Democrats projected to win majority in US Congress and Senate
Democrats projected to win majority in US Congress and Senate Key Events Key takeaway: A Democratic wave Hamilton becomes first Democrat senator from Kansas in 94 years Democrat Acton wins Ohio governor race Democrat Brown wins back Ohio Senate seat Democrats projected to win majority control of US House, US media project Democrat to win South Carolina Senate seat: CBS House races: Where things stand Jeffries projected to win eighth House term Republican Moody wins crucial Florida Senate race: AP Democrat flips North Carolina Senate seat: media Democrat Pappas holds New Hampshire Senate seat BBC projects Democrat wins in 5 Senate races 19 states, DC close polls Democrat Ossoff projected to win Georgia seat Key Points Polls close in Ohio Trump blamed for higher prices: exit polls Voting enters final hours Trump says US to end $4bn annual military aid to Israel Supreme Court rejects Trump ballot segregation bid Inflation puts Republican seats at risk The Big Questions When do US Congress elections take place? Judgment Day for Trump bdnews24.com News Service
Democrats seized control of both the Senate and House on Tuesday, scoring sweeping victories in Republican strongholds for the first time in generations as tens of millions of voters delivered a scathing rebuke to President Donald Trump.
Voters in conservative bastions who had propelled the president to his second term in office just two years ago swung dramatically toward Democrats, fuelled by deep frustration over the unpopular war with Iran, anxiety over the high cost of living and anger at Trump's stewardship of the country.
Kansas elected its first Democratic senator since the Great Depression nearly a century ago. In South Carolina, a state that Trump carried by nearly 18 points in 2024, Democrats turned aside his hand-picked Senate candidate.
And in Texas, the biggest Republican state, Democrats ended a decades-long losing streak in seismic fashion, winning a Senate seat and ousting three-term Governor Greg Abbott.
The results will usher in a new era of divided government in Washington, following two years in which the Republican-controlled Congress rarely exercised its power to rein in Trump.
Once seated in January, Democrats are expected to use their power to investigate Trump's administration, family and allies and demand concessions on major legislation. The Democratic Senate can block Trump's nominees, including any US Supreme Court justices should a vacancy arise.
"There is now a generational remake of the Senate map that is going to change America," said Chuck Schumer, the party's Senate minority leader. "Americans voted for change, and now Democrats must deliver."
Democrat Abdul El-Sayed is projected to defeat Republican rival Mike Rogers for the Senate seat in Michigan, reports Fox News.
Other outlets have yet to call the closely-watched race.
Democrat Abdul El-Sayed has claimed victory in the race for Michigan senator during a watch party in Detroit.
Major media outlets have yet to project a winner in the race between him and Republican Mike Rogers.
"I am so proud and honoured to stand here as your Senator-elect for the great state of Michigan," El-Sayed said.
El-Sayed said his message was one of hope in fighting back against corporate interests.
“We spoke of a brighter, a bigger, more hopeful Michigan. Theirs, an astroturfed, corporate-funded advertising campaign built to deceive and distract," he said.
El-Sayed, an Egyptian-American Muslim born in Michigan, also addressed the Islamophobic attacks he faced during the race.
"At first, they pointed to my name and my faith as if to say, you know, he's a little different. And when it didn't work, they tried to guilt me by association. And when that didn't work, they went all in on one of the ugliest campaigns we've seen in our lifetimes," he said.
"They might have been pointing to my name and my faith, but we all know that my name and my faith aren't the reason you can't afford your gas, they're not the reason you can't afford your groceries, not the reason you can't see a doctor."
Trump asked voters to pretend he was on the ballot. They did, and Republicans paid the price.
Early results and exit polls showed an electorate in a sour mood, delivering a strong rebuke of Trump and his agenda as voters expressed deep unhappiness about high prices and the direction of the country.
Many said they feel worse off than two years ago and nearly 9 in 10 identified the cost of living as a crucial or major factor in their vote, according to exit polls conducted by SSRS on behalf of a consortium of US media outlets that included major television networks and the Associated Press.
Trump was elected in 2024 on a promise to arrest high inflation, but his tariffs on foreign goods and war against Iran have worsened the economic situation for many Americans. His response on the campaign trail was to tell Americans to absorb the higher costs even as his popularity sank to record lows.
Nearly two-thirds of voters in the exit polls blamed Trump for high prices, while three-quarters said they were either angry or dissatisfied with the direction of the country. Voters also expressed widespread concern over government corruption.
Opinion polls ahead of the midterms pointed to Democrats having a good night. But the scale of their gains was far greater than most analysts had forecast, extending beyond traditional battlegrounds deep into Republican territory.
In Texas, James Talarico routed Republican Ken Paxton, becoming the state's first Democratic senator-elect in 38 years.
In flipping the Senate seat in South Carolina, the party also made history. Democrats have not won a US Senate race there this century, and the win by Annie Andrews over Republican Senator Darline Graham became another defining upset of the night.
In the Senate race in Ohio, a state Trump won three times, Democrat Sherrod Brown prevailed, while in Kansas, Democrat Adam Hamilton easily defeated Republican incumbent Roger Marshall. Democrats last won a Senate seat in Kansas in 1932, during the Great Depression.
Democrats were projected by US media outlets to win back control of both the US House and Senate.
Strategists in both parties said Democrats' sweeping victories were fuelled by strong turnout of party faithful and independent voters who broke their way in both swing states and Republican strongholds. Democrats also adopted a strategy to field a candidate in every race — even those that just months ago appeared to be long shots.
Those bets paid off, particularly as Republicans fielded candidates who struggled to overcome Trump's unpopularity and voter anger over high prices.
Winning back Congress could be a double-edged sword for Democrats, however.
Voters likely will look to Democrats to address their economic concerns and not just oppose Trump. But they will be limited in what legislation they can pass as the president retains veto power. Trump could also say Democrats are now at the very least equally culpable for the state of the economy.
Trump told media outlets he would accept the election results and was prepared to work with Democrats.
The Democrats' midterm election win puts Hakeem Jeffries in line to become the first Black speaker of the US House of Representatives, with the dual challenge of opposing President Donald Trump while bridging the gap between his party's moderates and its more vocal progressives.
As speaker, Jeffries, representing a New York City congressional district, would preside over a majority that will be sworn in the first week of January, taking the reins from Republicans who controlled the House for the past four years.
"Today begins the great American comeback," Jeffries proclaimed in a victory speech late on Tuesday after media outlets projected the likelihood of Democratic majorities in the House and Senate.
He attacked the Trump-led Republican agenda in Congress over the past two years, pledging to pass legislation reversing steep spending cuts — enacted into law on Jul 4, 2025 — to the Medicaid healthcare program for the poor and people with disabilities.
"The American people have spoken and made clear that they've had enough of the extremism, enough of the corruption. They want a Congress that's going to deliver for the American people," Jeffries said.
Jeffries has long said that, while his caucus would focus on helping the poor and middle class cope with the high cost of living, Democrats would also investigate the Trump administration's dealings with corporate executives, including those who have donated heavily to his various campaigns and projects. He has stopped short of saying the House, under his leadership, would attempt to impeach Trump for a third time.
Democratic Representative Robert Garcia of California, who is expected to become chair of the House Committee on Oversight, had two words of advice. "Lawyer up," he said in an election night statement.
With votes still being counted across much of the country after Tuesday's elections, the size of the Democratic majority in the House for the next two years was unclear.
The House speaker acts as the boss of the often boisterous 435-member chamber, deciding what legislation advances to a vote or dies on the vine. The House speaker is second in line for the presidency, after Vice President JD Vance.
Later this month, the newly elected House Democrats will gather behind closed doors to anoint their candidate to run in the January election for speaker. Nobody is seen posing a serious threat to Jeffries, according to multiple Democratic aides.
South Florida Republican Ian Vallecillo has warned his party against complacency after Republicans lost control of both chambers of Congress and suffered major defeats in several states.
Vallecillo said he was surprised by how narrowly Republicans performed in Florida, where races for governor, Senate and attorney general came within two percentage points.
He said the results should prompt the Florida Republican Party to reassess its position and prepare for tougher contests.
President Donald Trump’s approval rating has also fallen to historic lows amid the war in Iran, high fuel prices, scandals and immigration raids.
The last polls have closed in Alaska, marking the end of voting across the United States on Election Day.
Results from Alaska could take longer to come in due to late-arriving ballots potentially delaying the final picture in some races.
Alaska’s Senate race remains undecided, with Republican Senator Dan S Sullivan facing former Democratic congresswoman Mary Peltola.
An undeclared candidate, Dan J Sullivan, is also in the running.
The gubernatorial race is also too close to call, with Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins facing three Republican opponents.
During an interview with Fox News, US President Donald Trump was asked whether he accepted the midterm results.
"Congratulations to the Democrats. They did a good job,"
The president added that Democrats had "been looking for this one for 11 years."
However, he said he did not view the results as a personal rebuke, stating: "I don't view it as a hit on me."
President Donald Trump acknowledged that the war in Iran played a role in Republicans' losses in Tuesday's midterm elections, as Democrats prepared to take control of both the US House and Senate and challenge his legislative agenda.
In an interview with Fox News, Trump said Democrats would send legislation he considered "insane" to his desk and that he would veto it.
"They'll send over things that are insane, and I'll veto them," he said. "And after a couple of months of vetoes, they'll call and they'll say, 'How do we get this stuff done?' And we'll work together."
Trump said the war in Iran had weighed on Republican candidates, even as voters backed his handling of it. "I think a part of it was Iran, but at the same time people understood the importance of what I've done with Iran," he said.
Democrat Peggy Flanagan won Minnesota's US Senate race on Tuesday, US media outlets projected.
Flanagan, the state's lieutenant governor, defeated Republican Michele Tafoya, a former NFL television journalist, extending Democrats' Senate winning streak in a state that has not elected a Republican senator since 2002.
The victory does not improve the Democrats' Senate math but prevents it from getting worse: they must net four seats to control the 100-seat chamber, and Flanagan will succeed retiring Democratic Senator Tina Smith.
Tafoya had sought to distance herself from some of President Donald Trump's policies.
Flanagan campaigned against Trump's immigration crackdown, which brought thousands of masked federal agents to Minnesota and led to the shooting deaths of two US citizens in Minneapolis.
Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins conceded to Democrat Troy Jackson on Tuesday, scoring a major pickup for Democrats in one of the midterms’ most competitive races.
First elected in 1996, Collins had repeatedly survived as a moderate Republican in a state that has not backed her party for president since 1988. But this year she faced economic headwinds that helped Jackson overcome his late entry into the race.
The Iran war pushed up fuel and home heating oil prices – an especially salient issue in a largely rural state known for harsh winters. Trump's trade war with Canada weighed on tourism, lobstering, logging and other pillars of Maine's economy.
Jackson, a former state Senate president, emphasized his blue-collar roots as a fifth-generation logger from the remote town of Allagash. He campaigned on universal healthcare and other populist policies, drawing the support of high-profile progressives like Senator Bernie Sanders, a democratic socialist from Vermont.
US President Donald Trump has taken to his social media platform Truth Social for his perspective on the US midterm results.
"I’m going to become a Political Pundit, both good and bad, on the reasons these Candidates won and lost!" he wrote.
"If Greg Abbott, the Governor of Texas, hadn’t become a RINO in the last six months of his Political Life, he wouldn’t have lost," he says, using an acronym that means "Republican in name only".
He also indicated that he would try to block any legislation that is passed by the next Democratic-controlled Congress.
Trump also took issue with Fox News, something he's done repeatedly throughout the day, asking why it has former Democratic New York Mayor Bill de Blasio on its political panel.
"FoxNews [sic] bears responsibility for these losses by constantly and consistently putting on the Dumocrat opposition, and worse."
Earlier in the night, he had posted: "I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE! Thank you for your attention to this matter."
Democrats have won control of both the US House of Representatives and the Senate in the US midterm elections after voters roundly rebuked the first two years of US President Donald Trump’s second term.
The party had to flip at least four seats to gain control of the upper chamber.
An upset victory in Iowa, in addition to breakthroughs in Republican bastions such as Kansas, Texas and South Carolina, has gained Democrats six seats in the chamber.
Democrats could lose both of the seats they are defending in Michigan and Minnesota and still have enough to have a majority in the Senate.
Democrat Josh Turek won Iowa’s US Senate race on Tuesday, according to media projections, defeating Trump-backed Republican Ashley Hinson to become the state’s first Democratic senator in more than a decade and scoring a key pickup in the battle for Senate control.
President Donald Trump carried Iowa in three straight presidential elections, but Turek’s victory underscored Democratic gains in a state that had initially been expected to remain safely Republican.
Adam Hamilton won the US Senate race in Kansas on Tuesday, according to media projections, ousting Trump-backed Republican Roger Marshall to become the state’s first Democrat elected senator in 94 years and giving his party a major boost in the battle for Senate control.
It was a striking Democratic gain in a state President Donald Trump carried by more than 16 percentage points in 2024 and where the race had initially been expected to be safely Republican.
Democratic candidate Amy Acton defeated Republican Vivek Ramaswamy in the race to become Ohio's next governor, a seat currently held by a Republican, US media projected on Tuesday.
Democrat Sherrod Brown won Ohio’s special US Senate election on Tuesday, according to US media projections, ousting Republican incumbent Jon Husted and boosting his party's chances of winning a majority in the chamber.
Brown’s victory marked a comeback two years after losing his Senate seat and showed that Democrats could still win statewide in Ohio, where Republicans have become dominant since Trump’s political rise in 2016.
His 2024 loss to Republican Senator Bernie Moreno ended Brown's 18-year tenure in the Senate.
Democrat James Talarico is a 37-year-old state representative, seminarian and former schoolteacher.
His win would make him the first Democrat to be elected to the Senate from Texas in 32 years.
Trump won the state by a massive 14 percentage points in 2024.
Talarico, a rising star in the Democratic Party, has often spoken about how his Christian faith has inspired his progressive policy positions.
During the campaign, he focused on the cost of living and the outsize political influence of billionaires like Elon Musk, who poured at least $160 million into Texas to buoy his Republican rival Ken Paxton.
Republicans spent more than $300 million on ads supporting Paxton, dwarfing the $102 million spent for Talarico, according to FEC data.
Paxton had hammered Talarico over his support for transgender rights and branded him a heretic.
Trump referred to him as "Talafreako" during the campaign, a nickname the Democrat used as a fundraising tool, selling "I'm a Talafreako" T-shirts.
State Representative James Talarico won the US Senate race in Texas on Tuesday, according to media projections, defeating President Donald Trump-backed Republican Ken Paxton to end Democrats’ 32-year statewide losing streak and give his party a major boost in the battle for Senate control.
It was a striking Democratic breakthrough in a state Republicans have long dominated. Trump carried the state by 14 percentage points in 2024. Paxton, the Texas attorney general, has been at the center of controversies that include a 2023 impeachment and a securities fraud case.
Talarico, a four-term state legislator and one of the nation’s top Senate fundraisers, overcame heavy outside spending in the most expensive Senate race of the cycle. He began as an underdog against former US Representative Colin Allred, the 2024 Democratic Senate nominee, who later withdrew to run for Congress again.
Talarico went on to defeat US Representative Jasmine Crockett for the Democratic nomination, dealing a political blow to his former state legislative colleague.
Republicans spent more than $316 million to retain the seat. Republican US Senator John Cornyn was ousted in a primary runoff after Trump endorsed Paxton. Republican leaders had viewed Cornyn as the stronger general-election candidate.
US President Donald Trump said in an interview with the New York Times on Tuesday that he was willing to accept the results of the midterm elections in which his Republican Party was projected to lose control of the US House.
"We'll work with the Democrats, and we’ll, you know, look forward to working with them. We’ll probably work something out," Trump was quoted as saying by the Times.
Democrats remain confident Sherrod Brown can return to the US Senate despite his narrowing lead over Republican Senator Jon Husted in Ohio.
A Democratic strategist working with the party in the state points to Brown’s performance in several counties won by Donald Trump in 2024, while large numbers of votes are still to be counted in Democratic strongholds.
Democrat Amy Acton is set to win the Ohio governor's race, CBS News reports.
The seat is currently held by Republicans.
President Donald Trump has claimed Republicans would have won by a landslide if he had been on the ballot, as several candidates he backed struggled in the US midterm elections.
In his first public reaction to the results, Trump did not mention any of the candidates he had endorsed.
A White House official earlier blamed some candidates for their performance, saying they had failed to promote themselves effectively.
Republican Byron Donalds has thanked Florida voters after being projected to win the state's gubernatorial race, pledging to make living costs more affordable, improve public safety and invest in young people.
Donalds, who defeated Democrat David Jolly, is set to become Florida's first Black governor and the first Black Republican elected governor in US history.
THANK YOU FLORIDA! I am humbled and grateful beyond measure. As your Governor, I will give you everything I have. We are going to make life in Florida more affordable. We are going to keep our streets safe. We are going to invest in our young people so that they can attain the Florida Dream that all of us love so dearly. Florida is the envy of the nation. I will fight day and night to keep it that way and to lift our state to even greater heights. God Bless you, God Bless Florida, and God Bless America.
Democrats are set to take control of the House, putting their leader Hakeem Jeffries on course to become the first Black man to hold the speaker's role.
He will gain control of the legislative agenda and oversight committees, while facing divisions within his party as progressive, moderate and Democratic socialist lawmakers join the chamber.
Democrats are also planning investigations into President Donald Trump’s administration, setting up a confrontation over congressional subpoenas and executive power.
Democrat Frederick Douglas Haynes III has defeated Republican Everett Jackson to win Texas’ 30th Congressional District.
Haynes, the senior pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas, will succeed outgoing Representative Jasmine Crockett, who left the seat open while pursuing an unsuccessful Senate primary bid.
Republican Senator Tom Cotton is projected to defeat Democratic challenger Hallie Shoffner in Arkansas, securing a third six-year term in the US Senate.
Cotton, an army veteran and former congressman, has represented the solidly Republican state since 2015.
Shoffner, a farmer who made agriculture a central issue in her campaign, raised more money than Cotton in the past three months.
Several progressive candidates, including at least five members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), have won US House seats and are set to take office in January.
Three DSA members won in New York, while others secured seats in Colorado, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Progressive Adam Hamawy also won in New Jersey, reflecting the growing influence of the party's left wing.
US media projected on Tuesday that Democrats were on track to win majority control of the US House of Representatives, putting them in position next year to challenge President Donald Trump's agenda.
After an unexpectedly close race, Democrat Annie Andrews has defeated incumbent Darline Graham to win a Senate seat in South Carolina.
Graham had assumed office on Jul 14 this year, following the death of her brother Lindsey Graham, who had served for two decades in the Senate.
Andrews, a paediatrician, has campaigned on affordable healthcare, expanding paid family leave, investing in public schools and ending gun violence.
She unsuccessfully ran for the US House of Representatives in 2022, losing to Republican Nancy Mace.
A Trump administration official says the president’s resolve to oppose the “Radical Left” will grow regardless of the election outcome.
The official argues that Trump was not on the ballot and predicts that falling fuel prices after the Iran conflict ends could lead some Democratic voters to regret their choice.
CBS has projected that Democrat Annie Andrews has flipped a seat in South Carolina, winning over Republican Senator Darline Graham.
The win would be a major upset and likely point to a Democratic blue wave across the country.
Of 35 seats up for grabs in the US Senate, Democrats have won nine seats and Republicans have won two, so far.
North Carolina Democrat Roy Cooper won a seat previously held by a Republican, media projections say, while Republican Ashley Moody narrowly fended off a Democratic challenger in Florida.
Democrats still need to pick up three more seats now held by Republicans for a Senate majority.
CBS News has projected that Democrats will win at least 208 seats in the House of Representatives and Republicans will win at least 160.
A party needs to secure 218 seats for a majority.
All 435 seats in the House are up for election. Trump's Republican Party currently controls the House, and Democrats need to gain three seats to take the majority.
South Carolina voters are more likely to trust Republicans than Democrats to handle policies concerning transgender people.
Virginia voters are projected to approve a constitutional amendment protecting access to abortion, contraception and other reproductive healthcare.
The measure bars lawmakers from restricting these rights, while allowing some limits on abortion in the third trimester.
Democrat Paige Cognetti is projected to defeat Republican incumbent Rob Bresnahan in Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional District, returning the competitive seat to Democratic hands.
The Scranton mayor campaigned on tackling self-interest in politics and auditing Congress.
Democrat Abdul El-Sayed is leading Republican Mike Rogers in Oakland County, Michigan, with 63 percent of the votes counted.
El-Sayed has secured nearly 55 percent of the vote, compared with Rogers’ 43.5 percent.
Democrats are performing 1 percentage point better than they did at the same stage of the 2024 presidential election.
Democrats at an election night gathering in Detroit criticised Representative Haley Stevens’ endorsement of Republican Mike Rogers, saying it would not sway voters and could benefit Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed instead.
• Keisha Lance Bottoms is projected to become Georgia’s first Black and female governor, as well as the first Black woman elected governor in US history.
• Chris Pappas is projected to become the first openly gay man elected to the US Senate after winning New Hampshire’s Senate race.
• Byron Donalds is projected to become Florida’s first Black governor.
• Melat Kiros is projected to become the first Black woman elected to represent Colorado in Congress.
• Adam Hamawy is projected to become New Jersey’s first Muslim member of Congress.
• Claire Valdez is projected to become the first Native American woman elected to represent New York in Congress.
The BBC has projected that Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms as the winner of the Georgia governor's race.
She makes history as the first black woman elected as a US governor.
Bottoms beat out Republican Rick Jackson for the gubernatorial seat.
She had previously served as mayor of Atlanta from 2018 to 2022.
Democratic socialist Melat Kiros is projected to win Colorado’s 1st Congressional District, becoming the first Black woman elected to represent the state in Congress.
The 29-year-old, endorsed by Senator Bernie Sanders, defeated 15-term incumbent Diana DeGette in the Democratic primary this summer.
Her victory adds to the growing number of democratic socialists expected to enter Congress this year.
Ohio voters are split over whether Democrats or Republicans are better equipped to handle artificial intelligence, with most saying neither party has an advantage.
Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has won re-election in New York's 14th Congressional District, securing her fifth term in the House after defeating Republican challenger Diamant Hysenaj.
Ocasio-Cortez has represented parts of the Bronx and Queens since 2019 and is a prominent voice of the Democratic Party's progressive wing.
Her victory comes amid speculation that she could seek a Senate seat or run for president in 2028, though she has yet to announce her plans.
Live music and food trucks set the scene at Texas state Representative James Talarico's election night watch party in Austin, where supporters cheered as results came in.
Some wore “Talafreako” shirts, embracing a nickname used by President Donald Trump and other Republicans to mock the Democratic candidate.
The gathering marked the end of Talarico's 15-day campaign tour, which included 21 stops across Texas. Democrats see his campaign as a rare opportunity to challenge Republican dominance in the traditionally conservative state.
Democrat Chris Pappas is projected to defeat Republican former Senator John Sununu in New Hampshire's Senate race, becoming the first openly gay man elected to the US Senate.
New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley said the state had made history with Pappas' victory, adding that the senator-elect would work towards a fairer future for the state.
Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is projected to win re-election in New York, securing his eighth term in Congress after easily defeating his Republican challenger.
If Democrats regain control of the House, Jeffries could become the first Black speaker.
Texas Republicans are expressing concern over early results in statewide races, with Governor Greg Abbott's re-election bid also facing an unexpectedly close contest.
A loss would end his hopes of becoming the state's longest-serving governor.
Republicans expect to gain ground as more rural areas report their results, but early figures have raised concerns within the party.
"You have made your voices heard and they were loud," says Roy Cooper, who gave Democrats the first Senate flip of the US midterms.
"For too many people in North Carolina, the middle class was feeling like a distant dream," while "the richest Americans were getting unimaginable wealth at our expense", he says, addressing his supporters from the state capital of Raleigh.
The Democrat said "chaos and corruption in Washington" are "hurting our people".
"As your new United States Senator, I am ready to take that message to Washington and work to do something about it."
The White House has released President Donald Trump's schedule for Wednesday, listing no public appearances. Trump is due to have "executive time" at 8am, followed by closed-door policy meetings.
Previous presidents George W Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden held press conferences on the Wednesday after midterm elections in which their parties suffered losses.
Previous presidents George W Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden held press conferences on the Wednesday after midterm elections in which their parties suffered losses.
Trump also held a press conference on Nov 7, 2018, after Republicans lost control of the House.
US voters are almost evenly divided over whether Democrats or Republicans are better equipped to handle taxes. About one in five said they had confidence in neither party.
Democrats held a slight edge on handling the economy and foreign policy, while Republicans had a narrow advantage on immigration.
Around six in 10 voters said the US decision to take military action against Iran was wrong, while a majority said the Trump administration had gone too far with immigration enforcement.
The findings come as the rising cost of living remains a major concern for voters, with many blaming President Donald Trump's policies for higher prices.
Republican Representative Harriet Hageman is projected to defeat Democrat James Byrd in Wyoming's Senate race.
Endorsed by President Donald Trump, Hageman has represented Wyoming's at-large congressional district since 2023 after defeating then-Representative Liz Cheney in the 2022 Republican primary.
She will succeed retiring Senator Cynthia Lummis.
Polls have just closed in Arkansas, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Colorado and Arizona.
Aside from Alaska, all states with key Senate races have now closed their polls.
Republican Congressman Carlos Gimenez has won re-election in Florida's 28th Congressional District. Gimenez, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump, said he was honoured to earn another term, receiving more than 50 percent of the district's vote.
Gimenez's family fled communist Cuba when he was a child. He has since become an outspoken critic of socialism and communism during his congressional career. He said he would continue working to defend freedoms and protect communities in South Florida.
Shelley Moore Capito retains the seat for her Republican Party, fending off a challenge from Rachel Fetty Anderson of the Democrats.
Democrat Jamie Ager is projected to defeat Republican Jennifer Balkcom in North Carolina's 11th Congressional District, flipping a seat held by the Republicans.
The seat is currently represented by Republican Chuck Edwards, who ended his re-election campaign in August after a congressional ethics panel found substantial evidence that he had repeatedly made unwanted advances towards two female staff members.
A spokesperson for Edwards' campaign has maintained that the outgoing congressman did not violate federal sexual harassment law.
Democratic Representative Eugene Vindman is projected to win re-election in Virginia's 7th Congressional District, defeating Republican Doug Ollivant.
The retired Army colonel rose to national prominence alongside his twin brother, Alexander Vindman, during Donald Trump's first impeachment hearings, when both served on the White House National Security Council.
Vindman first won the seat in 2024, narrowly defeating Republican Derrick Anderson after Abigail Spanberger vacated the district to run for Virginia governor.
He was joined on the campaign trail last Friday by Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who attended a get-out-the-vote rally in Dumfries.
Multiple news outlets are projecting that incumbent Republican Senator Ashley Moody has fended off a challenge from Democrat Angie Nixon in Florida.
Democrats had been hoping for an upset in the race, which would have given the party a strong chance to take control of the US Senate.
Moody was appointed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to replace Marco Rubio, after he was appointed secretary of state in 2025. She will now see out the remainder of his term.
Multiple news outlets - including Fox News, AP, NBC and ABC - have called an open North Carolina Senate seat for Democratic former governor Roy Cooper.
Cooper beats out former Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Michael Whatley, a close ally of President Donald Trump.
The flip of the GOP-controlled seat in the crucial southeastern battleground state boosts Democrats' chances of winning a Senate majority.
Democrat Chris Pappas won New Hampshire’s open US Senate seat on Tuesday, according to media projections, defeating Republican John Sununu and preserving a crucial Democratic seat as the party fights to take control of the chamber.
Pappas’ victory denied Republicans a pickup in the cold-weather state, where high energy prices had become a major issue amid President Donald Trump’s war with Iran. He will succeed Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, who is retiring after 18 years.
Voters rebuked Trump and his agenda, blaming him for stubbornly high prices, with a large majority unhappy about the direction of the country, according to voter exit polls conducted by SSRS on behalf of a consortium of US media outlets that included major television networks and the Associated Press.
The polls showed an electorate in an overwhelmingly sour mood. Many said they feel worse off than two years ago and nearly 9 in 10 identified the cost of living as a crucial or major factor in their vote, signaling that the elections could prove a repudiation of Trump and his Republican Party.
The exit polls were released before any election results were announced, but they offered an early barometer of voter discontent.
When Trump took office, he promised to fix high inflation fast, but a majority of voters said they think his policies - including the Iran war and tariffs on foreign goods - have made the country's economic situation worse.
Nearly two-thirds blamed Trump for high prices, with three-quarters saying they were either angry or dissatisfied with the direction of the country, suggesting a nation hungry for change. Voters also expressed concern over government corruption.
The exit polls suggest Trump's 19-state campaign blitz for Republican candidates in recent weeks has done little to improve his standing with voters.
The coalition of voters that powered Trump’s 2024 victory showed early signs of coming apart on Tuesday.
Republicans saw sharp declines among Black men, Latinos, young voters, evangelical Christians and voters without college degrees, according to the early exit poll data.
Support for Republicans among voters aged 18-29 fell from more than 40 percent in 2024 to 25 percent on Tuesday. Among Hispanics, it dropped from nearly half to about a third, while backing among Black men slipped from 21 percent to 13 percent.
If the demographic data holds up, voters who favored former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election, may have represented a bigger share of voters on Tuesday than they did in 2024.
One category of voters who did show up on Tuesday may help Republicans limit losses: voters over 65, who very slightly favor Republicans, represented a larger share of midterm voters than they did in 2024.
Still, lower support for Republicans among several key voter groups could be a drag on Trump's party ahead of the 2028 election and pose a challenge for the Republican presidential nominee to rebuild the coalition.
Notably, there was less enthusiasm among white born-again and evangelical Christians, who favored Republicans by more than a four-to-one margin in this election cycle. They did not turn out in the same numbers as they did in 2024 - shrinking from nearly a quarter of the electorate in 2024 to 17 percent on Tuesday.
Democrats need a net gain of at least four seats in November's midterm elections to wrest control of the US Senate from Republicans, with voter discontent over President Donald Trump, the Iran war and rising prices putting races in once-solidly Republican states into play.
Republicans hold a 53-47 majority, and a Democratic takeover looked unlikely at the start of the year. But Democrats are now competitive in states Trump won handily in 2024, even as Republicans seek to capture Democratic-held seats of their own.
CNN has projected Democrat wins in two Florida congressional races with districts that had been re-drawn to favour their Republican opponents.
CNN’s Decision Desk projects former high school principal Pia Dandiya will win the 22nd District after overcoming Republican Casey Askar, a pizza magnate who largely self-funded his campaign.
It also says Democrat Jared Moskowitz will win Florida’s newly redrawn 25th Congressional District, defeating Republican Scott Singer, a former Boca Raton mayor.
The BBC has projected wins for Democrats in five Senate races. The Democratic incumbents won in all five cases.
The projected winners are Chris Coons in Delaware, Juliana Stratton in Illinois, Edward J Markey in Massachusetts, Jack Reed in Rhode Island, and Cory Booker in New Jersey.
A number of states have started closing their polls at 8pm ET.
These include Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Washington DC, Illinois, most of Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, most of Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, most of North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, most of South Dakota, Tennessee and most of Texas.
CBS News projects that Democrat Jon Ossoff has been re-elected to his Georgia Senate seat, beating out Republican Mike Collins.
Ossoff, 39, was the sole Democrat seeking reelection in a state that President Trump won in 2024.
Polling centres are now closing in the states of North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia. However, those waiting in line can still vote.
Ohio is under close scrutiny as a battleground state in the election. Signs point to strong voter turnout.
Polls had previously closed in Georgia, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, and most of Florida, and most of New Hampshire.
Fox News has projected an early winner stating that Democrat Mark Warner is expected to beat Republican Army General Bert Mizusawa for a fourth term as a senator from Virginia.
Voters rebuked Trump and his agenda, blaming him for stubbornly high prices, with a large majority unhappy about the direction of the country, according to voter exit polls conducted by SSRS on behalf of a consortium of US media outlets that included major television networks and the Associated Press.
The polls showed an electorate in an overwhelmingly sour mood. Many said they feel worse off than when Trump entered the White House in 2025 and nearly 9 in 10 identified the cost of living as a crucial or major factor in their vote, signaling that the elections could prove a repudiation of Trump and his Republican Party.
The exit polls were released before any election results had been announced, but were an early barometer of voter discontent.
When Trump took office he promised to fix high inflation fast, but a majority of voters said they think his policies - including the Iran war and tariffs on foreign goods - have made their economic situation worse.
Two-thirds blamed Trump for high prices, with three quarters saying they were either angry or dissatisfied with the direction of the country, suggesting a nation hungry for change. Voters also expressed concern over government corruption.
Unhappiness with Trump loomed over nearly all the voter responses. Seven in 10 said they want the US Congress to place more checks and balances on the president, with 62% disapproving of his job performance, one of the highest unfavorable rates in modern times.
The results suggest Trump's midterm campaign blitz on behalf of Republican candidates in recent weeks has done little to improve his standing with voters.
Polls closed in seven states on Tuesday as millions of Americans cast ballots to determine whether to strip control of Congress from President Donald Trump's Republicans, with Democrats favoured to capture the House and both parties locked in an intense state-by-state battle for the Senate.
The fate of each chamber may not be known for some time, as election workers tally ballots and polls in dozens of states remain open later into the night.
History is against Republicans: The sitting president's party has lost ground in Congress in all but two midterms since World War Two. Trump's approval rating is hovering near his career lows, with voters frustrated by war with Iran, higher fuel prices and wider affordability concerns.
According to exit polls conducted by SSRS on behalf of a consortium of US media outlets including major television networks and the Associated Press, half of voters said they saw the 2026 midterm elections as an opportunity to rebuke the president, and three-quarters said they are "angry" or "dissatisfied" with the way the country is headed.
In addition, 70 percent of voters surveyed said they want Congress to provide more checks and balances on the president.
Midterm elections are typically seen as a referendum on the president, and that is particularly true for Trump, who dominates attention like no other modern politician. Trump himself has told his supporters to "pretend I'm on the ballot," a message Democratic leaders have happily echoed.
Polling stations began to close in Indiana and Kentucky at 6pm ET (2300 GMT), with Georgia, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia and most of Florida following suit at 7pm.
Voters continued turning out steadily in New York’s Westchester County despite a glitch that left ballot-scanning machines unable to process votes.
The county is part of the 17th Congressional District, where a closely contested House race is under way.
Some voters said they had heard about the malfunction but came out anyway, though a few expressed suspicion over the problem in one of the district’s most Democratic-leaning counties.
The machines are supplied by Liberty Vote, formerly Dominion Voting, which was bought by a Republican ally of Donald Trump. The company has not commented.
State and local election officials from both parties have urged voters to continue casting ballots, assuring them every vote will count, although ballots may have to be counted by hand, delaying results.
President Donald Trump says the whole country is watching New York as voters head to the polls, repeating his endorsement of Republican Rep Mike Lawler in one of the tightest House races.
“TODAY, the eyes of the Country are on New York again!” Trump wrote on Truth Social, urging voters to back Lawler, who is seeking re-election in a district covering Rockland County and part of Westchester County.
Westchester polling stations have reported problems with voting machines. New York Attorney General Letitia James said her office was monitoring the situation and coordinating with state and local election officials.
“Westchester voters can still safely fill out and turn in their ballots at their polling locations. Your votes will count,” James wrote on X. Trump praised Lawler as “a tremendous friend to the Jewish community and a strong leader in the fight against antisemitism”.
A Democratic takeover of the House, Senate or both would shift the balance of power in Washington during the final two years of Donald Trump’s presidency, giving the opposition greater leverage to scrutinise his administration, influence federal spending and challenge his policies.
Oversight would be a major weapon. Democrats could launch investigations into the administration, while gaining a say in budget decisions and seeking to reverse some of Trump’s spending changes.
They could also use legislation to put forward their positions on the Iran war, tariffs, immigration and elections.
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, who would become speaker if his party wins control, has outlined three priorities: ending the war to lower energy prices, restoring Medicaid funding and enhanced Obamacare subsidies, and repealing Trump’s tariffs to bring down the cost of goods.
But turning those priorities into law would be difficult. Trump could veto legislation, and overriding him would require 67 votes in the Senate. The prospect of repeated clashes over federal funding could also raise the risk of government shutdowns.
Trump has already signalled little appetite for compromise, saying he would veto everything before Democrats came seeking a deal.
Still, a divided Washington would not rule out cooperation. During Trump’s first term, he worked with Democrats after losing control of the House to pass the First Step Act, a major criminal justice reform law.
As many as 250,000 ballots at 332 polling stations across more than 40 municipalities in New York’s Westchester County could not be scanned because of a voting-machine malfunction, County Executive Ken Jenkins said.
The problem, which state election officials attributed to a programming error, has forced voters to use emergency ballots.
A county Board of Elections spokesperson did not immediately verify the number of affected ballots.
The emergency ballots will be kept until polling ends at 9pm and then scanned by machines rather than counted manually, Jenkins said.
He added that state officials had not decided whether polling hours needed to be extended. The county also uses separate machines for early voting.
The first results of the 2026 US midterms have arrived from Guam, the Pacific territory where America's election day officially starts.
Unofficial tallies indicate a split outcome: the Republicans have seized the governorship with a ticket led by Vicente "Tony" Ada, whilst Democrats have flipped the island’s non-voting delegate seat to the US Congress, electing Alicia Anne Garrido Limtiaco.
Donald Trump hailed the outcome on social media as a promising sign for the GOP, congratulating Ada on flipping the top office in a territory traditionally seen as Democratic, while also noting reported Republican gains in Guam's legislature.
More than 58.5 million pre-election ballots have been cast across the US as polling day gets fully under way, exceeding the 2022 total by over a million votes.
The figures, compiled across 47 states and the District of Columbia by CNN, the Associated Press, and Democratic data firm Catalist, come despite incomplete data from several states.
The final tally is expected to climb further once millions of postal votes returned today and in the coming days are factored in.
Allies of President Donald Trump have seized on a ballot-scanner malfunction in New York’s Westchester County to revive claims of election fraud. Far-right activist Laura Loomer accused Democrats of trying to “steal” the election.
County officials blamed a programming error after a local contest was changed. Most scanners were left with outdated software and could not read Election Day ballots.
Officials said the machines rejected ballots rather than miscounting them. Voters were asked to place their ballots in secure emergency bags until they could be counted.
Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, facing a tight re-election race in the district, said every vote would count. But other Republicans, including Katie Miller and Congresswoman Claudia Tenney, blamed Democrats for the glitch.
The first vote counts are expected on Wednesday Bangladesh time as polling stations begin closing. Some East Coast states will be the earliest to wrap up voting, with polls closing from 6pm local time (5am Bangladesh time).
Updates will continue through the night, but the outcome of some contests may remain unclear until Wednesday or later, as states complete voting and election officials tally the ballots.
Early figures should not be mistaken for final results. Election authorities publish counts as ballots are processed, while news organisations such as The Associated Press assess the numbers before declaring a winner.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a civil rights organisation, says it has been alerted to “some scanning issues with voting machines” across several Oklahoma cities.
According to the state’s ACLU branch, the local election board is working to ensure all ballots are counted.
In a separate development, federal authorities have charged an Oklahoma man with sending hundreds of letters containing non-hazardous white powder to public officials ahead of the 2024 and 2026 elections.
An FBI court filing confirmed that the substances, though not all fully tested, turned out to be yeast or flour.
The individual faces charges of conveying a hoax and mailing threatening communications.
Flood-hit parts of central and South Florida are scrambling to keep voting on track, with polling locations shifted even after Election Day voting began.
Eighteen sites were moved before opening, but the tally climbed to 23 by 11am as flooding forced further changes, the Secretary of State’s website showed.
Two relocations in Broward County came amid a separate computer glitch that blocked voting for the first 20 minutes after polls opened.
The issue has since been fixed, election supervisor Joe Scott said, urging voters who left without casting ballots to return.
Georgia: Democratic nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms could make double history -- becoming Georgia’s first female governor and the first Black woman to serve as a US governor.
Minnesota: Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar is in contention to become the state’s first female governor.
Tennessee: Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn holds a lead over Democrat Jerri Green in her bid to secure the executive mansion as the state’s first female governor.
Ohio: Democrat Amy Acton could become Ohio's first elected female governor if she defeats Republican Vivek Ramaswamy. While Ohio had an interim female governor nearly three decades ago, voters have never formally elected a woman to the post.
Voting is now under way in Alaska, a crucial US state that could help determine which party takes control of the Senate.
Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan faces a challenge from Democrat Mary Peltola and independent candidate Daniel J Sullivan.
Former US President Barack Obama has released a last-minute endorsement robocall supporting Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan's high-stakes Senate race.
In audio confirmed by CNN, Obama praises the progressive doctor for targeting special interests, protecting healthcare access, and opposing foreign military conflicts.
The late audio offensive also features former Vice-President Kamala Harris, as top Democrats launch a final push to rally key voting blocs across the state.
The targeted campaign effort aims to consolidate turnout in high-density urban areas like Detroit as Democrats seek to secure the critical open Senate seat against Republican Mike Rogers.
Polling stations opened across California on Tuesday morning for nearly 26 million registered voters in America's most populous state.
The voting follows a Supreme Court decision denying an emergency request by the Trump administration to intervene in state election procedures regarding mail-in ballots.
Democrats are aiming to leverage newly redrawn, more competitive congressional maps to capture a major share of California's 52 House seats and flip control of Congress.
In addition to key legislative contests, electors are voting for a new state governor, deciding Los Angeles' mayoral race, and considering a high-profile wealth tax measure on billionaires.
Donald Trump says Washington will stop providing Israel with $4 billion in annual military assistance by the end of 2026, following an agreement with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In a phone interview with Fox News’ Fox & Friends, the US president said the two leaders had reached an understanding several months ago.
Asked why the funding was being withdrawn, Trump said Israel no longer needed the money.
He added that he would have supported continuing the payments if Israel still required the assistance.
US President Donald Trump delivered his final midterm election push on Tuesday, telling Fox News that America is a "hot" nation again under his leadership and claiming full international respect.
He highlighted a drop in crude prices and asserted complete US Navy blockade control over West Asia's Strait of Hormuz, alongside promoting his signature tax policy proposals.
Trump's optimism, however, contrasts sharply with public sentiment, with polling showing approval ratings at record lows and national gas prices hitting historic election-day highs.
Michigan's Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed has mocked Donald Trump during a final campaign rally alongside Senator Elizabeth Warren in Detroit ahead of Tuesday's midterm elections.
The progressive physician urged supporters to deliver a decisive victory as he aims to retain the open Senate seat for Democrats against Republican nominee Mike Rogers.
The campaign climax follows a high-stakes twist in the battleground state after Democratic Congresswoman Haley Stevens delivered a surprise last-minute endorsement to Rogers.
Voting machines across New York's Westchester County failed to accept paper ballots on Tuesday, forcing local election authorities to implement emergency manual voting procedures.
According to a statement by the Westchester County Board of Elections, nearly 700,000 affected voters are being directed to cast paper ballots into secure emergency bags while technicians deploy secondary scanners.
Officials initially cited an issue with paper ballot thickness before issuing a corrected statement, assuring voters that all hand-cast ballots will remain monitored, secure, and fully counted.
US President Donald Trump launched an early election morning media push, phoning into Fox News and issuing a flood of endorsements on Truth Social as voters headed to the polls.
During the interview, Trump touted foreign investment and his administration's tax policies while claiming to maintain "total control" over West Asia and the Strait of Hormuz.
The president dismissed persistent voter anxiety over high living costs and the war in Iran, expressing full optimism about the midterm outcome despite polls showing widespread economic disenchantment.
Trump is set to host an election night reception at the White House later today, though all scheduled events remain closed to the press.
The US Department of Justice is sending around 1,000 election monitors and observers to all 50 states, marking the first nationwide deployment of its kind.
The teams will check compliance with federal voting laws as part of efforts to safeguard free and fair elections, the department says.
Previous administrations also sent monitors to polling sites, but on a smaller scale. During the 2022 midterm elections, the Biden administration deployed them to 24 states.
The US Supreme Court ruled against the Trump administration's attempt to force California election officials to segregate and exclude ballots from individuals the Justice Department alleged were non-citizens.
The decision upholds multiple lower court rulings in favour of California officials, who argued that federal authorities were attempting unconstitutional interference in state election administration.
Justices issued no written opinion or noted dissents, adhering to the high court's customary procedure for emergency applications.
The ruling ends a high-stakes standoff triggered after federal officials gave state authorities a 48-hour ultimatum to sequester 20,000 flagged voters or face legal action.
The US Department of Justice is deploying around 1,000 election monitors across all 50 states for the first time in American history.
According to a report by the BBC, the federal monitors will oversee polling operations to ensure compliance with federal voting laws and protect election integrity.
While previous administrations have deployed federal observers during major polls, this operation represents an unprecedented scale. By comparison, federal authorities dispatched monitors to just 24 states during the 2022 midterm elections.
US President Donald Trump is facing a sharp erosion in support among Hispanic voters ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
According to a report by Pew Research Center, 24 percent of Hispanic voters who backed Trump in 2024 say they do not plan to vote for Republican House candidates, with 11 percent intending to switch their support to Democrats.
The findings coincide with a broader slump in Trump's standing, with Reuters/Ipsos surveillance data putting his approval rating among Hispanic voters at a record-low 24 percent.
This shift poses a severe threat to Republicans defending tight congressional seats won by Trump in 2024, particularly across heavily Latino districts in California, Colorado, Florida, and Texas.
Economy and employment: Voters remain frustrated by the high cost of living, with cost pressures worsening in the wake of Donald Trump’s military action against Iran.
Immigration: ICE arrests have hit record levels under the administration's crackdown. Republicans claim the measures protect American citizens, while Democrats strongly condemn the strategy.
Taxation and healthcare: Republicans point to tax cuts as a landmark triumph. Democrats argue these cuts jeopardise healthcare, pledging that a Congress under their control would raise taxes on high earners to fund public health spending.
Iran conflict: Facing an increasingly unpopular campaign, Republican candidates have struggled to defend the offensive on the trail. Democrats intend to leverage any midterms victory to force the president to halt the war.
Israel–Palestine: Deep divisions persist within the Democratic party. Progressive voices are mounting fierce criticism of Israeli military operations across Gaza and the occupied West Bank, while establishment figures maintain firm backing for Israel.
Rising floodwaters across Florida have forced election officials to temporarily relocate 19 polling stations.
According to a report by CBS News, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis issued an executive order declaring a state of emergency across multiple counties. The order authorises local election supervisors to move voting locations if flooded original sites become unsafe or inaccessible on polling day.
State emergency response teams are deploying drainage pumps, power generators, and auxiliary equipment to affected communities to keep voting operations running smoothly.
Voting is now under way in 14 states and Washington DC, including Florida, Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Poll opening times vary by state, with several others along the East Coast, including battlegrounds Maine and Ohio, having started voting earlier.
As polling stations open across the US, nearly 58.7 million ballots have already been cast, according to data available at 11:30pm Eastern time on Monday (04:30 GMT Tuesday).
The University of Florida’s Election Lab recorded 31.9 million in-person early votes and 26.8 million mail ballots.
Early voting has expanded across the country in recent years. The Center for Election Innovation & Research says 97 percent of eligible US voters live in areas where the option is available.
Control of Congress gives a political party the power to shape US laws, with consequences for people across the country.
Donald Trump’s Republicans currently control the White House and both chambers of Congress, the House of Representatives and the Senate. Their majorities are narrow, but they can still push their legislative priorities through and secure the president’s approval.
Democrats are hoping to break that grip and shift the balance of power in Washington.
With two years left in his presidency, Donald Trump faces a potentially pivotal mid-term test after reshaping America’s political landscape over the past decade.
The cost of living dominates voter concerns. Soaring food and fuel prices, fuelled partly by Trump’s aggressive tariffs and an unpopular war with Iran, weigh heavily as Americans head to the polls.
Facing record-low approval ratings, Trump has embarked on an intensive campaign blitz, holding dozens of rallies nationwide. His final weekend took him through traditionally safe Republican territory, including Iowa and Kansas, as inflation concerns cut across party lines.
Republicans have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into campaign advertising to defend their seats, including once-secure contests such as the Senate race in Kansas.
Q1: Which national issues are having the greatest influence on competitive races?
Answer: Rising living costs, inflation, housing, healthcare, food and fuel prices are the biggest concerns for voters. Around half of voters consider the cost of living the most important issue.
Q2: What are the most likely paths for Democrats and Republicans to win control of the House and Senate in the 2026 midterm elections?
Answer: Democrats need to gain four Senate seats to take control, while Republicans face a tough fight to maintain their narrow House majority. Around 40 House races could determine the outcome.
Q3: How do states verify voter eligibility and citizenship, and how common is election fraud?
Answer: States use voter registration checks, identification requirements and signature verification for mail-in ballots. Evidence shows that illegal voting, including voting by noncitizens, is extremely rare.
Q4: How are election officials preparing for threats, misinformation and attempts to interfere with elections?
Answer: Election officials are hiring legal experts, strengthening cybersecurity, expanding public awareness campaigns and improving physical security to protect election workers and voting systems.
Q5: How has redistricting affected the 2026 electoral map, and which maps are facing legal challenges?
Answer: Nine states have adopted new congressional maps, giving Republicans an advantage in 15 districts compared with six for Democrats. However, Democrats remain favoured to win the House, and ongoing legal challenges are unlikely to change district boundaries before November.
History is against Trump's Republicans: the sitting president's party has lost ground in Congress in all but two midterm elections since World War Two. Trump's approval rating is hovering near his all-time lows, dragged down by deep voter frustration over the war with Iran and the resulting rise in fuel prices.
There is little doubt this year's election is all about Trump, the central US political figure for most of the last decade. Trump himself has told his supporters repeatedly to "pretend I'm on the ballot," a message Democratic leaders have happily echoed.
The president has sought to energise his base with more than two dozen campaign rallies since the start of October, the vast majority in states he easily won in 2024, underscoring the extent to which Republicans are playing defence.
Led by Trump, Republicans have portrayed Democratic candidates as radical, un-American and even communist.
"The Democrat Party has nominated the most extreme and dangerous slate of candidates in American history," Trump said on Monday during a speech in Washington.
But opinion polls show voters are most concerned about affordability and disapprove of Trump's handling of the issue, after his sweeping tariff policy and his decision to attack Iran in February increased domestic costs. Republican candidates, meanwhile, have struggled to distance themselves from a president who demands fealty and rarely acknowledges mistakes.
The US Congress has two chambers: the House of Representatives, the lower house, and the Senate, the upper house.
The president is elected every four years, but Congress votes every two. The election held midway through a president’s four-year term, two years after the presidential vote, is known as the midterm election.
House members serve two-year terms, so every seat is up for election every two years.
Welcome to bdnews24.com's live coverage of the 2026 US midterm elections.
American voters are headed to the polls to deliver a verdict on the first two years of President Donald Trump's second term on Tuesday.
All ll 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives are up for grabs, as are 35 out of 100 seats in the Senate.
