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As Canadians, we’re used to ‘sleeping with an elephant’—as Pierre Trudeau quipped in 1969. ‘No matter how friendly and even-tempered is the beast... one is affected by every twitch and grunt’.  Sadly, Canadian-US relations have not been ‘friendly and even-tempered’ in the past two years and now the U.S. mid-term elections are upon us.

On November 3, all 435 districts in the U.S. House of Representatives and 33 seats in the U.S. Senate are up for election. Republicans currently control both chambers of Congress, holding a 53–45 majority in the Senate and a 218-212 majority in the House.  There’s a lot at stake for President Donald Trump and the results could also have significant effects in Canada. 

A shift in control of Congress could help curtail presidential executive powers and reshape trade relations. But will the 2026 elections be free and fair? According to The Atlantic, the 2026 mid-term elections face severe threats. Analysts warn that Trump and his allies are laying the groundwork to subvert the vote, using tactics like extreme gerrymandering and voter roll challenges, and attempting to influence election administration and vote certification. How worried should we be?

Terri Givens is a best-selling author and Professor of Political Science at University of British Columbia. Born, raised and educated in the United States, she is well positioned to respond to your questions and concerns about the U.S. midterms. Dr. Givens’ research and teaching focuses on comparative politics in Europe and the U.S., including immigration and anti-discrimination policy as well as the politics of race. She conducted ground-breaking research on the radical right in Europe in the 1990s and early 2000s, and has long studied the role of gender and race in electoral politics.

Dr. Givens is the author of The Roots of Racism: The Politics of White Supremacy in the US and Europe (Bristol Press, 2022), in which  she examines the connections between immigration policy and racism that contributed to the rise of anti-immigrant, radical-right parties in Europe and the rise of Trumpism in the US.  

Please join the Forum and Dr. Terri Givens for a highly insightful and incredibly topical discussion about U.S. electoral politics!