Everything to know about House and Senate control, ballot measures and 2026 Election Day poll closing

In two days, Americans voting in the midterm elections will decide control of the U.S. House and Senate for the next two years.

Republicans are defending their slim congressional majorities, but President Donald Trump predicts the GOP will hold the House and Senate.

“If you elect a Republican House and a Republican Senate on November 3rd, we will continue to put America first every single day,” the president pledged on the campaign trail last week. And he claimed if the Democrats take control, “this country will go to hell.”

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Republicans are fighting political history, as the party in power in Washington has traditionally lost seats during midterm election years. The GOP also faces a challenging political climate fueled by persistent inflation tied in part to what polls show is an unpopular war with Iran and Trump’s increasingly negative approval ratings.

Also up for grabs in this year’s midterm elections — governorships in 36 of the 50 states (as well as the territories of Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands). Plus, all but four states are holding legislative elections. And voters will also weigh in on 145 statewide ballot measures in states from coast to coast.

Here’s a closer look at what’s up for grabs on Election Day 2026.

SENATE

Republicans currently control the chamber 53-47, with the final Fox News Power Rankings ahead of Election Day rating the race for Senate control a toss-up.

Both parties are three seats short of a majority, according to the forecast. Democrats are favored in 48 seats and Republicans are ahead in 47. The GOP needs to hold 50 seats to retain control of the chamber, since Republican Vice President JD Vance is the tie-breaking vote in the Senate.

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If Democrats ride a blue wave to victory by winning most or all of the competitive races, they could potentially come away from the midterms with up to 54 seats. But if Republicans have a good night and defy expectations, the GOP could hold the majority with up to 52 seats, according to the forecast.

Republicans are playing defense in Alaska, Iowa, Maine, South Carolina and Texas, which are all rated toss-ups in the Power Rankings. They’re also defending seats in competitive races in Kansas, which is rated Lean Republican, and Ohio, which is rated Lean Democrat.

Democrats are on defense in Michigan, which is rated a toss-up, and in Minnesota and New Hampshire, which are listed as Lean Democrat.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

The GOP is hanging on to a razor-thin majority in the House, and the Power Rankings point to the Democrats retaking control of the chamber.

A good night for the Democrats could see them ending up with as many as 240 seats in the 435-seat chamber. But if Republicans have a good night, they could end up with 212 seats. That’s six short of a majority, but enough to make life difficult for the next Democratic House Speaker, who would have to balance the demands of the moderate and far-left wings of the party.

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The earliest-closing districts on election night will give some sense of the House’s future.

“Keep an eye on Kentucky’s 6th district, which covers Lexington and a large central area of the state. Trump won here by 15 points in the last presidential election. Thanks to a combination of left-leaning college voters and farmers grappling with higher costs, it looks close this cycle,” Remy Numa, a Fox News contributor who steers the network’s Power Rankings, said.

GOVERNORS

There are currently 26 Republican and 24 Democratic governors.

The Power Rankings list three states where the GOP controls the governor’s office – Alaska, Nevada, and Georgia – as toss-ups. Wisconsin, which has an open-Democratic controlled governor’s office, is also rated a toss up.

The gubernatorial races in red states Florida, Kansas, and Texas are rated Lean Republican, according to the Power Rankings.

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Four other races are also seen as competitive and rated Lean Democrat. They are Arizona, Michigan, and Oregon, where Democrats are playing defense, and Iowa and Ohio, where the GOP is defending open governor’s offices.

BALLOT MEASURES

Referendums requiring voters to present identification when they show up the polls, or bans on noncitizen voting, are on the ballot in 11 states: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Kansas, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, South Dakota and West Virginia.

Voters in Alaska will also decide if they want to repeal the state’s ranked choice voting system, open primaries and a campaign finance disclosure rule. Voters approve the current system in 2020 and narrowly kept it in 2024.

But the voting system has come under fresh scrutiny amid the controversy over a potential spoiler candidate in Alaska’s U.S. Senate race.

Voters in Virginia will decide whether the right to vote should be restored to convicted felons upon their release.

California’s Proposition 40 is making national headlines.

The measure, the first of its kind, would slap a one-time 5% tax on wealth for Californians worth over $1 billion, with the vast majority of the revenue generated going to pay for healthcare.

Also in the spotlight is millionaires tax in Washington State. If passed, the referendum would repeal a 9.9% tax on income over $1 million a year, which state lawmakers recently approved. Washington State currently does not have a personal income tax.

Voters in Maryland, Missouri, and Colorado weigh in on ballot measures on congressional redistricting, as the mid-decade redistricting fight between Democrats and Republicans will be waged again in 2028.

Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska, and Washington State have referendums on transgender students’ participation in sports. Colorado also has a referendum on blocking gender transition surgeries for minors and preventing state or federal funding from being used for those operations.

Voters in Missouri weigh in on repealing a right to abortion and banning gender transition medical care for children. Meanwhile, and Idaho initiative would overturn one of the nation’s strictest abortion bans, while Virginia and Nevada voters decide on establishing a right to abortion in their state constitutions.

California, Colorado, and Arizona hold ballot measures on policy around energy, transportation and development. 

POLL CLOSINGS

The first poll closings come at 6pm ET on Election Day, with the final poll closings happening at 1am ET.

6pm ET: Polls close in parts of Kentucky and Indiana.

7pm ET: Polls close in Georgia, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia. The final polls in Kentucky and Indiana close. And most polls in Florida and New Hampshire close.

7:30 pm ET: Polls close in North Carolina, Ohio, and West Virginia.

8pm ET: Polls close in Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Washington, D.C. The remaining polls in Florida and New Hampshire close. Most polls close in Texas, Michigan, Kansas, North Dakota and South Dakota.

8:30pm ET: Polls close in Arkansas.

9:00pm PT: Polls close in Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Wisconsin and Wyoming. The final polls close in Texas, Michigan, Kansas, North Dakota and South Dakota.

10pm ET: Polls close in Montana and Utah. Most polls also close in Idaho and Oregon.

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11pm ET: Polls close in California and Washington State, with the remaining polls in Idaho and Oregon also closing.

Midnight ET: Polls in all of Hawaii and most of Alaska close, with the remaining polls in Alaska closing at 1am ET.