2026 midterm elections live updates: Latest news, results, and analysis

Gov. JB Pritzker’s (D-IL) super PAC, Ready for the Fight, has dropped a total of $1.5 million on Senate races in Mississippi and Kansas.

The group has placed a $1 million ad buy in Mississippi and a separate $500,000 ad buy in Kansas. Both red states are looking to reelect their incumbents: Sens. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) and Roger Marshall (R-KS).

Ready for the Fight, formed in September, has generally used its funds to support Democratic candidates in competitive House races before branching out into Senate elections. The super PAC launched with $20 million.

Pritzker appears to be using the super PAC to raise his national profile ahead of a potential 2028 presidential campaign. This year, he is seeking a rare third term as Illinois governor.

Both Democrat Rob Sand and Republican Zach Lahn slammed data centers when asked by debate moderators in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, about the state’s budget deficit.

Sand and Lahn each said data centers should be required to pay more in taxes and should not receive tax breaks from a state that is struggling to balance its budget.

“Financially speaking, they should be contributing to the state of Iowa. And if they don’t want to contribute, they can build somewhere else,” Sand said.

Lahn said he agreed with Sand on the issue, saying multiple times that data centers need to “pay their fair share,” including higher property taxes.

“By some of the calculations, this would increase revenues to the government by $200 [million] to $300 million a year,” Lahn said. “Look, I believe if somebody’s going to get relief, it should be the people. It shouldn’t be a multinational company.”

Trump resurrected his pitch to elect Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) to the Supreme Court should an opening occur, claiming both Democrats and Republicans would support the idea because they dislike the senator.

“I would pick Ted Cruz to be the next Supreme Court justice, and I wouldn’t have to worry about,” Trump said. “I wouldn’t even have to make a phone call. The Democrats will 100% vote for it because they hate the guy and they want to get rid of him. And the Republicans would 100% vote for it because they can’t stand him. They would like to get rid of him, so I’d get 100% of the vote, and he would be a Supreme Court justice.”

The president has pitched the idea in the past while visiting Texas. Trump has filled three of the last four Supreme Court vacancies.

Trump declined to offer Ken Paxton the same flattery he does to Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH) during a rally for the Texas attorney general and other Republicans in Lubbock.

The president was recounting his past comments about Husted, who played football in college, particularly his remarks about the senator’s behind.

“I made the mistake of studying his anatomy and explaining it to the audience, and the audience loved it,” Trump said, adding, “maybe I should do that with Ken Paxton, but I’m not sure your body is going to qualify.”

Trump then went on to lament the media coverage of his comment about Husted’s physique received, saying, “they only covered the a** part.”

Paxton hasn’t received the same compliments Trump has offered other men, but the president has historically joked about the way the attorney general dresses.

Democrat Rob Sand told moderators during the third and final debate for Iowa governor that a homeless man broke into his house over Thanksgiving in 2025, highlighting it as an example of how the state is currently failing Iowans with mental health problems.

“It turns out that this gentleman was schizophrenic,” Sand said. “We left the house, called the police. Unfortunately, a couple police officers were minorly hurt, but hurt in responding to it. He just recently, within the last month, was adjudicated fit to stand trial.”

Sand said the man was “living outdoors and saw a warm place” and cited the incident as evidence that Iowa needs greater mental health resources.

“The problem is that we haven’t been paying enough attention to people who are struggling with mental health issues, and then sooner or later, their mental health issue becomes our problem too,” Sand said. “Whether it’s because of crime, or accidents, or anything else, we have got to do a better job with this for everyone in this state because it’s public safety, not just mental health.”

Sand connected the issue to the privatization of the state’s Medicaid coverage, which is managed by private organizations.

“Privatization of Medicaid in the state of Iowa has driven up costs,” Sand said. “It has driven down the quality of care. It has led to mental healthcare practitioners closing their doors.”

Trump referred to the Michigan Democratic Senate nominee as “Abdul Ramadan,” rather than Abdul el Sayed, while discussing the stakes in the midterm elections at a rally in Lubbock, Texas.

“He goes by Abdul Ramadan,” Trump said. “I call him Mohammed. Then I found out … middle name is Mohammed.”

The Michigan Democrat’s full name is Abdulrahman Mohamed el Sayed, but Trump often calls the candidate by his middle name. The president then made a familiar joke that el Sayed would need additional security screening to serve in Congress.

“He’s going to have to go through a metal detector in the United States Congress,” Trump said. “We have people that should not be running for politics in this country, and we’re never going to allow sharia law in this country.”

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — President Donald Trump praised Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) 2016 primary bid against him at a rally Tuesday, as the Texas Republican looks to a possible 2028 run.

“We had 18 of them [challengers], including Ted, who, by the way, was very tough,” the president said at the Port of Corpus Christi. “He was the last remainder. He was a nasty son of a gun.”

“Now we get along, I think, better than we’ve ever gotten along,” Trump continued.

Cruz was the last remaining candidate in the 2016 Republican primary before he dropped out that May and refused to endorse Trump at the Republican National Convention later in the year. The two have since reconciled.

The two-term senator told the Washington Examiner in an interview earlier this month that while he’s not ready to make any announcements about another potential campaign, “that conversation is coming.”

“My focus today is 100% on the midterms, and I am spending every waking moment fighting to help save our Republican Senate, our Republican House,” Cruz said in a wide-ranging phone interview. “The conversation about 2028 will begin after the midterms. That conversation is coming. It’s coming for any potential candidate. But the right time to engage in it is when the midterms are behind us.”

Cruz is among the list of Republicans with widespread name recognition who are expected to launch a campaign to succeed Trump. And as he crisscrosses the country in a campaign blitz for Republicans, Cruz faces an early test of his abilities to turn out the base in what he warned could be a bruising midterm election cycle for the party, similar to that of two years into Trump’s first term in 2018.

Detransitioner activist Chloe Cole encouraged voters at a rally in Arnold, Missouri, on Tuesday to support Amendment 3 on Election Day to prohibit so-called “gender-affirming care” for minors in the state permanently.

Amendment 3 in Missouri, if passed, would also enshrine a prohibition on gender transition medicine for minors, including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries such as mastectomy and genital reconstruction. It would also repeal the state’s reproductive freedom constitutional amendment that protects access to abortion until fetal viability at around 24 weeks of pregnancy.

Cole, 22, underwent hormonal therapies for female-to-male gender transition, including puberty blockers and testosterone, in her home state of California starting at age 13. She received a double mastectomy at age 15 and began detransitioning at age 16. She said she would not have transitioned if Amendment 3 had been in place at that time in her state.

“Transgenderism in medicine violates the standard of medicine on every level because it is not care; it is medical abuse,” Cole said. “I’ve learned exactly what a child can lose in that operating room. I know that removing healthy sex organs from a child is an atrocity because I lived through it.”

The Missouri legislature in 2023 passed a law prohibiting transgender medicine for minors in the Show Me State, but the ban expires in August 2027. Passing a constitutional amendment would make it permanent.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said on Tuesday he will commit to a peaceful transfer of power if Democrats retake the lower chamber, but he remains optimistic that Republicans will retain their narrow majority.

“It’s a little silly you have to ask the question,” Johnson told a reporter. “Of course, we’ll have a peaceful transfer of power. But it will not be transferring because we are going to keep the majority, and I’m going to be the speaker of the House, and I will keep steady hands at the wheel.”

“We’re going to follow the Constitution,” he said, citing his background in constitutional law. “The Constitution says when a state certifies the election of members of Congress, they’re administered the oath. That’s what I’ll be doing on Jan. 3 to everybody who’s there. I may not like some of those outcomes, but that’s our system. And for anybody to suggest otherwise is absurd.”

When the reporter asked the question, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) laughed as he stood beside Johnson.

While the House speaker is bullish about his party’s chances in the midterm elections, it appears increasingly likely that Democrats will gain a majority of at least 218 seats.

Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH) joked that he has been working out ahead of President Donald Trump’s latest visit to Ohio.

“Don’t worry, I was in the weight room this morning working out,” Husted said Tuesday, drawing laughter from people in attendance. “I don’t want to let him down.”

The president has repeatedly complimented the 59-year-old senator’s body while campaigning for him ahead of the midterm elections. Husted has responded to the comments with humor and good nature, recounting how he told his wife that he needs to continue going to the gym to “keep up my reputation.”

Trump is visiting Ohio again on Wednesday, marking his third trip to the state within a month. The rally will be held in Chillicothe, located nearly 50 miles south of Columbus.

Montana prosecutors filed four charges against a man accused of forging petition signatures in support of independent candidates Seth Bodnar and Michael Eisenhauer.

The Cascade County Attorney’s Office announced the charges against Nathan Ross Harlan of Sun Belt Strategies on Tuesday, saying he “is accused of aiding deceptive election practices involving forged signatures and false signature-gatherer declarations.” State investigators are searching for Harlan, as his whereabouts are unknown.

The signature gathering occurred this spring for Bodnar, who is running for an open Senate seat, and Eisenhauer, who’s running for Montana’s 2nd Congressional District.

Neither candidate was found to have engaged in wrongdoing related to the case, according to the attorney’s office, and both cooperated in the investigation. Also, over 800 bogus signatures submitted by Harlan were not counted toward the candidates’ ballot qualification requirements.

President Donald Trump and Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico are set to hold overlapping rallies in Lubbock, Texas, on Tuesday night.

Trump’s remarks are set to begin at 6:00 p.m. CT at the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center, as Talarico’s is set for 7 p.m. CT. The president will be joined by Talarico’s opponent, state Attorney General Ken Paxton. They remain locked in a tight race just a week out from Election Day.

The president’s visit comes as the Texas Democrat has steadily stayed a few points ahead in polls, most within the margin of error, while Republicans in the state have been warning their party to vote early.

The president endorsed Paxton over longtime Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) in the bruising primary that went to a runoff before Paxton eventually prevailed.

Trump will spend the next week traveling across the country in hopes of rallying the Make America Great Again base in states with competitive races.

Democrats are making gains in three Senate races as Election Day quickly approaches, according to the latest rating changes from Sabato’s Crystal Ball.

In Florida, the Senate race has shifted from “safe Republican” to “likely Republican.” Sen. Ashley Moody (R-FL) is seeking her first full six-year term in the election against Democratic nominee and socialist state Rep. Angie Nixon. Though Moody’s electoral chances have been adjusted, Sabato’s Crystal Ball says the incumbent “is still clearly favored” to win.

North Carolina’s competitive Senate race has changed from “leans Democratic” to “likely Democratic,” solidifying former Gov. Roy Cooper’s odds of beating former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley. Both candidates are seeking to replace retiring Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC).

Meanwhile, the Senate race in South Carolina has moved from “likely Republican” to “leans Republican.” This makes it less likely that Sen. Darline Graham Nordone (R-SC), who replaced her late brother Lindsey Graham over the summer, will defeat Democratic nominee Annie Andrews by a large margin.

With one week left before the general election, Sabato’s Crystal Ball categorizes 49 Senate seats as “leans Democratic,” 46 seats as “leans Republican,” and five as “toss-ups.”

Republican congressional candidate Carlos De La Cruz, as well as his sister Rep. Monica De La Cruz (R-TX), spoke ahead of President Donald Trump at his rally in Corpus Christi, Texas, just a week out from both of their uphill election battles.

The two spoke in front of an energetic crowd at the Port of Corpus Christi, where the president is expected to take the stage at 2 p.m. CT.

“On Nov. 3, the patriots of South Texas will write the next chapter of our history at the ballot box, and put this district from blue to red for once and for all,” Carlos De La Cruz said at the rally. “Not for us, but for our children, so they can remain safe at all times, in their sports, in their spaces. This fight is not for us, it’s for our children.”

Carlos De La Cruz is running for a San Antonio-area seat against Democrat Johnny Garcia in an effort to flip a redrawn district. Trump would have won the district by over 10% in 2024.

Monica De La Cruz is facing a tougher reelection fight after Texas Republicans redrew her district, leaving her with about 80% new territory. Latin Grammy-winning Tejano singer-songwriter Bobby Pulido gained ground in polling and brought in a significant fundraising haul in the third quarter. The seat is considered a “toss up” by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.

“As a political outsider with no famous last name, I beat that machine, and I got to work,” Monica De La Cruz said at the rally of the Pulido family. “I worked with that president to secure the order, and now the days of the cartels running the Rio Grande Valley are over.”

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said Republicans are “at serious risk” in this election, as he pleads with rallygoers to vote early.

“We have almost 2 million Republicans who have not voted yet,” Patrick said at President Donald Trump’s rally at the Port of Corpus Christi.

“It’s time to vote between now and Friday,” he continued. “This election will be one of the closest elections we’ve ever had. Why? Well, because the Democrats have gotten $400 million, 80% of it from out of state, to come in and take this day away from us.”

But despite pleading with voters, he expressed confidence in the party to maintain races across the state.

“I don’t care what the polls say,” Patrick said, as many Democrats are within a point or two of Republicans up and down the ballot. “Republicans across the state are going to come together and kick their ass on Election Day.”