidate and author JD Vance is going head-to-head against Democratic Party candidate Tim Ryan. The race is close as Tim Ryan, a 10-term lawmaker in the House of Representatives and 2020 presidential candidate, has to face Vance who is now buoyed by Trump’s backing. Once a ‘Never Trump-er’, Vance is confident that with the former president’s blessing he will win Ohio.

Other important races:

• In Nevada, the Democrats will come to know if their Latino voter base is intact as Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto faces a challenge from Trump-backed Adam Laxalt.
• In Texas, the US House of Representative race for the 34th Congressional District will see Republican Mayra Flores face off against Democratic challenger Vicente Gonzalez.
• US Senate race for Wisconsin will see Democrat challenger Mandela Barnes challenge incumbent-Republican senator Ron Johnson.

(with inputs from the Guardian, the Hill and the BBC)

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