The 2010 midterm elections will be held on Tuesday, November 2 with at least 36 of the 100 seats in the Senate being contested and all seats in the House up for election. Our DA Mexico friend, Beverly Bandler, put together some good info and links.

Voters will elect members of the 112th U.S. Congress, comprised of all 440 members of the House of Representatives (435 voting members and 5 non-voting delegates) and one-third of the U.S. Senate (34 out of 100 senators). Two special elections will be held for unexpired U.S. Senate terms in Delaware and Illinois.

The current make-up of the U.S. House of Representatives is 256 Democrats, 176 Republicans and one vacancy. All members of the House will face re-election in 2010. While it is unlikely that the Democratic Party will lose control of the House in 2010, historically the party that wins the White House loses seats in the following midterm elections. This factor, combined with the fact that Democrats currently hold a substantial House majority, points to the possibility that Democrats will lose a large number of seats in 2010.

The current make-up of the U.S. Senate is 58 Democrats, 40 Republicans, and two Independents. A temporary appointment currently holds the seat of Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy following his death in 2009. On January 19, 2010, there will be a special election to fill the seat.

We can't solve our national problems until we solve the problem of the U.S. Congress.

SOURCES, RESOURCES, SELECTED READING

About.com
uspolitics.about.com/od/elections/tp/2010_congressional_election.htm

Cook Political Report. An independent, non-partisan newsletter that analyzes elections and campaigns.
www.cookpolitical.com

C-Span. VIDEO. Interview with Rep. Chris Van Hollen. (MD-D) Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman. "History presents Democratic Party with a headwind." 2009-11-06.
www.c-spanarchives.org/program/289854-1

Politico. Covers political news with a focus on national politics, Congress, Capitol Hill, congressional and presidential races.
www.politico.com

New York Times
www.nytimes.com

New York Times Politics
politics.nytimes.com/congress/?ref=politics

Saad, Lydia. Parties Nearly Tied for Congress in 2010. Gallup, 2009-10-07.
www.gallup.com/poll/ 123497/parties-nearly-tied-congress-2010.aspx

The Washington Post
www.washingtonpost.com

The Washington Post Politics
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/politics/congress/?nid=roll_congress

Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_congressional_elections,_2010
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_gubernatorial_elections,_2010