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Video: The 3 possible outcomes of the 2022 election

Why the congressional midterms matter so much.

Adam Freelander
Adam Freelander was the interim executive producer on the Vox video team.

On January 6, 2021 (yes, during the Capitol riot), the final Senate race of the 2020 election was called for a Democrat. All of a sudden Democrats had achieved something improbable: trifecta control of the presidency, Senate, and House of Representatives. It transformed the possibilities for President Joe Biden’s first two years, giving his party the ability to legislate on their own — which they did.

The trillion-dollar stimulus, the infrastructure bill, the climate investments of the Inflation Reduction Act — all of that was only possible because of unified Democratic control. But even under divided government, both houses of Congress will still wield an enormous amount of power over national affairs and policy. That’s why the 2022 election isn’t just a referendum on whether Democrats should keep Congress — it’s a question of who gets that power, and how they’ll use it. Watch this video to understand the three ways it could all play out.

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