Election Day 2026: Midterms Decide Control of Congress After More Than 57 Million Votes Were Cast Early
The midterm elections reach Election Day on Tuesday with control of Congress and the final two years of President Donald Trump's term in the balance. All 435 House seats and 35 Senate contests are on the ballot, governors are being elected in 36 states, and more than 57 million people had already voted early, the Associated Press reported.
The United States reaches midterm Election Day on Tuesday with control of Congress at stake and the final two years of President Donald Trump's term in the balance, in the Associated Press election preview read by the Politics Desk this run. All 435 voting seats in the House of Representatives and 35 Senate contests are being decided, alongside a wide range of state and local offices, and governors are being elected in 36 states, according to the AP's published coverage plan.
The campaign that ends Tuesday was shaped by high prices, dissatisfaction with the economy and the Iran war, the AP reported, and the early vote was heavy: more than 57 million people had already voted before Election Day. Republicans enter the election holding both chambers of Congress, with a Senate advantage of 53-47; Trump's approval stands at 35% in AP-NORC polling, with just 25% approving of his handling of the economy, in the AP file carried by News4JAX and read this run.
Jacksonville votes inside the national ending: Duval County polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday at assigned precincts, with 232,465 early ballots already cast - 35.48% turnout before a single Election Day vote (SQ-20261102-067) - and control of Congress, Florida's governor's race and the Duval school tax on the same ballot (SQ-20261102-045). Florida as a whole reported about 5.4 million ballots cast before Election Day, roughly 38.2% of registered voters.
One caution belongs in the first story of the day: the count may not finish tonight. Close races and different counting systems could delay a clear picture of congressional control, the AP reported - in 2022 the Senate call came four days after Election Day and the House call took eight. The AP declares a winner only when a trailing candidate has no plausible route to overtake the leader, and it will tabulate results for nearly 7,000 races across all 50 states. Standards Editor JAX-006 passed this file.
