THE POLLS ARE OPEN! Americans start voting in the 2014 midterm

The midterm election is officially on in the United States, with polls open from Florida, California, Hawaii and Alaska.

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LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Currently, the Republicans need just six seats to take the Senate, which would mean they hold both halves of Congress.

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Democrats, meanwhile, are hoping to cling to enough seats to filibuster, and hope that a hard campaign season of distancing themselves from the unpopular President Obama will be enough.

Currently, most analysts predict that Republicans will come out on top, due in no small part to the below 40% approval ratings of Mr. Obama.

Republican senator Rand Paul said that this vote is just as much a message to the White House as it is to the legislature. "This is a referendum on the president," he said on NBC's Meet the Press.

Democrats counter that the election isn't over yet. They hope to rally supporters last minute for an advantage.

"Grab everybody you know, get them out to vote, don't stay home, don't let somebody else choose your future for you," Obama said during a rally on November 2.

Low turnouts are a frequent marker of midterms, and they typically do no favors for the party in power.

In this midterm, more than a third of the Senate, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives, 36 state governors and numerous state and local positions are on the ballot.

If Republicans take over the Senate, some worry that the partisan gridlock that has caused no small amount of anger will get worse. But some think that a fully Republican Congress is going to be the only way to get things done.

That may be the case, as immigration, national security, the economy, foreign policy, healthcare and moral issues are all key issues that may sway voters.

Currently, the most competitive races in the Senate are expected to take place in North Carolina, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Iowa and Kansas.

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