Storyline · general · 4 reports from 2 newsrooms

US midterm elections 2026

First reported Oct 31, 2:59 AM ET · Latest Nov 1, 8:42 AM ET · Explainer updated Nov 1, 11:01 AM ET

Where things stand

All 435 House seats and 35 Senate seats are being contested today, with live coverage reporting intense final pushes by Trump and Democratic candidates. Earlier polling showed Democrats maintaining a lead nationally, and more than 50 million Americans have already voted early.

Continuum

The living record of this story: every fact with its status and source, updated as reporting comes in. Version 1, updated . Earlier versions

Facts

What the reporting says

Each fact is matched to the exact words of the report it comes from, and checked that those words really say it. Open one to see the source.

  • Reported The US midterm elections are two days away. Is this wrong?
    Source
  • Reported Democrats remain ahead in national polls. Is this wrong?
    Source
    • “Democrats remain ahead in national polls” — Al Jazeera

How to read the labels: Reported: one newsroom · Corroborated: two or more independent newsrooms · Confirmed: backed by a primary source such as an official release or filing · Disputed: newsrooms disagree · Updated: replaced by a newer figure. This story as data for AI assistants and developers.

Timeline

What changed: The midterm elections have begun, with voting underway across the country for every House seat and a third of the Senate.

How this story developed

  1. New The US midterm elections are two days away. Democrats remain ahead in national polls.

Every report, newest first

  1. US midterms live: Trump, Democrats in last-ditch efforts before polls — Al Jazeera

    All 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 of the Senate’s 100 seats are being contested on Tuesday.

  2. US midterms: 2 days to go – Who leads in the polls as Trump rally — Al Jazeera

    Democrats remain ahead in national polls as Trump and candidates make their final push in the days before polling day.

  3. More than 50m Americans cast ballots in early voting with three days to go before midterms — The Guardian

    Record number of early votes cast, with Democrats outnumbering Republicans in states which collect that information There has been a surge of early voting for the US midterm elections, with millions more Americans going to the polls compared with the last…

  4. US midterms: 3 days to go – What latest polls say as early voting surges — Al Jazeera

    More than 43 million Americans have voted early as Democrats lead opinion polls and Trump prepares for final rallies.

Questions

  • It remains unclear which party will secure majorities in the House and Senate after the votes are counted. Open
  • How the final vote totals will translate into control of Congress and whether the early‑voting advantage for Democrats will hold on Election Day remain unclear. Open
  • It remains unclear how the early‑voting advantage for Democrats will translate into final election outcomes, especially in closely contested races. Open

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More: background

Midterm elections occur halfway through a president’s term and determine which party controls Congress. Early voting allows voters to cast ballots before Election Day, and poll aggregates track voter preferences to gauge likely outcomes.

How this works: stories from different newsrooms are grouped by topic, then AI writes the explainer using only those reports. It may miss context the reports don't include.