Democrats are favored to win control of the House of Representatives in Tuesday’s US midterm elections and have a meaningful chance of taking the Senate, according to Washington-post/">The Washington Post. The newspaper identifies persistent inflation as the leading reason voters are not giving the governing party greater credit for economic growth, low unemployment, deregulation, stock-market gains and investment levels.
The Washington Post links the inflation problem to the trillions of dollars injected into the economy during the Covid-19 pandemic. It notes that inflation has eased from its 9.1% peak in 2022, while arguing that policies under Donald Trump—including tariffs, immigration restrictions and the war with Iran, which raised energy costs—have added to price pressures.
Trump’s final major speech before the vote also drew criticism from Republicans, The Wall Street Journal reported. Rather than focusing on economic concerns that voters consider important, Trump spoke at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington about construction and renovation work carried out during his second term, including cleaning graffiti, restoring fountains and monuments, and repairing the National Mall’s grass.
The Wall Street Journal said some Trump advisers and other Republicans privately expressed frustration with the speech. One Republican strategist described the setting as beautiful but the message as inappropriate, while another said the condition of the reflecting pool would matter little if Republicans lost their majorities in Congress.
The French newspaper Le Figaro argues that losing a congressional majority would not fundamentally change Trump’s governing style, which it describes as relying on executive orders and posts on social media. The Canadian newspaper Le Devoir says Trump is likely to challenge the results if Republicans lose either chamber, noting that steps to contest the election have already been initiated.
Libération also cautions that Trump could claim fraud if the Democratic victory is narrower than polls suggest. A clear and substantial Democratic win, it says, would make such a response more difficult. The newspaper’s front page openly backed The Democrats, while warning that the outcome remains uncertain.
Partial results and projections are expected overnight, according to the Süddeutsche Zeitung. The timing of a final picture is unclear: a close Senate race involving recounts or legal challenges could take days or even weeks to resolve.
Sources: RFI.