Midterm Exams: A lot is at stake for President Trump and the nation in this year's midterm elections.

• Author: Smith, Patricia
• Position: NATIONAL

What do you and President Trump have in common? You'll both soon be sweating your midterms.

The congressional elections that take place midway through a president's term are known as midterms. Even though President Trump, a Republican, won't be on the ballot, how well his party performs in the November vote is seen as an important test of the president's popularity.

And President "frump is probably a big part of why interest in this year's midterms seems to be higher than usual.

"Trump always talks about how he's good for ratings, and I think that's right," says Kyle Kondik of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics. "There's a lot of intensity of emotion about politics on both sides. A lot of people are passionate supporters of the president, and a lot of people are very angry at the president."

Kondik thinks all that emotion will translate into higher voter turnout than usual for the midterms.

The Party Out of Power

All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are up for election, along with 35 out of 100 U.S. Senate seats and 36 state governors.

It's the norm for the party out of power to make large gains in midterms. In fact, in 36 of the 39 midterm elections since 1862, the president's party has lost seats in Congress. Those numbers suggest that voters often want Congress to act as a brake on the president's authority, says Kondik.

With Republicans currently controlling both chambers of Congress and the White House, many experts consider it likely that Democrats will do well next month. The most likely place for Democrats to pick up seats is the House of Representatives. Currently, Democrats hold 193 seats and Republicans hold 237 (see map). To take control of the House, Democrats would need to hold onto the seats they already have, win two vacant seats in solidly Democratic districts, and win 23 seats currently held by Republicans.

The Senate is closely divided: Republicans hold 51 seats, while Democrats (and the two Independents who caucus with them) hold 49. Democrats are less likely to make gains here because many more Democratic senators are up for re-election this year than Republicans, including 10 Democrats in Republican-leaning states.

Hanging over all of these races are the president's poll numbers. While most Republicans support Hump--85 percent, according to a recent Gallup poll--his approval ratings with the entire electorate have been hovering below 40 percent, compared with the average presidential approval...