Congressional Elections

Congressional Elections

Senate Elections §

The U.S. Senate is composed of 100 senators (2 from each state) who serve 6-year terms. Senate elections occur in a staggered fashion, with about one-third of the Senate up for re-election every two years.

• Primary Elections:

  • Like the House of Representatives, Senate candidates must first go through party primaries to secure their party’s nomination for the general election.
  • These elections are statewide, and the winner is chosen by a simple majority vote (more than 50%).

• General Elections:

  • In Senate elections, voters choose 1 senator per state. Senators serve 6 years and are elected statewide, not by districts.

    *In a top-two-primary like in California where there aren’t party primaries, just whoever 2 get the most votes proceed, they still proceed with general elections for 2 senate seats (rare occurrence) even though both seats will be awarded to the 2 winners to determine who has more influence and power (whoever got more votes between the 2 in the general election). However, for other states, if there are 2 seats available, the races will be held separately to determine the 2 seats (so its not just based on 1 race cycle)

The Senate:

• The Senate has the power to confirm appointments to the federal judiciary, including the Supreme Court, as well as cabinet positions (with a simple majority).
• The Senate can also approve treaties with a two-thirds majority.
• For impeachment trials, the Senate needs a two-thirds majority to convict and remove a federal official from office.

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House of Representatives Elections §

The House of Representatives is made up of 435 members, each serving 2-year terms. They represent congressional districts based on population, with the number of representatives from each state determined by the census (which occurs every 10 years).

• District-Based Elections:

  • The U.S. House of Representatives consists of 435 seats, and each seat corresponds to a specific district in a state.
  • These districts are drawn based on population and are recalibrated every 10 years through redistricting (following the census) to ensure equal representation across the country.
  • Each district holds a primary election where the Democratic and Republican candidates (or candidates from other parties) compete to win their party’s nomination.

• Primary Elections:

  • In each district, the Democratic (DNC) and Republican (RNC) primaries will determine the party’s candidate for that district.
  • These are typically closed primaries, meaning only registered party members can vote. But some states may have open primaries where voters do not have to be registered with a specific party to vote in that party’s primary.

• General Election:

  • After the primaries, the winners from the DNC and RNC (and other parties, if applicable) run in the general election for that specific district seat.

  • The general election is a first-past-the-post system, meaning whoever gets the most votes in the district wins the seat (no need for a majority, just a plurality).

    Again the top-two-primary system like in California works just based on the top 2 picks per primary regardless of party, and then general election to determine the winner (both 2 finalists in general election could be from the same party

• The House of Representatives:

  • The House is responsible for initiating revenue bills (taxes), but the Senate can amend these bills.
  • The House has the power to impeach federal officials, but the Senate conducts the impeachment trial.
  • Laws and bills require a simple majority (more than 50%) in the House to pass.
  • While both senate and house can pass laws, the house usually initiates them as the senate looks at bigger long term goals - both need each others vote though

Governor Elections §

Governors are elected to run individual states, with the length of their term set by each state’s laws (typically 4 years).

• Primary Elections:

  • Like the Senate and House, governors must go through primary elections to secure their party’s nomination.
  • They run statewide, and voters in their state will cast ballots to decide who the party nominee will be.

• General Elections:

  • Governor elections are statewide and occur every 4 years in most states. The winner is decided by a simple majority.

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