WASHINGTON (AP) — The final knocks are on doors, ads are blaring and candidates are making their final pitch to voters. Races despite high-energy final push Congressional control We are in a stalemate, actually a fight for the House of Representatives and a fight to the bitter end for the Senate.

The outcome of Tuesday’s election will shape the future of the country and determine whether the new White House has allies or skeptics on Capitol Hill or faces a divided Congress as in the last session. most turbulent and inefficient in modern times.

As voters weigh presidential options among Republicans Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala HarrisThey are also figuring out who will represent them in Congress.

“That’s why I’m an independent,” Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio voter Gary Motta, unhappy with both choices for president, said while attending an event for Republican Kevin Coughlin early Sunday morning. To unseat Democratic Rep. Emilia Sykes.

The fight for control of Congress has been going on for months. The candidates debated big issues like the economy, the border, reproductive health and the future of democracy, as well as Congress itself. chaotic session The GOP-led House impeached its speaker and barely staved off a government shutdown.

This is the first presidential election since the election January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol Building, and many Republican lawmakers who voted against certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s victory over Trump in the White House are up for re-election.

Republican candidates, many backed by the former president, find themselves having to answer for him on a variety of fronts. These include the decision of the Supreme Court, which includes three judges nominated by Trump, ending his right to a trial. access to abortion

Democrats face tough questions about Biden-Harris’s record on the U.S.-Mexico border and inflation during their time in the White House.

Many of the closely contested House campaigns are fought beyond the swing states; new York And California, It’s in his home state that Republican Kevin McCarthy, who was ousted as speaker and then left Congress, has made inroads. Democrats in New York Hakeem Jeffries, the party’s leader in the House of Representatives. Now we are trying to get them back.

As of Saturday, California Rep. Pete Aguilar, chairman of the Democratic caucus, is making a nine-stop push in the Golden State to win back the seat.

“There’s a lot of energy out there,” Washington Rep. Suzan DelBene, who leads the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said in an interview in Omaha, Nebraska, a surprising battleground after a shift in New York. “We are working hard to get votes.”

“There are tons of volunteers on the field, there is a lot of energy, and people who are very, very focused. They know there is a lot at stake,” he said.

This election year is distinguished by the ever-increasing world of campaign fundraising: a whopping $2.5 billion is being spent. win the senate and almost $1 billion to the House.

Senate Republicans have something to lose, a result of long rule by party leaders. Mitch McConnell from Kentucky. He has recruited wealthy Republican candidates, many backed by Trump, to face a half-dozen incumbent Democrats facing a tough re-election.

In Montana, Democratic Sen. Jon Tester is in one of the most competitive races in the country that could hand control to Republicans. But a half-dozen other Senate races, including the “blue wall” of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, are as competitive as the presidential race in those states.

But the latest changes add new uncertainty to other Senate races and put Sen. Ted Cruz in a difficult position. On the defensive in Republican-dominated Texas Democratic Rep. Colin Allred saw a surge of energy from Harris, including her star-studded rally in Houston with hometown hero Beyoncé. Nebraska independent Dan Osborne He caught Republicans off guard in Nebraska as he tried to unseat GOP Sen. Deb Fischer.

Oher Republican Senate candidates stumbled.

Republican Bernie Moreno, facing Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown in Ohio commented criticizes suburban women for making access to abortion a priority issue. Republican Tim Sheehy did derogatory remarks It’s about Native Americans, a key voting bloc in his race against Tester in Montana.

As Republicans turn their get-out-the-vote efforts over to new groups. Elon Musk’s America PACcampaign committees had to stand on their own to get people to vote.

“Republicans are finally starting to vote early, so that will make a difference,” said Davide Cuigini, who was part of the Young Republicans working to vote for Moreno in Ohio last weekend.

However, when Harris replaced Biden on the Democratic ticket in the summer, the energy on the Democratic side increased rapidly.

Democrat Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland, who could make history alongside Delaware’s Lisa Blunt Rochester as black women in the Senate, hosted former President Barack Obama last week. Alsobrooks is running against Larry Hogan, a popular former governor.

In the House, Democrats have seen many races change direction, according to nonpartisan analysts. But open seats in Alaska and Michigan are tilting toward Republicans. two of the house longest serving MPs They are in the fight of their political lives in Ohio and California.

Yet an internal DCCC memo showed that a week after the election, 21 of the 25 contested seats were still closed.

There are also unusual battlegrounds that Nebraskans call the “blue dot” around Omaha, where Republican Rep. Don Bacon faces a challenge from Democrat Tony Vargas.

The outcome of the races will be a test under the leadership of House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. He said at a recent stop near Akron, Ohio, that with the GOP’s “handsome warriors” running, he knew they would win.

Jeffries, who could become speaker of the House of Representatives if Democrats take control, said: calm down, “Even if the possibility of unexpected events keeps him up at night.

If the two chambers actually exercise reverse party control, as much as possible, it will be rare.

Records show that if Democrats take the House of Representatives and Republicans take the Senate, the halls of Congress will turn to opposing political parties for the first time.

“This election is a big deal,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, who is campaigning for a fellow Democrat in one of his state’s House races.

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Associated Press writers Lea Skene and Stephen Groves in Baltimore and Kevin Freking contributed to this report.