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Two dogs play at a polling station during early voting ahead of the US midterm elections in Los Angeles, California. (Robyn Beck via Getty Images)

Who Do Voters Hate More? A Midterm Roundtable

Mary Katharine Ham, Josh Kraushaar, and Batya Ungar-Sargon weigh in on the most important races in the country and whether or not we should be bracing for a red wave.

We’re less than a week out from election day, and more than 20 million people have already cast their votes—a record number of early voters for a midterm election. But it isn’t so surprising when you consider the stakes: inflation at a 40-year high, economists saying we’re heading towards a recession, and the largest crime surge across America in decades, just to name a few small issues voters may be thinking about.

Midterms are typically hard for the party in power, but President Biden’s approval numbers are among the worst for a first-term president. Given this, many are predicting a red wave. And yet, Republicans have problems of their own: candidates who spent their primaries trying to out-MAGA each other and continue to pedal election denial conspiracies; others who seem entirely unfit to serve. Then, of course, there’s the overturning of Roe v. Wade. With the Supreme Court having upended a half-century of abortion rights, many young voters, especially women, appear motivated this election cycle to vote against the GOP.

So what’s going to happen Tuesday? Will Democrats keep control of the Senate? The House? What races should we be watching? Could Oregon go red for the first time in decades? Today, as voters head to the ballot box, a roundtable with Mary Katharine Ham, Josh Kraushaar, and Batya Ungar-Sargon:

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