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Why US mid-term elections matter for Kenyans

Africa News News African October 7, 2026 · Comments off

Kenya and the United States carry a long close history ever since the former’s independence in 1963. We are allies not just militarily, but also in trade, development, entrepreneurship, investment, and international relations.

However, sadly, much of the post-World War II stability in global institutions and world order has come crashing down since the reelection of American President Donald Trump. Despite the top-down autocratic tendencies of the US administration, Kenya still remains one of the United States’ closest allies. Even culturally, our two nations share extensive linkages. The Migration Policy Institute estimates that over 182,000 Kenyans live in the United States, which represents 34 percent of all Kenyans living overseas. Over 20,000 Americans reportedly live here and over 300,000 Americans entered Kenya last year, the vast majority for short-term visits.

The Constitution of Kenya guarantees the political rights to vote for all citizens including those in the diaspora. Similarly, the United States allows overseas citizens to vote and exercise their civic duties. But unlike here in Kenya, America holds its equivalent of parliamentary elections every two years even if a presidential election is not taking place at the same time. Next month, the United States is holding its so called midterm elections.

Americans living in Kenya can get their election ballot by email and vote from Mombasa or Kisumu and everywhere in between. Many Kenyans who also hold US citizenship but reside in Kenya may not realise that it also applies to them too.

As an example, an American teacher in Kilimani, Nairobi, can vote in next month’s US midterm elections without leaving her sofa. On the other side, a Kenyan nurse in Houston, Texas, who wants a say in Kenya’s 2027 presidential race faces more steps. She has to fly to register in person at the Kenyan mission in New York, DC, or Los Angeles, have her fingerprints and photograph taken, and go back to that same centre on polling day, plus she can vote only for president, not for MPs, Senators, and MCAs.

Midterm elections don’t choose a president, which is one reason turnout abroad collapses in these years. But these elections do indeed decide who controls Congress, and Congress writes the laws on immigration, taxes and the federal budget, as well influence foreign policy and trade which can affect the Kenyan-American alliance. Every seat in the House of Representatives is on the ballot, along with a third of the Senate and, depending on the state, various governors and local offices.

Some of those contests will be very close. In the 2022 midterms, Colorado’s 3rd congressional district was decided by only 546 votes. The 2000 presidential election turned on 537 votes in Florida, where overseas ballots ended up in court. With Congress, the American equivalent of Kenya’s Parliament, split between the political parties by a handful of seats, a few thousand ballots from overseas can change who governs.

The writer is the chairman of Democrats Abroad Kenya

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