With a day left until the US midterm elections on Tuesday (November 3), attention has turned to states such as Maine and Michigan, where closely contested races could shape the balance of power in Washington.

Maine voted for the Democratic Party in the 2024 presidential election but has a Republican senator seeking re-election, while Michigan voted for Donald Trump but now faces competitive elections for its Senate seat, governorship and several House districts.

Unlike the 2024 presidential election , the midterms will see Americans elect all 435 members of the House of Representatives, 35 senators, including two in special elections, and governors in 36 states.

The battleground map, therefore, looks different from the one that dominated the 2024 presidential election, when attention centred on states such as Pennsylvania, Arizona and Georgia.

Republicans currently control both Houses of Congress, although their majority in the House of Representatives is narrow.…