Guyanese Americans and US congressional races

Dear Editor,
The US election is one week away. Everyone seems to be paying attention to the presidential contest. But the congressional races are also very important, with many extremely close. Regardless of who wins the presidency, he would need support from the Senate, the most important branch of US legislature especially for foreign policy (towards Guyana) and the Judiciary. Guyanese Americans could help determine the outcome of close contests (for the Presidency, Senate, and House) in some of the states where they are settled, provided, of course, they vote.
The Guyanese American presence (about three quarter million) is relatively small relative to other ethnic groups but they are concentrated in key swing states like Georgia, Florida, Pennsylvania, among others, where their votes could make a difference between victory and defeat. Guyanese are known to have a very low turnout rate, among the lowest for ethnic groups. Georgia’s race is very close; a significant number of Guyanese reside in that peach state and should exercise their power to choose the winner.
The result in the Presidential race is a toss-up, meaning the outcome could go either way between the two parties, Republicans (led by Donald Trump) and Democrats (led by Joe Biden). Polls project a Biden victory for the Presidency, toppling incumbent Trump. That is also my assessment as a political analyst and a pollster (evaluating various opinion polls). For Congress, the race is also very close for control of the upper chamber or Senate. It looks like the Democrats will capture the upper chamber and retain the House, giving them complete control of the US Government, something not seen since the first term of the Obama Administration in 2008 to 2010.
Currently, Democrats comfortably control the House (235-200 of the 435 members chamber – five seats are vacant); 218 is needed for a majority. The Dem party is projected to make gains of up to ten seats from 2018. A few House seats are competitive where Guyanese are settled including a few in New York, Florida, New Jersey, Connecticut, Georgia, among others.
In the Senate, Democrats (Dems) trail 53-47 (inclusive of two Independents who caucus with the Opposition) in the 100 members’ chamber; 51 is needed for a majority. A tied vote is broken by the Vice President. There are thirty-five (of 100) Senate seats have elections this year. The Dems need to retain what they have and pick up four seats to gain control of the Senate. But polls show the party losing one seat. Therefore, it will need to win a minimum of five seats. The Dems are showing unexpected strength in what were once safe walls for the Republicans in some states. Polls project the Dems capturing exactly five seats from the Reps and is running close in four others where the Dem party has a chance of flipping them; two of these are neck and neck. In one of the close contests, an Indian American is a candidate with polls putting her in the lead (in Maine) but the contest is a statistical tie meaning it could go either way. It appears that the Dem party could capture the Senate. That is the analysis of this writer in examining the polls.
Clusters of Guyanese are also settled in Delaware, Texas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey and Texas where there are Senate races. But in these states, there is no battleground contest. The seat is safe for either Republican or Democrat. Other than Georgia, Guyanese are not present in any closely contested Senate seat state. But in several states, including Georgia, Texas, Florida, Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, the contest is close for the Presidency. And the Guyanese vote could make the difference.
There are separate votes for Congress and the President and other offices as well. Guyanese Americans are urged to cast ballots on November 3 if they have not opted for early voting by mail or in person.

Yours truly,
Vishnu Bisram
(Pol Scientist)