The 2026 elections
Election day is November 3, 2026. 35 Senate seats, 36 governorships and all 435 House districts are on the ballot. Electorate HQ carries a page for every one of them, plus a full presidential simulator.
What is on the ballot in 2026
The 2026 midterms decide control of both chambers of Congress and the governorships of most large states. Thirty-three Class 2 Senate seats are up on schedule, joined by special elections in Florida and Ohio. Every one of the 435 House districts is contested, and 36 states elect governors.
Each race page combines verified basics, current reporting from live sources, and an AI-generated simulation that is always labeled as a simulation. Start from a chamber, a state, or an issue.
Browse by chamber
Why midterms behave differently
Midterm electorates are smaller and older than presidential ones, and historically they move against the party holding the White House. The effect is consistent enough to be the starting assumption of most campaign strategy, but it is an average across many cycles rather than a rule: candidate quality, a state's own economy, and issues that mobilise one side disproportionately have all overridden it.
The three chambers on this ballot also answer to different logic. The House turns over entirely and is decided by a few dozen competitive districts. The Senate turns over by thirds, so which seats happen to be up matters as much as opinion. Governorships are judged on state results, which is why a state can elect a governor of one party and send a senator of the other on the same day.
How Electorate HQ covers the cycle
Every contest on this ballot has its own page carrying verified basics, the district or state's geography, current reporting pulled from live sources, and an AI-generated simulation that is always labeled as a simulation rather than a poll or a forecast of fact. State profiles collect what each state votes on and the issues that structurally matter there, and the issue guides explain how a subject behaves electorally without taking a position on it.
The simulator is the other half: write any two presidential tickets and 51 state delegations reason through the race issue by issue, showing their work. Read the methodology for what the simulations do and do not claim.
Senate seats on the ballot
Governorships on the ballot
The issues shaping 2026
Run your own election
The Electorate HQ simulator lets you write two presidential tickets, set the state of the union, and watch 51 state delegations reason through the race issue by issue. Results are AI simulations, clearly labeled, and every state explains its own call. Open the simulator or read how it works.