All 435 House seats and 35 of the 100 Senate seats are up on 3 November 2026, and Democrats need four additional Senate seats to secure a majority.
A Reuters poll put Trump's approval at 31 percent on Tuesday, 20 October, a new low for the president ahead of the midterms.
Democrat James Talarico, 37, faces Republican Ken Paxton, the Trump-backed Texas attorney general who won the primary against John Cornyn despite corruption allegations and an impeachment process.
By the morning of 23 October the Election Lab in Gainesville had counted about 21.8 million votes, including 12.4 million mail ballots and about 9.4 million in-person early votes.
Nearly 150 ballot measures appear on 3 November in almost all states, with Louisiana voters deciding on 15 topics alone.
Voters in the United States go to the polls on 3 November 2026 to elect all 435 members of the House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 Senate seats. The midterms fall in the middle of Donald Trump's presidency, so they are traditionally read as a verdict on him, even though he is not on the ballot. Republicans currently control both chambers of Congress. Trump's approval has slipped further, and a Reuters poll put it at 31 percent on Tuesday, 20 October, a new low.
A Democratic House majority is almost taken for granted, but winning the Senate requires four more seats than the party holds now. Those gains would have to come from very different states. In Texas the Democrats have put forward James Talarico, a 37-year-old theology graduate training to become a pastor, who speaks openly about his Christian faith. His campaign slogan is "Love thy neighbor", and he travels across Texas handing out food to people in need. The Republicans are running Ken Paxton, the Trump-backed state attorney general who beat the longtime, more moderate senator John Cornyn in the party primary. Paxton faced corruption allegations and an impeachment process, and he has repeatedly clashed with fellow Republicans.
Political scientist David Crockett of Trinity University in Texas places the Republicans' problems at the center of Talarico's prospects.
“Talarico is a good candidate. But given the Republicans' problems, he would have a chance even if he were less eloquent.”
Many Texan voters regard Paxton as unelectable.
By the morning of 23 October, the Election Lab at the university in Gainesville had counted about 21.8 million votes cast before election day. The count included 12.4 million mail ballots and about 9.4 million in-person early votes. According to NPR, more voters in key swing states have cast ballots early than at the same point before the previous midterms four years ago. Trump has repeatedly tried to make postal voting harder, while Democratic voters have traditionally relied on it more often. Pew Research Center estimates that around 250 million people in the United States are eligible to vote.
Data from the article text
Voters will also decide on a wide range of other questions. Across almost all states about 150 ballot measures are on the ballot, and Louisiana voters alone can vote on 15 topics, from tax exemptions for renovating derelict buildings to the removal of a debt clause for state pensions. North Dakota will vote on free school meals for all pupils, Arizona on abolishing automated license plate recognition in traffic, and Idaho on writing English into the state constitution as the only official language. Judges, sheriffs and mayors are also elected in many states, and the gun-safety group Everytown for Gun Safety is backing Democratic attorney general candidates with ten million dollars.
Since early October Trump has travelled from state to state ahead of the vote, holding rallies in Kansas, Ohio, Georgia and Texas. At a rally in Kansas in the week of 19 October, he warned that what viewers saw in France, burning church towers and blazing fires, was what radical Democrats planned for America. He has also framed the midterms as a referendum on himself, urging supporters to imagine he were on the ballot. Kansas has not elected a Democratic senator since 1930 and is generally considered deep red, which makes the visit a sign of Republican worries. Some Republicans now doubt whether his campaign help is having the intended effect.
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All 435 House seats and 35 Senate seats go to voters on 3 November, with Republicans holding both chambers. Democrats need four more Senate seats, and Texas is one of the contests that will decide whether they get them.
AI text based on reports by SRF News, watson.ch/, TheJournal.ie and other publishers. Published .