By STEVE PEOPLES

Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — A turbulent election season that tested President Donald Trump's slash-and-burn political style against the strength of the Democratic resistance comes to a close as Americans cast ballots in the first national election of the Trump era.

With voters going to the polls Tuesday, nothing is certain. Weather could affect turnout, with residents of several states in the Deep South and Mid-Atlantic contending with thunderstorms, high winds and power outages.

Anxious Republicans privately expressed confidence in their narrow Senate majority but feared the House was slipping away. Trump, the GOP's chief messenger, warned that significant Democratic victories would trigger devastating consequences.

"If the radical Democrats take power they will take a wrecking ball to our economy and our future," Trump declared in Cleveland, using the heated rhetoric that has defined much of his presidency. He added: "The Democrat agenda is a socialist nightmare."

Democrats, whose very relevance in the Trump era depended on winning at least one chamber of Congress, were laser-focused on health care as they predicted victories that would break up the GOP's monopoly in Washington and state governments.

"They've had two years to find out what it's like to have an unhinged person in the White House," said Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, who leads the Democratic Governors Association. "It's an awakening of the Democratic Party."