&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "US Midterms 2026 Election Highlights: Democrats eye first election flip as Limtiaco leads in Guam")
Voters across the United States are casting ballots on Tuesday in midterm elections that will decide control of Congress for the final two years of Donald Trump's presidency. As of 8:14 a.m. ET (6:44 p.m. IST), Tuesday, November 3, polls are open in at least 27 states, joining millions who voted early, and the first results will start coming in after the first polls close at 6 pm ET (4:30 am IST on Wednesday). The election comes with the mood turned sharply against Republicans over soaring living costs and the war with Iran.
The stakes
Democrats need just three House gains and a net four Senate seats to flip both chambers. They enter Election Day with a 9-point advantage in the generic congressional ballot, according to CNN's Poll of Polls. In the Senate, Democrats need 51 seats for control, while Republicans need 50 because Vice President JD Vance casts tie-breaking votes.
On the ground
The Justice Department has deployed about 1,000 election monitors to all 50 states, its largest monitoring effort in history, covering 126 jurisdictions. A federal judge has halted efforts by the Justice and Homeland Security departments to send election officials lists of alleged noncitizen voters, while a sweeping emergency order limiting aggressive DOJ actions toward election officials remains standing after an appeals court revived it.
Voting hiccups and weather
Polling sites across Westchester County, New York, are facing scanner issues, with voters told to fill out ballots that go into emergency orange bags to be counted later. In Florida, 19 polling locations were moved due to dangerous flooding just 45 minutes before they were due to open. Utah has declared a flooding emergency in San Juan County and is allowing affected voters to cast ballots electronically. "We do use this method of voting for our overseas and military voters, and for our Americans with Disabilities Act voters," Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson, a Republican, told CNN affiliate KSTU. "So, it's not new. We've done this before." Rain from the same storm is now spreading across the central US, including key states like Iowa, Kansas and Texas.
The economy factor
Gas prices are at a record for Election Day at $4.15 a gallon on average, according to AAA, with Americans paying $83.2 billion more for gas since the Iran war began, about $635 per household. Diesel is also at a record $6.28 a gallon, costing $67.7 billion more overall. The burden varies sharply by state: Wyoming drivers are paying $2,546 more per household and Alaska $2,414, while Hawaii adds just $203. Nearly three-quarters of voters disapprove of Trump's handling of gas prices, according to a New York Times and Siena University poll.
The North Carolina Board of Elections has extended voting hours at several polling stations after minor delays disrupted voting earlier in the morning due to computer and printer issues. Officials said the technical problems have since been resolved. However, as a result of the delays, the release of election results has been postponed from the originally scheduled 7:30 pm to no earlier than 8:15 pm.
Alicia Limtiaco is leading the race for Guam’s nonvoting seat in the US House, potentially giving Democrats their first party flip of the election cycle, according to final unofficial results released by the Guam Election Commission. Limtiaco, a former Guam attorney general, holds 51% of the vote against Republican incumbent James Moylan, who has 48.84%, with all 59 precincts reporting. Moylan defeated his Democratic challenger in 2024, securing 52.7% of the vote.
If Limtiaco maintains her lead, the race would mark the first House seat to switch parties in this election cycle, although Guam’s nonvoting delegate does not count toward control of the chamber. Located in the Western Pacific, Guam is 15 hours ahead of Washington, DC. The Guam Election Commission is scheduled to count off-island ballots on November 19. The results remain unofficial pending certification.
New York county ballot machine encountered a glitch as voting continues for midterms on Tuesday.
Some voters in Fulton County, Georgia, reported receiving phoney text messages about polling place changes, the county said in social media posts this morning. “These text messages were not sent by Fulton County,” the county, Georgia’s most populous, said in a statement on X. “Voters should verify their polling place on the Georgia My Voter page or call 404-612-7020.”
Some Kansas voters are pointing to economic woes as the reason that they voted for Democratic Senate candidate Adam Hamilton today.
Longshot Massachusetts GOP Senate candidate John Deaton has a message for his Republican colleagues on why young voters are trending towards socialism. “The wealth gap in this country is, in my opinion, one of the biggest threats to our constitutional republic. It’s why you’re seeing Zohran Mamdanis of the world become elected,” Deaton said.
Florida’s hurricane season disrupts 19 polling stations on election day.
US Democratic candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier in New York City responded to Trump’s remarks that he will end US military aid to Israel by the end of the year. “I welcome any initiatives that will block the bombs that are being dropped on people in the region. I think we need more of an antiwar stance,” Darializa Avila Chevalier told Al Jazeera as she left a polling location in her district.
Trading on Wall Street was mixed early Tuesday as investors moved cautiously ahead of midterm election results, with Apple shares pulling back in the wake of its latest earnings report. Political observers anticipate that President Donald Trump’s Republican Party will lose control of at least one chamber of Congress, with the possibility of losing both.
Adding to the uncertainty, markets are weighing conflicting signals from the Middle East, where Trump confirmed fresh strikes on Iran even as Washington and Tehran simultaneously work to revive diplomatic talks.
Ballot machines malfunctioned Tuesday in a New York county that will help decide a closely contested House of Representatives race, though officials said votes for the US midterm elections are still being counted.
The Westchester County Board of Elections "is aware of an issue involving paper ballots that is preventing voting machines from accepting ballots at polling locations throughout the county," a statement read. It "wants to reassure every voter that your vote matters, your ballot will be secure and your vote will be counted," with ballots instead placed in emergency bags.
In the hours before polls opened for the US midterm elections on Tuesday, federal judges issued a series of rulings restricting the Trump administration's unprecedented efforts to pressure state election officials over alleged noncitizen voting.
Democrat James Talarico is seeking to make history by winning a US Senate seat for his party in Texas for the first time since 1988. He is taking on Republican Ken Paxton, whose political career has been clouded by ethical controversies and a statehouse impeachment over corruption allegations.
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday (November 3, 2026) that Republicans would perform “better than you think” in the midterm elections. He claimed that “inflation is solved” and “everything’s going well”, despite continued voter concerns over the cost of groceries, fuel and healthcare.
Florida voters in seven counties are being directed to temporary polling locations Tuesday, after widespread flooding prompted Gov. Ron DeSantis to issue an emergency order allowing election officials to relocate voting sites ahead of the midterm elections.
The Florida Department of State confirmed polling-place changes in Brevard, Highlands, Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee, Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties, according to its website, which was updated on Election Day.
Polls have opened in dozens of states, including some where in-person voting has started. Though the poll opening times were not definitive, in-person voting was scheduled to begin from 9 am ET in six states, including Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he made a deal with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and that Washington would no longer be providing military aid to Israel after the end of this year. Speaking to Fox News' Fox and Friends, Trump said Israel no longer needs it and that some Democrats and left-wing politicians were using this US funding to Israel as a talking point to criticize Republicans.
After igniting a Democratic firestorm by pulling her endorsement from her party’s Senate nominee in Michigan, Abdul Al-Sayed, and backing Republican Mike Rogers, Rep. Haley Stevens slammed the attacks on her by fellow partymen and defended her decision in a lengthy post on X before the voting started. After Democrats publicly branded her a traitor, Stevens said that scrutiny has troubled her “almost as much” as the choice to break ranks in the first place.
In a nearly 900-word post with the title “The Decisions We Make,” Stevens recalled the fast-moving weekend spat that made her rescind her endorsement for El-Sayed. She also denounced the Democratic Party’s efforts to push her out.
US midterm elections 2026 will decide control of Congress, not the presidency. From voting methods to counting rules, here is how America’s election process differs from India’s general elections.
&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium)
Severe flooding in San Juan County, Utah, home to Bears Ears National Monument, is affecting access to polling places and ballot drop boxes on Election Day, prompting an emergency declaration allowing affected residents to vote electronically.
Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson said the method, already used for overseas, military and Americans with Disabilities Act voters, is not new. Between 2 and 4 inches of rain fell over the weekend, triple the area's average for all of November, flooding the San Juan River near the Four Corners border.
Jeffrey Epstein has been dead for years, but his name is back at the centre of America's political battle. With candidates increasingly accusing rivals of protecting child predators, the controversy over his files is shaping a fierce new wave of US midterm attack ads.
&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium)
Gold prices fell on Tuesday, after gaining about 2% in the previous session, as energy-driven inflation worries kept investors on edge ahead of the US midterm elections. Spot gold slipped 1.1% to $3,903.48 per ounce by 1202 GMT (5:32 p.m. IST), while US gold futures for December delivery fell 1.4% to $3,913.80.
Oil rebounded after a steep selloff as an Iranian official said Tehran and Washington remained far from a deal to end the war, and the US struck Iran's Qeshm Island.
Traders currently see a 76% chance the Federal Reserve will raise rates in December, according to CME's FedWatch tool. Among other metals, silver slipped 3.3% to $48.96, platinum fell 1.9% to $1,421.43 and palladium dropped 3.1% to $939.41.
Why does gun violence so often trigger national outrage in the US but not become a defining issue in election campaigns?
&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium)
Six US states – Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada and Wisconsin – could elect their first Black governors in Tuesday's midterms.
Gubernatorial contests are being held in 36 states, and the six races highlighted by the network are among the most closely watched, with the potential to make history and reshape the political map.
As soon as polls close, concerns will mount over whether results will be accepted by Republicans. Trump, who tried to overturn his 2020 election defeat, has repeatedly alleged widespread voter fraud and accused Democrats, with no evidence, of cheating.
The Justice Department has already sued to potentially block certification of Alaska's Senate race if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan narrowly loses, though a court ruled against the effort on the eve of the election.
The Supreme Court rejected on Monday an emergency bid to force California to set aside the mail-in ballots of more than 20,000 people over citizenship concerns. Trump, who will watch results at the White House on Tuesday night, told a podcast: "I veto everything."
More than 57 million Americans had already voted early before Tuesday, indicating high energy in the campaign, which has attracted more than $11 billion in political advertising. Mega-rich Trump ally Elon Musk has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into Republican political efforts. Republican supporters remain confident, with Texas military veteran Yvonne Clouser telling AFP: "We're going to win. As a matter of fact, we've probably already won."
Here is a state-wise guide to poll timings, key races and how Indian viewers can follow the results.
&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium)
In his final public campaign appearance on Monday, Trump barely touched on the economy, spending most of the time in a rambling talk about his problem-plagued renovation of Washington's Reflecting Pool. "This is the last day before the midterm elections, the most important midterm I believe in our lifetime," he said, 26 minutes into the speech, before quickly returning to renovations. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer branded it a "pathetic closing message."
Trump returned to office last year promising to bring down prices, but inflation, tariffs and fuel costs inflated by the Middle East conflict have squeezed Americans, with the 80-year-old's approval rating hovering near the low 30s.
American citizens over 18 can vote, with some states making exceptions for convicted felons and some requiring registration.
About a third of the Senate is on the ballot every two years, along with all House seats. There are 36 gubernatorial races this year, 19 for open seats, and 146 statewide ballot measures in 39 states. The party with at least 218 House seats holds the majority, while the Senate majority requires 51 votes.
Four years ago, Democrats exceeded expectations, holding the Senate and even gaining a seat, while Republicans gained just 9 House seats, resulting in a narrow 222-213 majority.
Exit polls in 2022 showed most voters dissatisfied with the economy, conditions that typically result in bigger losses for the party in the White House. But abortion debates, following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, bolstered Democrats, with 6 in 10 voters disapproving of the decision.
Election officials have spent months preparing to run the 2026 vote, training workers, tightening security and readying legal challenges.
"Sadly, a new hazard on the list this time that's never been on the list before is the possibility that our own federal government would try to interfere somehow, directly or indirectly," Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon told CNN.
According to the report, officials have drilled poll workers on how to respond if ICE officers or federal agents show up at voting sites, and states have pre-drafted legal challenges.
The Justice Department has announced it will send about 1,000 election monitors to all 50 states for the midterm elections, the largest-ever effort to observe polling locations for potential civil rights violations.
For context, the Biden administration's Justice Department sent less than 400 monitors to 24 states during the 2022 midterms. The monitors are Justice Department lawyers who observe polling places for violations like racial discrimination and voter intimidation but are instructed not to interfere with voting.
All 435 House seats and 35 of the 100 Senate seats are at stake on Tuesday, along with governorships in 36 states. Republicans losing the House would give Democrats the power to stall Trump's legislative agenda and launch sweeping investigations of his administration, while a Senate defeat would threaten his ability to appoint Supreme Court justices and senior officials.
Gold prices fell on Tuesday, after gaining about 2% in the previous session, as energy-driven inflation worries kept investors on edge ahead of the US midterms. Spot gold slipped 1.1% to $3,904.69 per ounce by 1002 GMT (3:32 p.m. IST), while US gold futures for December delivery dropped 1.4% to $3,914.70. Oil prices rose more than $1 as an Iranian official said a deal to end the war was far off, fuelling concerns over energy supplies.
The party enters Election Day with a 9-point advantage in the generic congressional ballot, according to CNN's Poll of Polls, and forecasters have consistently moved competitive seats in its favour.
Democrats also hold leads in five key Senate races, according to NYT-Siena polls. Expectations are high for the party, with several races proving more competitive than expected in recent weeks.
The first polls in a number of US states have opened. Voting is now underway in Connecticut, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York and Virginia.
