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John Kimelman‘s cover story in the latest Barron’s focuses on a key political question for November.

With so much attention being given to the presidential race this year, it’s easy to forget that the political fate of the Republican-controlled Congress also hangs in the balance. But the 115th Congress that assembles next January could go a long way toward blunting the impact of either a Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump presidency on issues of particular concern to investors. • There’s opportunity for either Clinton or Trump to find areas for compromise with Congress, including a tax holiday on the foreign profits of U.S. companies and a bump up in the “carried interest” rate that private-equity firms and hedge funds pay on their profits. And regardless of who is elected, it’s unlikely we will have higher individual tax rates. At the same time, the legislative gridlock that has characterized most of the Obama administration should loosen a bit with either candidate in the White House.

As for the makeup of Congress, a close look at races across the country suggests the Democrats are well positioned to reclaim the Senate from the GOP, which seized control from the Democrats two years ago. Currently, the Democrats control 46 Senate seats, including those occupied by the Senate’s two independents—Vermont’s Bernie Sanders and Maine’s Angus King—who choose to caucus with the Democrats. Thus, all that the Democrats need this November is a net gain of four Senate seats to have the 50 seats necessary to take control, provided that a Democratic vice president is also elected to serve as the 51st tie-breaking vote as the Senate president. (The Democrats will need to gain five seats, should Republicans take back the executive branch.)

RIGHT NOW, THE GOP IS VULNERABLE in six Senate races for seats held by Republicans. All six races are in states won by President Barack Obama in the last election. It also helps Democrats that the party is defending only 10 Senate seats, while the Republicans are defending 24. “We aren’t ready to call a Democratic majority in the Senate, but I’d rather be in the Democrat position than the Republican position,” says Jennifer Duffy, a Senate analyst at the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, a respected bible for Congress watchers.