2026 US midterm elections timeline
The campaign and the results of the 3 November 2026 vote for Congress and the governorships: the Senate races and their debates, the rallies, the court fights over ballots and the Democrats' win of both chambers.
6 timelines from the outlets of our UK edition, 7 October to 8 November 2026, oldest first. Each one gathers the articles about one development, day by day.
Latest timeline: US midterm elections: Democrats win control of the Senate and the House of Representatives
- Leaked audio: Texas attorney general Paxton says Trump's Iran war and gas prices are plaguing Republicans
In leaked audio, Texas attorney general Paxton, the Republican Senate hopeful in Texas, admitted that President Trump's Iran war and US gas prices are plaguing Republicans, and acknowledged that affordability was his party's 'biggest problem' heading into the midterms. The Independent says the audio reveals him trashing the president, ahead of an awkward showdown between the two in Texas, where a recent poll shows Paxton trailing his Democratic opponent by 6 percentage points.
- Supreme Court rejects Trump's bid to stop California counting disputed ballots
The Justice Department threatened California with possible legal action over what it says are noncitizens believed to have received mail ballots for next month's midterm elections, The Independent reported on Wednesday 14 October. On Thursday 15 October, the Trump administration sued California election officials to block the state from counting alleged noncitizen mail-in ballots, The Independent reported, and The Guardian said the justice department had demanded that LA county confirm the citizenship of people on a list in a thumb drive, but officials refused. On Tuesday 3 November, The Guardian reported that the Supreme Court ruled against Trump over the bid to force California to set aside ballots, the justice department having ordered the state to segregate and not count 20,000 ballots from people it claims are non-citizens, and BBC News wrote that the ruling, which comes on the eve of the midterm elections, essentially ends the Trump administration's bid to disqualify the ballots in the state.
- Trump administration asks Washington state to set aside ballots from more than 400 alleged noncitizen voters
The Trump administration on Monday asked Washington state to set aside any ballots received from more than 400 people it alleges registered to vote without U.S. citizenship, The Independent reported on Tuesday 27 October, its headline saying the state questions the timing of the election intervention. The Guardian reported that the administration asked Washington to set aside hundreds of ballots from suspected noncitizen voters, calling it the latest sign of the administration's attempts to challenge states with competitive midterm races that could determine control of Congress.
- Michigan Senate race: Democrat Haley Stevens endorses Republican Mike Rogers, and Democratic leaders denounce the move
Abdul El-Sayed's campaign disinvited Haley Stevens, El-Sayed's primary opponent, from events to limit 'distractions', The Guardian reported, a public spat casting Democratic tensions in the spotlight as the close US Senate race in Michigan draws to a head. On Sunday 1 November Stevens, who lost the party's Michigan primary by a close margin, endorsed El-Sayed's Republican rival Mike Rogers, The Guardian reported, The Independent writing that Stevens stunned party officials by appearing with Rogers at a Detroit church service while El-Sayed appeared with a group of prominent Michigan and national Democrats at a separate church service. The Independent also reported Trump's reaction to the endorsement, and HuffPost UK reported that Stevens' staff, including longtime chief of staff Justin German, resigned on Sunday morning, that Democratic National Committee chairman Ken Martin denounced the endorsement as an 'effort to sow division within our party' and that Michigan Democratic Party chair Curtis Hertel said Stevens is no longer a member of the party. On Tuesday 3 November The Independent headlined that Stevens faces Democrat fury over the Republican Senate endorsement.
- Oklahoma man charged with mailing hundreds of letters containing powder to officials before US elections
Federal authorities charged an Oklahoma man with sending hundreds of letters containing nonhazardous white powder to public officials, The Independent reported on Tuesday 3 November, The Guardian writing that the man is accused of sending the letters before the 2024 and 2026 elections. The man was arrested on Monday and is due to appear in court on Tuesday, The Independent reported.
- US midterm elections: Democrats win control of the Senate and the House of Representatives
Donald Trump faced a nationwide verdict from US voters in the midterm elections, the US president having urged people to pretend that Trump was on the ballot paper, the Evening Standard and The Independent reported on Wednesday 4 November. Democrats Jon Ossoff and Chris Pappas won the Senate races in Georgia and New Hampshire and Democrat Amy Acton won Ohio's race for governor over Vivek Ramaswamy, The Guardian reported. Democrats took control of the US Senate in a major blow to Trump and then won control of Congress in a landslide, the Evening Standard and The Independent reported, The Guardian writing that Democrats flipped seven Senate seats in Kansas, Iowa, Texas, Maine, Ohio, North Carolina and South Carolina. Trump congratulated Democrats but stopped short of accepting blame and US stocks rallied in early trading on Wednesday, Asian shares being mostly higher on Thursday 5 November while AI and data center-linked stocks tumbled, The Independent reported. On Friday 6 November The Guardian reported that Democrats had exceeded 250 House seats as the blue wave sweeping Congress grew, and the Financial Times reported that Trump is to replace Susie Wiles with Stephen Miller as chief of staff, a move that comes three days after the Republican Party suffered a bruising defeat in the midterm elections, BBC News writing on Saturday 7 November that the promotion sets up likely clashes with Congress.
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