Midterm election

Midterm election

Midterm elections in the United States refer to general elections in the United States that are held two years after the quadrennial elections for the President of the United States...

s in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 refer to general elections in the United States

Elections in the United States

The United States has a federal government, with elected officials at the federal , state and local levels. On a national level, the head of state, the President, is elected indirectly by the people, through an Electoral College. In modern times, the electors virtually always vote with the popular...

 that are held two years after the quadrennial (four-year) elections

United States presidential election

Elections for President and Vice President of the United States are indirect elections in which voters cast ballots for a slate of electors of the U.S. Electoral College, who in turn directly elect the President and Vice President...

 for the President of the United States

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 (i.e. near the midpoint of the four-year presidential term). Federal offices that are up for election during the midterms are members of the United States Congress

United States Congress

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

, including all 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

, and the full terms for 33 or 34 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

.

In addition, 34 of the 50 U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

s elect their governors

Governor (United States)

In the United States, the title governor refers to the chief executive of each state or insular territory, not directly subordinate to the federal authorities, but the political and ceremonial head of the state.-Role and powers:...

 to four-year terms during midterm elections, while Vermont

Vermont

Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...

 and New Hampshire

New Hampshire

New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...

 elect governors to two-year terms in both midterm and presidential elections. Thus, 36 governors are elected during midterm elections. Many states also elect officers to their state legislatures in midterm years. There are also elections held at the municipal level. On the ballot are many mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

s, other local public offices, and a wide variety of citizen initiatives.

Special elections are often held in conjunction with regular elections, so additional Senators, governors and other local officials may be elected to partial terms.

Midterm elections usually generate lower voter turnout than presidential elections. Only about 40 percent of those eligible to vote actually go to the polls in midterm elections.

Historical record of midterm elections

Midterm elections are sometimes regarded as a referendum on the sitting president's and/or incumbent party's performance. They usually don't turn out well for the party of the president; over the past 21 midterm elections, the president's party has lost an average 30 seats in the House, and an average 4 seats in the Senate.

Year	Sitting President	President's Party	Net gain/loss of President's Party
			House seats	Senate seats
2010 United States elections, 2010 The 2010 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 2, 2010. During this midterm election year, all 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives and 37 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate were contested in this election along with 38 state and territorial...	Barack Obama Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...	Democrat (D) Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...	D-63	D-6
2006	George W. Bush George W. Bush George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....	Republican (R) Republican Party (United States) The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...	R-30 United States House elections, 2006 - House of Representatives prior to the election :As of November 7, 2006, the U.S. House of the 109th Congress was composed of 229 Republicans, 201 Democrats and 1 Independent . There were also four vacancies...	R-6 United States Senate elections, 2006 Elections for the United States Senate were held on November 7, 2006, with 33 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate being contested. Senators are elected for six-year terms, with one third of the Senate seats up for a vote every two years. The term of office for those elected in 2006 runs...
2002 United States elections, 2002 The 2002 United States general elections were held on November 5, two years after Republican President George W. Bush won the 2000 Presidential election. Unusual in midterm elections, the incumbent president's party gained seats in both chambers of the United States Congress...			R+8 United States House elections, 2002 The Elections for the United States House of Representatives on 5 November 2002 was in the middle of President George W. Bush's first term. Although it was a midterm election, the Republican Party gained a net eight seats, solidifying their majority...	R+2 United States Senate elections, 2002 The 2002 United States Senate election featured a series of fiercely contested elections that resulted in a victory for the Republican Party, which gained two seats and thus a narrow majority from the Democratic Party in the United States Senate. Senators who were elected in 1996, known as Senate...
1998 United States elections, 1998 The 1998 elections in the United States were held on November 3, 1998. The elections showed little swings, as the composition in both houses of the United States Congress were not significantly altered....	Bill Clinton Bill Clinton William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...	D	D+5 United States House elections, 1998 The U.S. House elections in 1998 were part of the midterm elections held during President Bill Clinton's second term. They were a major disappointment to the Republican Party, which was expecting to gain seats due to the embarrassment Clinton suffered during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, and the...	0 United States Senate elections, 1998 The U.S. Senate election, 1998 was a roughly even contest between the Republican and Democratic parties. While the Democrats had more seats, Republican attacks on the morality of President Bill Clinton failed to connect with voters and anticipated Republican gains failed to materialize...
1994 United States elections, 1994 The 1994 elections in the United States were held on November 8, 1994. This was the year known as the Republican Revolution, in which members of the Republican Party stormed back to majorities in the House and Senate...			D-54 United States House elections, 1994 The 1994 U.S. House of Representatives election was held on November 8, 1994, in the middle of President Bill Clinton's first term. As a result of a 54-seat swing in membership from Democrats to Republicans, the Republican Party gained a majority of seats in the United States House of...	D-8 United States Senate elections, 1994 The U.S. Senate election, 1994 was an election held on November 8, in which the Republican Party was able to take control of the Senate from the Democrats. In a midterm election, the opposition Republicans held the traditional advantage...
1990 United States elections, 1990 The 1990 United States midterm elections were held on November 6. Incumbent President of the United States George H.W. Bush and the Republican Party lost nine seats in the U.S. House, lower than the average amount of seats lost by U.S. Presidents at the time, which was 29...	George H. W. Bush George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...	R	R-8 United States House elections, 1990 The U.S. House election, 1990 was an election for the United States House of Representatives in 1990 which occurred in the middle of President George H. W. Bush's term...	R-1 United States Senate elections, 1990 Elections to one-third of the seats in the United States Senate were held on Tuesday, November 6, 1990. The Democratic Party increased its majority with a net gain of one seat from the Republicans. This was in keeping with the trend that the party of the President often loses seats in a midterm...
1986 United States elections, 1986 The 1986 United States midterm elections were held on November 4. The Democrats won a net gain of eight seats to recapture control of the United States Senate...	Ronald Reagan Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....		R-5 United States House elections, 1986 The U.S. House election, 1986 was an election for the United States House of Representatives held on November 4, 1986, in the middle of President Ronald Reagan's second term in office. As in most midterm elections, the President's party—in this case, the Republican Party -- lost seats, with the...	R-8 United States Senate elections, 1986 The U.S. Senate election, 1986 was an election for the United States Senate in the middle of Ronald Reagan's second presidential term. As in most midterm elections, the opposition Democratic Party held the usual advantage...
1982			R-26 United States House elections, 1982 The U.S. House election, 1982 was an election for the United States House of Representatives held on November 2, 1982, in the middle of President Ronald Reagan's first term, whose popularity was sinking due to economic conditions under the 1982 recession. Therefore, the President's Republican...	0 United States Senate elections, 1982 The United States Senate election of November 2, 1982 was an election for the United States Senate following the Republican gains in 1980. Party balance was unchanged following the election. Incumbents Howard Cannon of Nevada and Harrison Schmitt of New Mexico lost seats to the opposite party, the...
1978	Jimmy Carter Jimmy Carter James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...	D	D-15 United States House elections, 1978 The U.S. House election, 1978 was an election for the United States House of Representatives in 1978 which occurred in the middle of President Jimmy Carter's term, when the country was going through an energy crisis and facing rapid inflation...	D-3 United States Senate elections, 1978 The United States Senate election of 1978 in the middle of Democratic President Jimmy Carter's term. The Democrats lost a net of three seats to the Republicans, leaving the balance of the chamber 58-41 in favor of the Democrats....
1974	Gerald Ford Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...	R	R-48	R-4
1970 United States elections, 1970 The 1970 United States midterm elections were held on November 3. Incumbent President of the United States Richard Nixon and the Republican Party lost twelve seats to the Democratic Party in the House of Representatives....	Richard Nixon Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...		R-12	R+1
1966	Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...	D	D-48	D-3
1962	John F. Kennedy John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....		D-4	D+2
1958	Dwight D Eisenhower	R	R-48	R-12
1954			R-18 United States House elections, 1954 The U.S. House election, 1954 was an election for the United States House of Representatives in 1954 which occurred in the middle of President Dwight Eisenhower's first term...	R-2
1950	Harry S Truman	D	D-28	D-5
1946			D-54	D-12
1942	Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...		D-45	D-8
1938			D-72	D-7
1934			D+9	D+9
1930	Herbert Hoover Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...	R	R-52	R-8
1926	Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...		R-9	R-7
1922	Warren Harding		R-77	R-7
1918	Woodrow Wilson Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...	D	D-22	D-7
1914			D-61	D+4
1910	William Taft	R	R-57	R-3