What is a Midterm Election?

Question: What is a Midterm Election?

Answer: In the United States, we hold elections to vote for and select candidates to fill various positions in government. A midterm election is a vote that that does not coincide with a presidential election. Presidential elections occur every four years, so the midterm election occurs two years into a presidential term.

Since we vote for members of the US Senate every every six years, and their terms start and finish on different years, we vote for some senators during midterm elections. Since we vote for Congress members every two years, we vote for all members of the House of Representatives during midterm elections.