US Midterm Elections 2026

Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, 2026. Midterms fall halfway through a presidential term and decide control of Congress and many state offices, without the presidency itself being on the ballot. In practice voting is already under way: early in-person voting and mail voting opened in many states in early and mid-October.

14 days, counted from October 20, 2026 to Election Day on Tuesday, November 3, 2026. Many states close in-person early voting on the Friday or Saturday before Election Day (October 30 in Texas and Georgia, October 31 in North Carolina), so the practical window to vote early is shorter than two weeks.

It depends on the state. Georgia opened in-person early voting on October 13 (through October 30), North Carolina runs early voting through October 31, and Texas opened on Monday, October 19 and closes on Friday, October 30. Ohio and many other states were already voting in early October, while a few states offer little or no in-person early voting. Check your state election office or vote.gov for local dates, hours and locations. Sources: Georgia.gov, Texas Secretary of State via local media, WRAL, Ballotpedia.

About 10.04 million mail and early in-person ballots had been cast nationally as of the NBC News tracker update of October 20, 2026 (data from TargetSmart and state officials), with 55.5 million mail ballots requested or sent. Several states report midterm records: Georgia logged more than 188,000 ballots on its first day of early voting (October 13), North Carolina reached about 437,000 in-person and mail ballots by October 16, up almost 48 percent on 2022's comparable point, and Ohio's secretary of state said early voting had nearly quadrupled from four years ago. Early-vote data shows who has voted, not how they voted. Sources: NBC News, The Hill, WRAL, Spectrum News.

In many large states, yes for regular registration. Deadlines passed on October 5 in Texas, Florida and Georgia, and on October 19 in California and Pennsylvania. New York's deadline is October 24. Several states, including California (conditional voter registration), Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin, allow registration up to and on Election Day under their own rules. Deadlines and methods (online, mail, in person) differ, so confirm with your state election office or vote.gov. Sources: Ballotpedia, NewsNation, state election offices.

No. November 3, 2026 is not a federal holiday and no federal law requires employers to give time off to vote. It is left to the states: the Movement Advancement Project counts 14 states that make Election Day a public holiday (5 of them also require paid time off), and others guarantee a few hours of leave to vote, often paid. Rules on notice and pay vary by state. Sources: Movement Advancement Project, Paylocity, DC Board of Elections.

There is no national closing time. The first polls close at 6:00 p.m. Eastern in the parts of Indiana and Kentucky on Eastern time, followed at 7:00 p.m. Eastern by states such as Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia and Vermont, and at 7:30 p.m. by North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia. Most states close between 8:00 and 9:00 p.m. Eastern; California, Oregon and Washington close at 11:00 p.m. Eastern, Hawaii and most of Alaska at midnight, and Alaska's Aleutian Islands last, at 1:00 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday. Daylight saving time ends on November 1, so these are standard-time hours. Sources: 270toWin, The Green Papers.

Some Senate and House races will be called on election night, but control of one or both chambers may take days. Most election-night "results" are race calls by news organisations, mostly via The Associated Press, and close races wait for more ballots. California is the slowest large state to count, with some counties receiving up to half their mail ballots on Election Day, and Alaska was the last state to count 95 percent of its ballots in 2024, when its House race was called on November 20. In June 2026 the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in Watson v. RNC that states may count mail ballots postmarked by Election Day that arrive afterward, so late-arriving ballots remain part of the count where state law allows it. For reference, AP called the House majority eight days after the 2022 midterms. Sources: NPR, AP, NOTUS, California Secretary of State.

The major networks, ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News, MS NOW and NewsNation, run special coverage from the first poll closings on the evening of November 3. Free streaming options include NBC News NOW, ABC News Live and CBS News 24/7, and Samsung TV Plus carries NBC and Telemundo local channels. AP and Decision Desk HQ publish race calls, and states post official returns on their own election websites, such as the California Secretary of State's results page. Sources: NBCUniversal, NPR, network announcements.

All 435 House seats (plus non-voting delegates), 35 of the 100 Senate seats (33 regular seats plus special elections in Florida, for Marco Rubio's former seat, and Ohio, for JD Vance's former seat), and 36 state governorships, or 39 counting the territories of Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the US Virgin Islands. Thousands of state legislative seats, local offices and ballot measures are also on the ballot. Sources: 270toWin, Ballotpedia.

All 435 seats in the House of Representatives, 35 of the 100 Senate seats (including special elections in Florida and Ohio), and governors in 36 states (39 with the three territories). Many state legislatures, statewide offices, local offices and ballot measures are also up, including Missouri's referendum on its 2025 congressional map.

Republicans hold both chambers narrowly. The House Clerk lists 218 Republicans, 214 Democrats, 1 independent and 2 vacancies in October 2026, and the Senate stands at 53-47 for Republicans (the 47 include two independents caucusing with the Democrats). Small shifts could flip control of either chamber. Sources: Clerk of the House, 270toWin, Newsweek.

In the House, Democrats need 218 seats, a net gain of about three on the 215 they won in 2024. In the Senate they need a net gain of four seats for a 51-seat majority: at 50-50, Vice President [JD Vance](/en/people/jd-vance/) would break ties for the Republicans. Those are narrow margins, which is why 2026 is closely watched. Sources: Yahoo News, 270toWin.

The vice president casts tie-breaking votes, so a 50-50 Senate would stay under Republican control with Vice President [JD Vance](/en/people/jd-vance/) as the tie-breaker. That is why Democrats need a net gain of four seats rather than three.

Democrats lead. Silver Bulletin's average stood at D+8.9 on October 19, 2026, just below its cycle high of D+9.1, after a surge that began in early September; Decision Desk HQ's average was D+7.8 on October 14. In mid-September the New York Times/Siena survey had D+8 and YouGov/Economist D+12 among likely voters. Silver Bulletin also puts President [Donald Trump](/en/people/donald-trump/)'s approval at 38 percent approve, 60 percent disapprove. Caveat: the generic ballot is a national average, while House control turns on a few dozen districts and Senate control on individual states. Sources: Silver Bulletin, Decision Desk HQ, New York Times/Siena, YouGov/Economist, Yahoo News.

Forecasts lean Democratic, with several races still close. Silver Bulletin's model gave Democrats a 75 percent chance of Senate control on October 19, moving its rating from Lean D to Likely D (it stood at 59 percent in mid-September). The Cook Political Report said in early October that a majority is "squarely in Democrats' sights" and rates seven races Toss Up, six of them Republican-held plus the open Democratic seat in Michigan. Sabato's Crystal Ball counted 49 seats at least Leans Democratic, 46 at least Leans Republican and five Toss-ups on October 14. These are probabilities and ratings, not results: a 75 percent forecast still means the other outcome about one time in four. Sources: Silver Bulletin via Newsweek, Cook Political Report, Sabato's Crystal Ball.

Democrats, according to current forecasts, though not by a settled margin. Silver Bulletin's model put Democratic chances of winning the House at about 93 percent in early October, and the national generic ballot near D+9 has historically been consistent with a meaningful seat gain. Against that, mid-decade redistricting in Texas, Florida, North Carolina and Ohio created new Republican-leaning seats, partly offset by California's Prop 50 and Utah's new map, and House control depends on district-level contests. Sources: Silver Bulletin via Newsweek, Yahoo News, NBC News.

As of Cook's October 6, 2026 update, seven races are Toss Up: six Republican-held seats, Alaska (Sullivan), Iowa (open), Kansas (Marshall), Maine (Collins), Ohio (Husted) and Texas (open), plus the open Democratic-held seat in Michigan. On October 6 Cook moved Kansas from Lean Republican to Toss Up, New Hampshire from Toss Up to Lean Democrat and North Carolina from Lean Democrat to Likely Democrat; in September it moved Georgia to Likely Democrat and South Carolina to Likely Republican. Sabato's Crystal Ball differs in places: on October 14 it rated Kansas, Iowa, Maine, Ohio and Texas Toss-ups and had moved Alaska to Leans Democratic. Sources: Cook Political Report, 270toWin, Sabato's Crystal Ball.

The most-cited contests, with the November matchups: Maine, Sen. Susan Collins (R) vs. Troy Jackson (D); North Carolina (open), Roy Cooper (D) vs. Michael Whatley (R); Ohio special, Sen. Jon Husted (R) vs. Sherrod Brown (D); Texas (open), Ken Paxton (R) vs. James Talarico (D); Michigan (open), Abdul El-Sayed (D) vs. Mike Rogers (R); Georgia, Sen. Jon Ossoff (D) vs. Mike Collins (R); Alaska, Sen. Dan Sullivan (R) vs. Mary Peltola (D); Iowa (open), Ashley Hinson (R) vs. Josh Turek (D); Kansas, Sen. Roger Marshall (R) vs. Adam Hamilton (D); New Hampshire (open), Chris Pappas (D) vs. John E. Sununu (R); and Nebraska, Sen. Pete Ricketts (R) vs. independent Dan Osborn. In Florida's special election, Sen. Ashley Moody (R) faces state Rep. Angie Nixon (D); Cook rates it Solid Republican. Sources: Yahoo News, Cook Political Report, CBS News, Ballotpedia.

An unusual mid-decade redistricting round changed the map. In effect for November: Texas (Republican-drawn map, up to five GOP-leaning seats, allowed by the Supreme Court), California (Prop 50, approved by voters in November 2025, up to about five Democratic-leaning seats; a federal panel refused to block it in January 2026), North Carolina and Ohio (new GOP-leaning lines), Utah (a court-ordered map with a Democratic-leaning Salt Lake City seat) and Florida (a new map signed in May 2026; courts declined to block it before the election, litigation continues). Several Southern states, including Louisiana, Tennessee and Alabama, also redrew after the Supreme Court's Callais ruling. Not in effect: Missouri, where the US Supreme Court ordered on September 25 that the 2022 map be used (a referendum on the 2025 map is on the ballot), and Virginia, whose Democratic redraw was blocked by the state Supreme Court. Estimates of the net effect vary; NBC News put it at up to 16 Republican-leaning against up to 6 Democratic-leaning seats in June, before Missouri's map was blocked. Sources: NBC News, Ballotpedia, St. Louis Public Radio, SCOTUSblog, Florida courts via local media.

Three states held primaries on August 18, 2026, among the final contests before the November 3 general election. Florida: Republican Byron Donalds, a Trump-endorsed congressman from Southwest Florida, won the GOP gubernatorial primary and faces Democrat David Jolly in November. In the Senate special election primaries, appointed Sen. Ashley Moody won the Republican nomination with nearly 80 percent, and state Rep. Angie Nixon won the Democratic nomination in an upset. In FL-07, challenger Ryan Elijah defeated incumbent Republican Rep. Cory Mills, per the AP race call. Alaska: held its nonpartisan top-four primary, in which the top four finishers across parties advance to the November ranked-choice general election; Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan advanced despite a same-name opponent on the ballot. Wyoming also voted. Sources: AP via NPR, Roll Call, 270toWin, CNN, Fox 35.

On August 4, 2026, Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive former Detroit health director who ran for governor in 2018, won the Michigan Democratic Senate primary, defeating Rep. Haley Stevens, per the AP. The seat is open (Democratic Sen. Gary Peters did not seek re-election), and El-Sayed faces Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers in November in a race Cook rates Toss Up. Sources: AP via WDET, Cook Political Report.

Thirty-six states hold governor elections in 2026, or 39 races counting Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the US Virgin Islands. Cook moved the Florida and Texas governor races from Likely to Lean Republican on October 1. Governors matter beyond their states because they sign or veto congressional maps, run election administration and set state policy on taxes, education and health. Sources: 270toWin, Cook Political Report, Ballotpedia.

Historically, the party holding the White House tends to lose congressional seats in midterm elections. In 2018, under President [Donald Trump](/en/people/donald-trump/)'s first term, Democrats gained 41 House seats; in 2022 Republicans gained 9 under President Biden. That is a long-run pattern, not a guarantee, and each cycle depends on the economy, turnout, candidates and events. Source: Yahoo News, citing RealClearPolitics averages.

Control of Congress shapes US budgets, trade and tariff policy, aid, and the ability to pass or block the president's agenda. Because US policy has worldwide effects, the balance of the House and Senate after November 2026 is watched well beyond America.