US Midterm Elections 2026: Americans Vote as Control of Congress Hangs in the Balance

Americans are voting on Tuesday, 3 November 2026, in midterm elections that will decide control of Congress for the final two years of President Donald Trump’s current term, with every seat in the House of Representatives and more than a third of Senate seats on the ballot.

FAKTA

• All 435 seats in the US House of Representatives are being contested, along with 35 of the 100 Senate seats.
• Voters in 36 states are also choosing governors on the same day.
• More than 57 million ballots had already been cast before Election Day through early in-person voting and returned mail ballots, above the roughly 46 million early votes recorded in the 2022 midterms.
• A party needs 218 seats for a majority in the House; in the Senate, 51 seats give a majority, while a 50-50 split is decided by the vice president’s tie-breaking vote.
• No verified results were available at the time of writing: the first polls were due to close at 6 p.m. Eastern Time in parts of Indiana and Kentucky, with counting continuing after polls close across the country.

US midterm elections 2026: what voters are deciding

Polls opened as early as 5 a.m. Eastern Time in Vermont, with other eastern states opening at 6 a.m. and 6:30 a.m., and the last polls opening at noon Eastern Time in Hawaii. Polling hours vary by state and county, and most polling places close between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. local time.

Heading into Election Day, Republicans held narrow majorities in both chambers. In the House, the split before the election was 218 Republicans, 214 Democrats, one independent who caucuses with Republicans, and two vacancies, according to the Office of the Clerk. In the Senate, Republicans held 53 seats to 47 for Democrats and their allies.

Cost of living tops voters’ concerns

A Reuters/Ipsos poll of 1,765 US adults, conducted from Thursday through Monday before Election Day, found that 48 percent of registered voters named the cost of living as the top issue deciding their vote, compared with 26 percent who named democratic norms and 13 percent who named immigration.

The same poll found that 77 percent of voters were confident their ballots would be counted, while 45 percent said they thought voter fraud was a widespread problem. It also found that 49 percent of Americans thought their household finances had worsened since January 2025, compared with 13 percent who said they had improved and 37 percent who said they were about the same.

Forecasts point one way, but they are not results

Forecast models published before Election Day generally favoured Democrats to take the House, while describing the Senate race as considerably more competitive. The Economist gave Democrats a 93 percent chance of winning the House, and Decision Desk HQ gave them an 84 percent chance, according to election-night reporting. Those figures are forecasts, not results, and control of Congress will only be established race by race as official returns are reported.

Results are not expected to be final on election night in every race. Close contests, mail ballots and different state counting procedures can delay final outcomes for days, and official certification in most states follows weeks after election night.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is at stake in the 2026 US midterm elections?

Control of Congress for the final two years of President Donald Trump’s current term, with all 435 House seats, 35 Senate seats and governorships in 36 states on the ballot.

How many seats does a party need for a House majority?

218 seats out of 435.

When were results expected?

The first polls closed at 6 p.m. Eastern Time on 3 November, with results arriving state by state after polls closed; some close races can take days to finalise.

How many people voted early?

More than 57 million ballots had been cast before Election Day, above the roughly 46 million early votes in the 2022 midterms.

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