American voters will head to the polls next Tuesday to elect all 435 members of the US House of Representatives and 35 members of the US Senate, who together make up Congress.
A representative serves for only two years, and their elections are held on that basis, while a senator's term lasts for 6 years, but one-third of the members are elected every two years instead of 6. Although the metaphorical name for the elections is the midterm elections, and not "midterm renewal," it does not refer to Congress, but rather to the renewal of people's confidence in the president's performance after completing half of his presidential term. Consequently, the election results will determine the composition of the House and Senate in the next session of Congress.
