Atlanta (United States) (AFP) – From Anchorage to Atlanta, from Austin to Doral, American voters spoke to AFP on Tuesday, the day of a crucial midterm election, where Democrats could inflict a setback on Donald Trump and the Republicans.

Published on: 03/11/2026 - 20:19 Modified on: 03/11/2026 - 22:22

In Alaska, “it’s fraud”

Snow-capped mountains tower over Anchorage, Alaska's largest city. It's 0°C in the morning, and around sixty people are waving signs for Republican Senate candidate Dan Sullivan in his presence.

This name is at the heart of an imbroglio: the campaign of the Democratic candidate for the Senate, Mary Peltola, is accused of having pushed a namesake to run to create confusion and siphon votes from the outgoing senator.

“I can’t believe it. To me, it’s fraud,” says James Weise, a 72-year-old retiree who has just voted for Dan Sullivan, the Republican version.

At the polling station, electoral agents explain that many people came to vote in advance, a sign of higher participation than usual.

A referendum?

It’s “obviously a referendum on Trump’s second term,” says Wes Pyron, 37, in Washington.

But faced with the polls favoring the Democrats, he remembers Hillary Clinton's defeat against Donald Trump: "I'm still bruised by 2016, so I no longer pay attention to the polls at all."

In Atlanta, Georgia, Mike voted to “bring the Trump administration under control.” This 34-year-old African-American IT manager hopes for a “great blue wave”, the color of the Democratic Party.

At midday in a polling station in this large city, there is no long queue, but voters who follow one another without any down time and often come out with an “I voted” sticker.

“I did not systematically vote Democratic (...), I chose the best man or the best woman,” explains Gabrielle Schlueter, a 69-year-old African-American retiree dressed all in black, her face covered with a surgical mask. But “I can’t give one ounce of support to the Republicans right now.”

“Too socialist and Muslim”

Several members of the left wing of the Democratic Party, sometimes claiming to be socialists, are candidates across the country.

This is the case of Abdul Al-Sayed, candidate in Michigan, who if he wins, will become the first Muslim senator in the United States. In Detroit, Mackenzie Currie, 28, said she was "delighted to vote for him."

In Texas, a conservative southern state, a moderate party figure, James Talarico, is running for Senate. He could beat Republican Ken Paxton, according to polls.

“It makes me very sad,” said Mary Wolf in Dallas.

Her husband, who does not wish to give his first name, believes that "socialism does not work": "What is happening in France proves it, with the control of the left there and what is currently happening there with this destruction."

For Maru Restrepo, a 70-year-old voter of Colombian origin interviewed in Miami, the Democrats "have become too socialist, communist and Muslim." Qualifiers already used by Donald Trump.

The “ordinary citizen” wants that to change

“Everyone, at least in my generation, is a little frustrated with the purchasing power crisis and gas prices, and what's happening overseas,” says Tom, 27, in Atlanta.

In the same city, Donta Comer, 38, assures that “this must change for ordinary citizens, and I am an average citizen”.

In addition to the high cost of living, Brian Rowe, who works at American University in Washington, mentions "the disastrous war against Iran", which has resulted in rising fuel prices and which "must stop".

ICE in the viewfinder

Migration policies "must exist", concedes Andres Gutierrez, an employee of the real estate credit sector of Venezuelan origin, in Doral (Florida). But the current policy "is not the right approach", assures this forty-year-old.

In New York, Quishaun Hill, 44, is concerned about the actions of the immigration police (ICE) and "the irresponsible and truly inhumane actions" that he noted in the implementation of Donald Trump's anti-immigration policy.

Several interventions by federal immigration agents have sparked outrage since Donald Trump's return to power, including the shooting deaths of two American citizens in Minneapolis earlier this year.

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© 2026 AFP

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