How an Electorate HQ simulation works

Five steps from a blank ballot to a called map. The technical version lives on the methodology page.

1. Set up the race

Name the two tickets: a candidate and a running mate for each slot, and what they stand for. Use real figures, invented ones, or a mix. Optionally set the state of the union, the mood and conditions of the country your election happens in, and a time setting.

2. The candidates get researched

For real public figures, the simulator looks up who they actually are from public sources, so their record follows them into the race. Nothing is invented for people with no public record; they run on their platform alone.

3. Fifty-one delegations deliberate

Every state, plus DC, gets its own AI delegation. Each one reads current headlines about its state, weighs both platforms against what its people actually face, and decides issue by issue. States report in as they finish, filling the map live.

4. Every call explains itself

Click any state for its county map, or double-click for the full breakdown: the vote shares, the issues that decided it, which planks caught voters' attention, and voices from the state. The wire narrates the night as it happens.

5. Argue with it

Change a platform, swap a running mate, move the election to 1996, and run it again. The point of a simulator is the counterfactuals. Results are AI simulations, labeled as such, and no two runs are guaranteed to agree.

Try it

The simulator is free to use. For the 2026 midterms, every real race has its own page: start from the elections hub, the Senate, or your state.