US midterms: What to know about independent voters and candidates

As Americans head to the polls on Tuesday in the much-anticipated midterms , the record number of voters identifying as independent could prove decisive for control of the US Congress and state legislatures . Nearly half of US voters – as many as 117 million adults – now identify as politically independent, with the two major parties, Democrats and Republicans, jockeying for their votes. At the same time, independent or third-party candidates win few federal or state seats. The Democratic and Republican parties have dominated US politics, from state legislatures to the US Congress and the presidency, for generations.