Halfway through Biden’s presidential term, the US midterm elections began on November 8. The elections left Americans with a sense of surprise. Historically, the party of the president in office has given way to the opposite side in all cameras of the US Congress, alongside with gubernatorial elections in most states. Therefore, this year’s elections were supposed to be celebrated by Republicans with what is called a “red wave”. Even though the Republicans indeed took over the House by the end of elections, it seems like a “red wave” remained a mere prediction — the Democrats showed good performance overall, keeping the Senate and losing the House by a small margin, while bringing about a tough battle in Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Nevada. All in all, it is hard to grasp a big picture from where the results are right now; the future of American politics in the upcoming years can only be guessed.

Midterm elections have consistently shown massive losses for the incumbent parties, with former President Trump losing 40, Obama — 63, and Clinton — over 50 seats in the House during their terms. What happened this year is a large and sudden deviation from the historical trend, and it seems that such change can be attributed to a number of reasons. To begin with, Democrats have gone all-in on abortion rights, a topic deeply contended over and which now seems to be close to the hearts of the majority. Not only leftists, but also centrists showed a tendency to back the abortion rights views of the Democrats. Another possible reason behind Democrats’ strong performance is young voters. Although 2022 midterm elections have not seen a spike in the numbers of young voters, there has been a huge age gap, with the younger population strongly supporting the Democrats. The Republican party has failed to show dominance partly because of the skepticism toward their “Make America Great Again” views. Even with Biden’s approval ratings currently hovering just above 41%, it seems voters did not find the Republican party worthy of support, shown through weak backing for Trump’s candidates and election deniers.

So, what do the midterm elections really mean? One of the biggest takeaways is that the House will now be controlled by the Republican party for the next two years, meaning the stepping down of the current Democrat Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. The shift of control would also give way for a number of investigations into Biden’s actions during the past couple of years — from the sudden withdrawal of troops in the Middle East to his second son’s business affairs with China. Biden’s agenda will also be put on pause, including the most controversial issue of student loan forgiveness.

Democrats, on the other hand, have managed to retain control of the Senate — an outcome of a battle between incumbent democrat Senator of Nevada Catherine Cortez Masto and Trump-backed Adam Laxalt. This win guarantees control over the Senate for Democrats, as even if one of the last races in Georgia ends in favor of Republicans, the current Vice President from the Democratic party would still be in possession of the tie-breaking vote. The Democrats’ control over the Senate could decrease support for the Republicans in the next presidential election, while increasing the chances of Biden running for the presidency again despite current approval ratings. With the Senate in his control, Biden can put more focus on domestic legislation.

With so much going on in the global economy and the unexpected results of midterm elections, it is still hard to decide with certainty what awaits the world of politics in the upcoming years. Nevertheless, it is clear that this year’s midterms are historical, and the game gets harder and more interesting for the players when the patterns are broken.