Election Day was on November 3Tuesday, November 3, 2026
Americans vote on November 3, 2026 for every seat in the House of Representatives, about a third of the Senate and many governors and state offices. This page gathers our latest reporting on the campaigns, the races and the results.
‘It’s the disregard for the rule of law. It just seems like they’re thumbing their nose at it’ In the battleground state of Maine, Todd Cox, 63, has supported the state’s incumbent Republican senator Susan Collins not once, but twice, in previous elections. Not this time. On Tuesday, Cox, a technology professional, cast his vote for Collins’ Democratic challenger Troy Jackson – driven not by pressing local issues, but broader concern “for the direction the country is going in”, he said. Continue reading...
Welcome to a special Election Day edition of the From the Politics Desk newsletter, where we’re putting all the links and information you’ll need when the vote tallies start rolling in tonight in one place.
Everything you need to know about how winners are called, how states count ballots and Trump’s election denialism There’s no simple answer as to when US voters will know the results of the midterms. Elections are managed locally throughout the US, and it’s different in each state. Sometimes, if a race isn’t close, there’s a near-instantaneous sense of who won. In more contested races, it can take many hours, days or even weeks. Continue reading...
US voters will decide whether Republicans will retain control of Congress or whether Democrats will rise up to stymie Trump’s agenda Donald Trump will still be US president on the morning of 4 November. But he could be facing a very different political landscape, depending on the results of the US midterm elections held the previous day. As the name implies, midterm elections fall nearly halfway through a president’s term. They are often a telling referendum on the sitting president’s performance, something Trump is actively encouraging by telling voters “pretend I’m on the ballot”. In this case, voters will decide whether Trump’s Republican party can retain its grip on Congress. All 435 seats in the House of Representatives. Republicans are defending a narrow majority, with Democrats needing a net gain of four seats to take control. 35 seats in the Senate. Thirty-three seats are up in regular elections, along with two special elections in Florida and Ohio to fill the remainder of terms that were vacated early. Republicans currently hold 53 seats, against 47 held by Democrats and independents who caucus with them. Democrats need to gain four seats to secure a majority. 39 governorships. Voters will choose governors in 36 states and three US territories. Thousands of state legislative seats, as well as local offices, judicial contests and ballot measures on issues including taxes, abortion rights and voting rules. Continue reading...
US President Donald Trump signaled progress on Tuesday in talks with Iran to avoid a return to war, as Tehran reported “intensive” exchanges while offering to reopen the Strait of Hormuz under strict conditions. The fresh diplomatic signals came ahead of US midterm elections on Tuesday, in which Trump’s Republican Party is pushing to retain control of Congress, faced with voter dissatisfaction over the conflict and the soaring fuel prices it has triggered. A deal with Tehran “could happen,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “Iran wants a settlement, as soon as possible.” But hours later, Washington’s diplomatic overtures were dashed by a report that the United States had attacked Iran, in what the Wall Street Journal said was the latest in a string of limited strikes it secretly carried out against the Islamic republic in recent weeks. Iranian state media reported five explosions in rapid succession on Qeshm island in the Strait of Hormuz. The US Central Command did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment. Earlier, oil prices plunged by more than seven per cent on Monday on optimism over a possible end to the eight-month-old conflict. The WSJ report came shortly before polls opened in the midterms, in which Democrats expect to win at least partial control of Congress and impose political constraints on Trump for the first time in two years. Reopen the strait Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Monday that indirect talks with Washington were taking place via mediators. “Given the sensitivity and gravity of the current situation, consultations and deliberations are very intensive,” Araghchi told state media. “Qatar and Pakistan are playing a very active mediating role in these negotiations.” Vice President JD Vance said both he and Trump were optimistic about securing an agreement. “We’ve certainly made some progress. We’ll see if we can make some more,” Vance told reporters on Monday. China also urged a return to diplomacy, while Iran’s security chief discussed the conflict with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Earlier, the Axios news outlet reported that Vance had sent a letter to Iranian national security chief Mohsen Rezaei about possible new talks, marking the highest-level move in months. Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref said the messages received from Washington were “an acknowledgement of our victory.” A senior Iranian official said that Tehran was ready to open the Hormuz strait, an export conduit for the energy-rich Gulf, within two days — as long as Washington agreed to its list of demands. In September, Iran proposed a seven-day plan to reopen the strait, with demands including ending the war on all fronts, unfreezing Iranian assets, lifting oil sanctions and ending its counter-blockade of Iranian ports. “The possibility of implementing this plan in two days is another indication of Iran’s good-faith approach,” Tehran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told reporters at a briefing. Chinese President Xi Jinping also discussed the war with Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq in Beijing on Monday – the first visit to China by the Gulf nation’s head of state since diplomatic ties were established. “The two sides called for resolving disputes through political and diplomatic means, urging the United States and Iran to pursue a peaceful path, achieve a ceasefire (and) prevent war entirely,” an Omani statement said. ‘No compromises’ China held meetings with Iranian and Saudi officials in Beijing on Monday as well. Beijing supports Tehran in “safeguarding its own sovereignty and security,” Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Ali Bagheri, deputy secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, according to a Chinese statement. Bagheri told Wang that “Tehran’s stance on defending its national security, sovereignty, and territorial integrity remains unchanged, and that Iran will make no compromises in this regard,” state TV reported. In an interview with Al Jazeera released on Sunday, Araghchi said Washington must accept a new route agreed between Iran and Oman for transiting the strait. He said Washington must also remove sanctions imposed recently and reduce American troop numbers in the region. Trump has kept up his threats against Tehran, saying on Sunday that the United States may have to give Iran “the hammer” at some unspecified time. On Saturday, the US leader said he still had to “take care” of one or two targets including Pickaxe mountain in central Iran, a suspected nuclear site which Tehran denies is such a facility. Baqaei warned that any act of aggression against Iran “will be met with a powerful, immediate and comprehensive response. “
Iranian state media reported the sound of explosions on the island in the strait of Hormuz, coming on the eve of crucial US midterms The US launched limited strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island late on Monday, according to reports in US media, hours after US vice-president JD Vance said he was optimistic diplomatic efforts to end the war were moving in the right direction. The strikes were reported as being “defensive”, and not thought to be a signal of a return to full hostilities, but came on the eve of crucial midterm elections in which Donald Trump’s Republican party is expected to be punished by voters for the cascading effect the war has had on the US cost of living. Continue reading...
Latest arrests come after DoJ unsuccessfully fought to force state election officials to set aside about 20,000 ballots US midterms – live updates The US Department of Justice (DoJ) in California has charged six more people with alleged voter fraud crimes, an escalation of the Trump administration’s campaign against the state’s election processes on the eve of the midterms. Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles and a close ally of the president, announced on Monday that his office was prosecuting six lawful permanent residents accused of unlawfully registering to vote and casting fraudulent ballots. The DoJ filed similar charges against 28 people across California last month and arranged for a dramatic on-camera arrest of one 72-year-old defendant, editing the footage into a DoJ promotional video. Sam Levine contributed reporting Continue reading...
Donald Trump chose Washington’s Reflecting Pool — an iconic landmark where botched repairs came to symbolise the 80-year-old’s chaotic presidency — for a final speech on Monday to rally Republicans against a predicted tide of Democratic victories in midterm elections. Polls show Democrats poised to seize the House of Representatives and within reach of the Senate in Tuesday’s vote — a shift that would impose tight political constraints on the president. A White House official told AFP the speech would highlight “this administration’s achievements to make the country safer and wealthier” while contrasting “the Republicans’ commonsense America First agenda” with “the Democrats’ radical, America Last agenda”. The site is one of the US capital’s historic stages. Martin Luther King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963 from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, overlooking the pool. Trump said on Sunday he picked the site “just to show how beautiful it is”. But the roughly $15 million renovation left the pool’s lining peeling and its water green with algae. He pointed at vandalism, but federal prosecutors blamed faulty work. Under Trump, it has also become part of a sweeping drive to remake Washington, which has included tearing down part of the White House and threatening to demolish the city’s premier arts centre. Trump has predicted victory in the midterms for his Republicans, but he acknowledged the alternative in an interview released on Monday by the New York Post’s Pod Force One podcast. “I think we’re going to do great — but if we didn’t win, I veto everything,” he said. “I’ll be vetoing, vetoing. And then they’ll come along and we’ll probably make some deals along the way.” Winning just the House would give Democrats voting power over the federal budget and control of committees able to investigate alleged corruption under Trump, the Epstein files and other explosive issues. A Democratic Senate could also block Trump’s lifetime appointments to the courts, including the Supreme Court. ‘Ransack, rape and plunder’ Trump warned Republican lawmakers in January that losing the midterms would lead to his impeachment. The loss of total Republican control would push him toward lame-duck status, with high inflation at home and the war against Iran still weighing on his presidency. Democrats, meanwhile, prepared final rallies in battleground states, including in Texas with James Talarico and in Kansas with Adam Hamilton — two star Senate candidates seeking major upsets. Kansas has not elected a Democratic senator in nearly a century. But a decade into the Trump era, Democrats remain wary of predicting victory. Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock told CNN that the mood was “nauseously optimistic”. Republicans have run a scorched-earth campaign, painting Democrats as communists and branding Abdul El-Sayed, the Muslim Democratic Senate nominee in Michigan, a terrorist. Addressing a crowd in Iowa on Sunday, Trump said Democrats are “extreme and dangerous radicals” who will “steal your wealth” and let in migrants to “ransack, rape and plunder”. Democrats have faced late divisions of their own, with left-wing candidates at times clashing with the party establishment. On Sunday, Democratic congresswoman Haley Stevens endorsed El-Sayed’s Republican opponent, Mike Rogers, in Michigan’s pivotal Senate race. Stevens lost a bruising primary to El-Sayed in August despite establishment backing. Senate in play While the House appears highly likely to turn Democratic, the battle for the Senate is far closer. Democrats need a net gain of four seats to take control. Only a third of the 100 seats are being contested, and few of those races initially looked favorable to the party. To win, Democrats must flip seats in states that Trump carried by double digits two years ago. Forecaster Decision Desk HQ has Democrats winning the Senate 52-48 and the House by a comfortable 241-194. The final New York Times/Siena poll, released Sunday evening, showed Democrats leading in all seven of the most competitive Senate races, though five were within the margin of error. Tuesday is election day, but a record 54 million people have already cast ballots. The midterms have also drawn about $11bn in advertising, with large chunks coming from individual mega-donors. Elon Musk, the Trump ally who led the so-called DOGE drive to slash the federal government, has given nearly half a billion dollars to help elect Republicans.
The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to intervene in its effort to force California to set aside mail ballots from thousands of people it claims are not U.S. citizens.
Republican John Sununu tries to distance himself from unpopular president in race against Chris Pappas that has gone from ‘toss-up to ‘lean Democrat’ Chris Pappas is stopping himself from getting too excited ahead of Tuesday’s midterm election. “I take nothing for granted,” said the four-term US representative and Democratic nominee for New Hampshire’s open Senate seat. “This is a very purple, competitive state. Elections are never in the bag here.” Continue reading...
Major changes in US law and industry have shifted the sources of large contributions to political campaigns – and how much they spend The upcoming midterm elections will be the most expensive elections ever conducted in the US. And more of the money is “dark” than ever before, meaning it’s impossible to get a full picture of who is spending gargantuan sums to influence races that could provide a critical check on Donald Trump’s second term. The elections have also shown how money in politics is being reshaped, with the increasingly powerful role played by big donors from the tech industry as well as the growing concentration of spending among a few powerful individuals and corporations. Continue reading...
Former president has given series of blistering speeches to help candidates in key races – and deployment has proved a hit with party’s progressive wing That could have been awkward. Barack Obama, campaigning for Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, acknowledged that his fellow Democrat has criticised some aspects of the Obama presidency. “Yeah, Abdul didn’t agree with some things we wanted to do – that our administration was doing – when I was president,” he told a rally in Detroit. “You know who else doesn’t agree with everything I do? Michelle Obama.” The crowd erupted in laughter. “I’d say about five times a day, she says, ‘You knucklehead. Why you do that?’” Continue reading...
White House counsel Will Scharf and his team are looking at 'what [Donald] Trump can legally do on his own, where he could push the limits of his authority and how to defend those decisions in court,' an official says
