On 3 November 2026 US voters elect all 435 members of the House of Representatives, 35 senators and 36 state governors. The run-up was shaped by an unusual round of mid-decade congressional redistricting, a Supreme Court ruling narrowing the Voting Rights Act, and court fights over voting rules. In Alaska a federal lawsuit filed by the Justice Department seeks to hold up certification of the Senate result in some circumstances.
As of 1 November 2026 Republicans hold 218 House seats to 214 for Democrats, with one independent and two vacancies, and 53 of 100 Senate seats. Newsweek reported on 26 October that more than 28 million early ballots had been cast, citing the University of Florida Election Lab, and the Justice Department lawsuit over the Alaska Senate count was awaiting a ruling on motions to dismiss.
Republicans won 220 House seats to 215 for Democrats in the 2024 elections, AFP reported, and hold 53 of the 100 Senate seats. The two independent senators sit with Democrats, giving that bloc 47 seats.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a revised congressional map in August 2025. The Associated Press reported that the map was drawn at President Donald Trump's urging and that it set off redistricting efforts in other states.
Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe signed a new congressional map in September 2025, the Associated Press reported. Organisers submitted more than 300,000 signatures for a referendum to repeal it on 9 December 2025, according to The Missouri Times.
North Carolina's legislature gave final approval to a new map in October 2025, and a federal court panel declined to block it in November. Ohio's redistricting commission approved new districts the same month, the Associated Press reported.
Virginia's General Assembly first voted on a constitutional amendment to allow mid-decade redistricting on 31 October 2025. By then more than 1.3 million votes had been cast in that year's state election, according to the Virginia Supreme Court majority as reported by SCOTUSblog. That timing later decided the amendment's fate in court.
California voters approved Proposition 50, adopting congressional districts drawn by the Democratic-led Legislature for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 elections in place of maps drawn by an independent commission, the Associated Press reported.
A Utah judge ordered a new congressional map in November 2025 after ruling that lawmakers had circumvented anti-gerrymandering standards approved by voters. In February 2026 a federal court panel and the Utah Supreme Court each rejected challenges, the Associated Press reported.
The US Supreme Court allowed Texas to use its new districts in 2026, pausing a 2-1 ruling by a three-judge federal panel that had found the map likely diluted the political power of Black and Latino voters, the Associated Press reported. Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, according to The Texas Tribune.
Indiana's state Senate rejected a congressional map in a bipartisan vote after the state House had passed it, despite pressure from President Trump, the Associated Press reported.
The US Supreme Court rejected a request from the California Republican Party and the Trump administration to block the Proposition 50 districts, leaving them in effect for 2026, according to the California courts newsroom and the Associated Press.
Representative Kevin Kiley of California said he was leaving the Republican Party to serve as an independent, while continuing to caucus with Republicans to keep his committee posts, the Associated Press reported. AP linked the move to his reelection race under California's redrawn districts.
Virginia voters approved a constitutional amendment allowing a new congressional map, the Associated Press reported. A Tazewell County judge had already ruled the amendment invalid, finding lawmakers had violated their own rules in passing it, and that ruling was under appeal.
Associated Press (via PBS NewsHour)The US Supreme Court reversed the three-judge panel's judgment against Texas's 2025 map in a brief unsigned order, clearing it for the 2026 elections, The Texas Tribune and JURIST reported. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented.
In an opinion by Justice Samuel Alito, the Supreme Court held that Louisiana's second majority-Black congressional district was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. It said Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act is violated only when the evidence supports a strong inference that a state intentionally drew districts to give minority voters less opportunity, the Congressional Research Service summarised. Justice Elena Kagan dissented.
In May the governors of Florida, Louisiana and Tennessee signed new congressional maps, the Associated Press reported. AP said the Louisiana map eliminates a majority-Black district and the Tennessee map splits the majority-Black district based in Memphis. Louisiana's governor had suspended congressional primaries the day after Callais, according to Stateline.
A divided Virginia Supreme Court struck down the voter-approved amendment, ruling that it had first passed the legislature after voters had begun casting ballots in the 2025 election, when the constitution requires passage in two sessions separated by a House of Delegates election, SCOTUSblog reported. The Associated Press also reported the ruling.
The US Supreme Court denied a request by Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones and others to use the new map in 2026, in a brief unsigned order with no public dissents, SCOTUSblog reported.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton won the Republican runoff for the US Senate nomination, defeating Senator John Cornyn, the Associated Press reported.
Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher from Petersburg, filed on 29 May to run for the US Senate seat held by Senator Dan S. Sullivan, according to NTD. The senator accused him of trying to trick voters, the Associated Press reported, and the Peltola campaign said it had no involvement with either Sullivan campaign.
Lieutenant Governor Nancy Dahlstrom, who oversees Alaska elections, opened an investigation into the challenger's candidacy on 8 June, NTD and the Associated Press reported. The National Republican Senatorial Committee later filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission against him and a political consultant, according to NTD and Semafor.
In Maine, Senator Susan Collins and Graham Platner won their parties' Senate nominations, after Governor Janet Mills suspended her campaign for the nomination in April. In South Carolina, Senator Lindsey Graham won renomination outright, the Associated Press reported.
The Florida Supreme Court ruled 6-1 that it lacked jurisdiction to intervene while a challenge was pending in a lower appeals court, which Reuters said all but guaranteed the new map would be used in November. Republicans held 20 of Florida's 28 House seats.
Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher ruled that the challenger's candidacy was not filed in good faith and was meant to confuse voters, and removed him from the ballot, the Associated Press reported. Alaska Public Media reported a preliminary decision on 12 June.
US District Judge Denise Casper permanently barred the Trump administration from enforcing a 2025 executive order requiring documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote, in a lawsuit brought by state attorneys general, ABC News and KTVU reported. ABC said the order also required mail ballots to arrive by Election Day.
The Alaska Supreme Court ruled that Dan J. Sullivan is qualified to run and ordered him placed on the August primary ballot, upholding Superior Court Judge Thomas Matthews, who found the division had abused its discretion, the Associated Press and Alaska Beacon reported. The court left how his name appears to the division.
In Watson v. Republican National Committee, the Supreme Court held in an opinion by Justice Amy Coney Barrett that federal Election Day laws do not stop states from counting mail ballots cast by Election Day and received shortly after, reversing the Fifth Circuit in a case over Mississippi's law. SCOTUSblog reported the vote as 5-4, with Justice Samuel Alito writing the dissent.
Missouri held primaries under the new map, and Secretary of State Denny Hoskins rejected the referendum petition against it, saying the constitution did not allow a referendum on congressional redistricting, according to the Associated Press and The Missouri Times.
In Alaska's open primary, Mary Peltola led with 49.5 percent and Senator Dan S. Sullivan had 41.4 percent, with Dan J. Sullivan third at 2.5 percent, according to results reported by Alaska Public Media. The top four advance to the general election, which uses ranked-choice voting.
Dan J. Sullivan said he would stay on the November ballot, hours before the withdrawal deadline. Fourth-place finisher David Leslie withdrew, moving fifth-place Gerald Heikes onto the ballot, Alaska Public Media reported.
The Missouri Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the referendum petition was sufficient, ordered it onto the 3 November ballot and barred use of the 2025 map unless voters approve it. The 2022 districts apply in November, St. Louis Public Radio and The Missouri Times reported.
Early in-person voting began in Virginia on 18 September, Al Jazeera reported. North Carolina began mailing absentee ballots on 4 September, and 47 states and Washington DC offer some form of early voting in 2026, according to Al Jazeera.
Al JazeeraAfter a series of orders that included blocking a conflicting federal district court order on 10 September, the US Supreme Court turned away a bid to use the new Missouri map, with no noted dissents, the Associated Press reported. Missouri votes under its 2022 districts.
The Justice Department sued Alaska in federal court on 22 October, seeking to block certification of the Senate result if Senator Dan S. Sullivan narrowly loses, the Associated Press and Reuters reported. Alaska Public Media reported the suit could block or delay certification if he loses but would have won had every ballot for the other Sullivan counted for him, and that the only law it cites is the National Voter Registration Act. Attorney General Todd Blanche said it sought to determine whether voters were confused, Reuters reported.
President Trump told reporters he had told the department to file the suit. Peltola called it corruption, Senator Lisa Murkowski said the department should never have filed it, and Senator Sullivan's campaign said it would let the complaint run its course, the Associated Press reported.
Almost 21 million people had voted by mail or in person, according to the University of Florida Election Lab as reported by NPR. Scripps News, also citing the lab, put the figure at more than 21 million. Michael McDonald, who maintains the lab's data, told NPR turnout was up over the 2022 and 2018 midterms.
On 25 October the Peltola campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee asked US District Judge Sharon Gleason to dismiss the suit as wholly baseless, Reuters reported. On 26 October Alaska's election officials also moved to dismiss, arguing the suit has no legal basis, Alaska Public Media and The New York Times reported.
More than 28 million Americans had cast ballots with just over a week to go, according to the University of Florida Election Lab as reported by Newsweek on 26 October. Nearly 122 million people voted in the 2022 midterms, NPR noted.
Division of Elections records show Dan J. Sullivan changed his party registration to undeclared when requesting a primary absentee ballot, Alaska's News Source reported. He appears on the general election ballot as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. with no party label, while the senator's listing shows his registration and incumbency, according to Alaska's News Source and Gray DC.
The Justice Department filed an amended complaint on 29 October and a motion for a preliminary injunction on 30 October. Reply briefs on the motions to dismiss were filed on 31 October and no ruling had been reported, according to the court docket as summarised by Democracy Docket.
The House stands at 218 Republicans, 214 Democrats, one independent and two vacancies, one last held by each party, according to the Clerk of the House and Al Jazeera. Democrats need a net gain of three House seats or four Senate seats for a majority, AFP reported.
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JURIST · jurist.orgLast updated 1 November 2026. Spotted an error? See corrections. Every event links to the record it comes from. Allegations are attributed to whoever made them.