Nayan Shankaran ‘24 | Gray Collins ‘25
Midterm elections will be held all across the U.S. on November 8. Throughout the races, candidates have been competing for all 435 seats of the House of Representatives and 35 out of the 100 seats of the Senate. This year, Pennsylvanians of voting age can vote for federal, state, and local representatives.
AP U.S. Government and Politics teacher David Mercante explains the importance of the election, stating, “Every representative is up for reelection, and this particular year, one of Pennsylvania’s two senators is up for reelection as well.” The most hotly contested seat in Pennsylvania’s midterm election is the Senate seat formerly held by three-term Senator Pat Toomey (R). The candidates for this seat are Lt. Governor John Fetterman (D) and Dr. Mehmet Oz (R).
Photos courtesy of wikepedia.org and bbc.org, respectively
This race is particularly important because Congress is closely divided between the Democrats and Republicans. “In addition to what’s happening in Pennsylvania, control in both houses of Congress is at stake. Right now, the Senate is evenly 50-50 and the Democratic Party has control because of the tie breaking vote,” clarifies Mercante.
Discussing the implications of the Senate elections, Mercante comments, “If the Republican Party picks up a Senate seat, they regain control of the Senate, which would mean they would control the agenda that the Senate has. They would decide what bills get voted on and don’t get voted on, and if there are any Supreme Court vacancies, they would get to decide whether to vote on those vacancies or not. The control of each house of Congress is really important.”
Likewise, Nik Athwal ‘24, member of Young Independents, believes that the results of the Pennsylvania elections are especially significant, as Pennsylvania is a highly contested state. He claims, “Pennsylvania’s a purple state… it’s where the tipping point happens with all the big decisions. If Oz were to win, I think he would delegate more power to the states and keep it more individual. If Fetterman won, then there would be more power placed into the federalized government to keep it more centralized.”
Describing the main issues being addressed in the midterm elections, President of Young Democrats Clare Collins ’23 asserts, “Pennsylvanians will vote on how they want their representatives to tackle the issues of inflation and reproductive rights. Their decisions will have immense impacts on the future of the country.” Athwal also observes, “There are four main issues that are being addressed in the campaign: abortion, healthcare, crime, and taxes.” Focusing on the issue of healthcare, he comments, “Abortion is a big topic, which also ties into the healthcare issue. Oz [advocates for] more privatized healthcare, while Fetterman wants to universalize healthcare.”
Due to the relevance of these issues, members of the EA community believe that midterm elections are an important factor that can determine the stability and progression of the U.S. “It is important to know that they do have a significant impact on the direction of the country, and even though it’s not a presidential election, that doesn’t make it any less important or less telling of where we are headed as a country,” says Schuh.
As a result, many politically-involved students emphasize the value of learning about the candidates. “I think it’s good to get an idea of what the consensus is and where the politicians are at. Having [the politicians] be questioned is a good way to see what they believe on the spot,” reflects Athwal. President of Political Solutions Eli Engelman adds, “Learning about local representatives is as, if not more important than federal leaders, as they are more local and hence provide better representation.”
Mercante also thinks that students should take a proactive approach in learning about the elections. He explains, “I think that if your way of getting information is sitting back and waiting for it to come to you, then you are at the mercy of whatever news source happens to find you. You probably want to go out and seek information on your own.”
Schuh recommends that students should “read the newspaper, read CNN, New York Times, go to any of the candidates webpages and find out where they stand on the various issues. There are plenty of opportunities, especially with the Internet, to become informed about the big issues of the day.”
Mercante says that by learning more about midterm elections, “you will have the biggest impact on the candidates that are chosen, not just the president, but also the senators and representatives. You will have the biggest impact on all the different elected officials in the state and [in the nation], too.” He concludes, “It’s going to have an impact on the policies that the government makes and an impact on the lives of students.”