Happy Election Day. Voters are headed to the polls today to wrap up a heated midterms election cycle. On the federal level, the results will determine control of Congress for the last two years of President Trump’s final term.
Follow New York Times live coverage here: 2026 Midterm Elections Live Updates.
While polls close tonight, the number of competitive races means that we may not know which party has won control until tomorrow, or even later in the week. Control of the Senate in particular hinges on a small number of battleground races, including the six tossup states of Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Ohio, and Texas.
What we’re tracking:
- Georgia and South Carolina are among the earliest polls to close, at 7pm Eastern. Georgia’s Senate race leans Democratic and South Carolina’s race leans Republican. If either of these flip, control of the Senate looks less likely for the losing party.
- Former Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown is polling a handful of points ahead in Ohio as he competes for the Senate seat once filled by Vice President JD Vance.
- Former Democratic Governor Roy Cooper has surged ahead in polls and Republicans have pulled back campaign spending in North Carolina, making it a likely pickup seat for Democrats.
- Arguably the most closely watched battleground races are in Maine, Michigan, and Texas.
- Iowa and Kansas both have popular moderate Democrats running. Iowa is polling as a tossup, and in Kansas, Republican Senator Roger Marshall is facing a serious challenge from Adam Hamilton. Both would be significant wins for the Democrats.
- Alaska has the last polls to close, at 1am Eastern. Former Representative Mary Peltola is running against Republican Senator Dan Sullivan. Alaska counts votes slowly due to a large number of mail-in ballots. If control of the Senate depends on Alaska’s results, we may not know the outcome for over a week.