Congressional elections and midterm elections | USAGov (2024)

FAQs

How is Congress elected? ›

All eligible voters within a state may vote for Senator. A Representative is elected by only those eligible voters residing in the congressional district that the candidate will represent. Election winners are decided by the plurality rule. That is, the person who receives the highest number of votes wins.

Every two years the entire membership of the House of Representatives is elected. Members vote on the rules that apply for the next two years at the beginning of each new Congress. Only one- third of senators are elected every two years (two-thirds of the senators remain current members).

Congressional elections happen every two years. At that time, one-third of the Senate and every seat in the House of Representatives is up for election. Midterm congressional elections take place halfway between presidential elections.

Congressional elections take place every two years. A variety of state and local elections happen every year.

The U.S. Senate, together with the U.S. House of Representatives, makes up the U.S. Congress. The Senate holds certain unique powers and obligations. Its makeup is different too: two senators represent each state, and senators serve staggered six-year terms.

Votes may be taken by the electronic voting system, which registers each individual Member's response. These are referred to as recorded votes, and are available in the record of roll call votes. Votes in the House may also be by voice vote; in that instance, no record of individual responses is available.

The Senate has exceptionally high authority, sometimes higher than the President or the House of Representatives. The Senate can try cases of impeachment, which can dismiss a President for misconduct.

Members of the House of Representatives serve two-year terms and are considered for reelection every even year. Senators however, serve six-year terms and elections to the Senate are staggered over even years so that only about 1/3 of the Senate is up for reelection during any election.

The majority leader serves as the chief representative of their party in the Senate, and is considered the most powerful member of the Senate.

The Constitution sets three qualifications for service in the U.S. Senate: age (at least thirty years of age); U.S. citizenship (at least nine years); and residency in the state a senator represents at time of election.

How much money does a congressman get to run his office? ›

The compensation for most Senators, Representatives, Delegates, and the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico is $174,000. These levels have remained unchanged since 2009.

A Senate term is six years long, so senators may choose to run for reelection every six years unless they are appointed or elected in a special election to serve the remainder of a term. How are senators who are elected at the same time ranked in the chronological list of senators?

Who becomes the new leader? If the President can no longer serve, then the Vice President becomes President. If both the President and the Vice President can no longer serve, then the Speaker of the House of Representatives becomes President.

Although senators are members of Congress, they are not normally referred to or addressed as "Congressman" or "Congresswoman".

The second column (Yeas) has the number of yes votes. The third column (Nays) has the number of no votes. The fourth column (Pres.) has the number of Members who voted 'present' and did not vote yes or no. The fifth column (NV) has the number of Members of the House who did not vote.

Each state sends two Senators to represent their state in the U.S. Senate. However, in the House of Representatives, a state's representation is based on its population. For example, smaller states like Vermont and Delaware have one representative while large states like California have 53 representatives.

Members of Congress in both houses are elected by direct popular vote. Senators are elected via a statewide vote and representatives by votes in each congressional district.

United States senators have been elected directly by voters since 1913. Prior to that time, state legislatures chose the state's senators. In the mid-1850s, however, the state legislature selection process began to fail due to political infighting and corruption.

The Senate has exceptionally high authority, sometimes higher than the President or the House of Representatives. The Senate can try cases of impeachment, which can dismiss a President for misconduct.