ABSTRACT
The midterm elections of 2010 were considered a success for the Republican Party. Control of the US House of Representatives changed in favour of the Republicans, who with 64 seats more than they had taken two years previously in 2008 achieved a 242- to-193-seat majority. The GOP also made gains in the US Senate, but the Democrats, bolstered by two senators elected as Independents who chose to form part of the Democratic caucus, remained in the majority in that chamber, by 53 to 47. The presidency was not on the ballot in 2010 and so, by default, the executive branch remained in the hands of Democrat President Barack Obama, first elected in 2008.
