The fight for Congress is only the beginning. Here’s what’s at stake on Election Day.

November 3, 2026

Election Day 2026: What’s at stake

Americans are voting today in elections that will decide which party controls the House and Senate for the next two years.

Republicans are defending narrow majorities in both chambers. President Donald Trump has predicted his party will keep control through the final two years of his presidency, telling a rally in Kansas on Sunday that Republicans would win and make the coming two years “bigger and better and stronger.”

History, though, is not on the governing party’s side: the party in power in Washington has typically lost seats in midterm elections. Republicans are also contending with persistent inflation, an unpopular war with Iran according to polling, and declining approval ratings for Trump. Polls suggest Democrats are more motivated to vote, too.

Early voting has reached a record level. More than 54 million people had already cast ballots, according to the Associated Press—almost nine million more than voted early in the 2022 midterms. Republicans have traditionally had less success with early voting, and Republican National Committee Chair Joe Gruters recently said the party would win if its voters turned out on Election Day.

Trump has been campaigning to energize Republican voters. His rally in Kansas—his 30th event in about a month—came as the state’s Senate race shifted from leaning Republican to a toss-up in one set of race ratings. Democratic pastor Adam Hamilton is challenging Republican Sen. Roger Marshall and hopes to become the first Democrat in nearly a century to win a Senate election in Kansas.

Many election forecasts point to Democrats retaking the House, while the Senate contest is considered close. Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin said before Election Day that Democrats could win both chambers and block Trump’s agenda.

Voters are also choosing governors in 36 states. Legislative elections are taking place in all but four states, and voters will decide on 145 statewide ballot measures.

One question hanging over the results is whether polls suggesting a possible Democratic wave have underestimated Republican support. The results will begin to provide an answer as polls close across the country.

The Senate

Republicans currently hold a 53–47 Senate majority. Democrats need to gain four seats overall to take control, while Republicans need at least 50 seats to retain it, since Vice President JD Vance can break a tie.

Republicans are defending seats in a number of competitive states, including Alaska, Iowa, Maine, Nebraska, South Carolina and Texas. Kansas is also a close contest, while ratings differ on Ohio, where Republicans are defending a seat. Democrats are defending seats in Michigan, Minnesota and New Hampshire.

The House

Republicans hold only a slim majority in the House. Democrats need a net gain of three seats to reach 218 and take control.

One set of projections suggests Democrats could win as many as 240 seats in a strong night for the party. If Republicans outperform expectations, they could finish with 212 seats—short of a majority, but enough to make governing difficult for a Democratic speaker, who would have to manage competing demands from the party’s moderate and progressive members.

Some of the first House districts to report results may offer an early indication of how the chamber is shaping up. Kentucky’s 6th District, which includes Lexington and much of central Kentucky, is one to watch. Trump carried it by 15 points in the last presidential election, but the race is expected to be close, with college voters and farmers facing higher costs among the groups shaping the contest.

Governors and ballot measures

There are currently 26 Republican governors and 24 Democratic governors. Alaska, Nevada and Georgia—all with Republican governors—are rated as toss-ups, as is Wisconsin, where the governor’s office is held by a Democrat.

Florida, Kansas and Texas are rated as leaning Republican in their governor’s races. Arizona, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio and Oregon are rated as leaning Democratic.

Voters in 11 states—Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Kansas, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, South Dakota and West Virginia—will consider measures involving voter identification or bans on noncitizens voting.

Alaska voters will also decide whether to repeal the state’s ranked-choice voting system, open primaries and a campaign-finance disclosure rule. Voters approved the system in 2020 and narrowly voted to keep it in 2024. It has drawn renewed attention during debate over a possible spoiler candidate in the state’s Senate race.

In Virginia, voters will decide whether people convicted of felonies should regain voting rights after they are released.

California’s Proposition 40 would introduce a one-time 5% tax on the wealth of residents worth more than $1 billion. Most of the revenue would go toward healthcare. In Washington state, voters will consider repealing a 9.9% tax on annual income above $1 million that lawmakers recently approved. The state does not currently have a personal income tax.

Measures related to congressional district boundaries are on the ballot in Maryland, Missouri and Colorado, as both parties prepare for another round of mid-decade redistricting disputes in 2028.

Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska and Washington state have measures concerning transgender students’ participation in sports. Colorado voters will also consider restrictions on gender-transition surgeries for minors and on public funding for those procedures.

Missouri voters will decide whether to repeal abortion protections and prohibit gender-transition medical care for children. An Idaho measure would overturn one of the country’s strictest abortion bans, while voters in Virginia and Nevada will decide whether to add abortion rights to their state constitutions.

California, Colorado and Arizona also have ballot measures concerning energy, transportation and development.

Poll closing times

6 p.m. ET: Polls close in parts of Kentucky and Indiana.
7 p.m. ET: Polls close in Georgia, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia, as well as the remaining parts of Kentucky and Indiana. Most polls in Florida and New Hampshire also close.
7:30 p.m. ET: Polls close in North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia.
8 p.m. ET: Polls close in Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Washington, D.C. The remaining polls in Florida and New Hampshire close, along with most polls in Texas, Michigan, Kansas, North Dakota and South Dakota.
8:30 p.m. ET: Polls close in Arkansas.
9 p.m. ET: Polls close in Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Wisconsin and Wyoming. The remaining polls in Texas, Michigan, Kansas, North Dakota and South Dakota also close.
10 p.m. ET: Polls close in Montana and Utah, and most polls close in Idaho and Oregon.
11 p.m. ET: Polls close in California and Washington state, along with the remaining polls in Idaho and Oregon.
Midnight ET: Polls close across Hawaii and in most of Alaska. The remaining Alaska polls close at 1 a.m. ET.