Between each President’s four-year term, there are midterm elections where the entire US House of Representatives and about a third of the US Senate fight for reelection. The midterm election is seen as a referendum on the President’s performance in office, and it can act as an indicator of how the nation will vote in the next presidential election. In recent history, the President’s party has fared terribly in the midterms, often losing seats in both houses of congress. As a result of the 2018 midterm elections, the Republican Party led by Donald Trump lost 40 seats in the US House and gained two seats in the US Senate. During his two midterm elections, Barack Obama did not perform any better, losing 63 seats in the US House and six in the US Senate in 2010 and losing 13 US House seats and nine US Senate seats in 2014. 

Joe Biden is hoping to see more success than his predecessors in 2022, but momentum does not seem to be on his side. Joe Biden’s current approval rating sits in the mid-’40s, with a majority of the country disapproving of his performance as President. In generic ballot polling, democrats hold a slight lead, with the average democrat beating the average republican by four percent, according to FiveThirtyEight. 

There are many important local races that voters in Santa Clarita will be able to weigh in on in 2022. Three Hart District governing board members will be up for reelection. Community leader Andrew Taban will be facing up against long tenured Board member Bob Jensen in one of the three races. Two seats on the Santa Clarita City Council will also be up for reelection, with longtime councilwoman and current mayor Laurene Weste announcing that she will seek another term. Republican Assemblywoman Suzzete Martinez Valldares will also be up for reelection this November, with Democratic challenger and labor organizer Pilar Shiavo looking to unseat the recently elected incumbent. Republican Congressman Mike Garcia, who won a special election in 2020 to become our congressional representative, will likely be facing former Assemblywoman Christy Smith, who lost to Garcia in the 2020 general election by 333 votes out of the more than 300,000 ballots cast.