On the day the nation goes to the polls, American voters are quietly deciding whether the House and Senate will remain in Republican hands or pass to Democrats, a choice that will shape how much resistance a president can meet in the final stretch of his term. The contest unfolds mostly on ground that once favored that same president, so the question is less about familiar territory than about whether shifting moods can carry a party into places it has not easily held. Each race call arriving through the evening will be a small verdict on that uncertainty, and taken together they will show how
Live: Voters Decide Control of Congress as 2026 Midterm Results and Race Calls Roll In
Trump has made himself the central character of the midterms.
Mark
So what is actually being decided today?
Mimi
Control of both chambers of Congress. Republicans hold them now, and Democrats need four Senate seats and three House seats to take over.
Mark
Why does that matter beyond the numbers?
Mimi
Control would give Democrats a way to push back against President Trump's agenda for the final two years of his term.
Luke
Worth saying: that's the framing of the stakes, not a result. Nothing has been called in what we have here.
Mark
Where is the fight concentrated?
Mimi
Mostly in states and districts Trump won by wide margins. The Senate races to watch are Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Ohio and Texas.
Mark
And the campaign messages?
Mimi
Democrats lean on Trump's poor approval rating, dissatisfaction with the war in Iran, and affordability. Republicans lean on social issues, and Trump has made himself the central figure.
Luke
Those are descriptions of what each side is emphasizing. We don't have polling numbers here, so we can't say which message is working.
Mark
So what do we watch for?
Mimi
The race calls as they arrive, especially in those seven Senate states.
Il Polso
- Republicans hold both chambers, and Democrats must flip four Senate seats and three House seats to seize control.
- The fiercest fights are in Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Ohio and Texas, states Trump once carried by wide margins.
- Democrats are pressing on Trump's low approval, unease over the war in Iran, and affordability, while Republicans lean on social issues.
- Race calls are rolling in through the night, and the outcome will hinge on whether those seven Senate states break Democrats' way.
On the day the nation goes to the polls, American voters are quietly deciding whether the House and Senate will remain in Republican hands or pass to Democrats, a choice that will shape how much resistance a president can meet in the final stretch of his term. The contest unfolds mostly on ground that once favored that same president, so the question is less about familiar territory than about whether shifting moods can carry a party into places it has not easily held. Each race call arriving through the evening will be a small verdict on that uncertainty, and taken together they will show how the country chose to balance its power.
Election Day has arrived, and voters across the country are deciding which party will hold the U.S. House and Senate. The Associated Press is running live coverage, with race calls, updated maps, and reports from campaign events on both sides as the results begin to come in.
The arithmetic is simple. Republicans control both chambers now. Democrats need to flip four Senate seats and three House seats to take them. A Democratic majority would give the party a real means of pushing back on President Donald Trump's agenda in the last two years of his term.
The ground is difficult. Most of the battles are in places Trump won by wide margins. In the Senate, all eyes are on Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Ohio and Texas. The House fights are scattered across the country.
Democrats have argued their case on Trump's weak approval rating, public frustration with the war in Iran, and affordability. Republicans have focused on social issues. Trump has made himself the central figure of the midterms.
No results are in yet. The evening will be read through the race calls, especially in those seven Senate states, where a handful of seats will decide who holds the power to check the president.
Election Day has arrived, and voters across the country are deciding which party will control the U.S. House and Senate. The Associated Press is running live coverage, with race calls, updated House and Senate maps, and reports from Republican and Democratic campaign events as results come in.
The math is plain. Republicans hold both chambers now. For Democrats to take them, they need to flip four seats in the Senate and three in the House.
The stakes are tied to the presidency. A Democratic majority in either chamber, or both, would give the party a way to push back against President Donald Trump's agenda during the last two years of his term.
The terrain is not friendly to Democrats. The fight is playing out mostly in states and districts that Trump previously won by wide margins, which means the party is competing largely on ground that favored him in the past.
In the Senate, attention is on seven contests: Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Ohio and Texas. The House battlegrounds are more scattered, spread across the country rather than clustered in a handful of states.
The two parties have built their closing arguments differently. Democrats have focused on Trump's poor approval rating, public dissatisfaction with the war in Iran, and concerns about affordability. Republicans have centered their campaigns on social issues. Trump, for his part, has made himself the central character of the midterms.
The source describes the day's coverage as ongoing, and no results are reported yet. What to watch is the stream of race calls through the evening, especially in the seven Senate states, since Democrats need four of the Republican-held seats to change hands to flip that chamber, and three House seats to flip the other.
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