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

Former President Barack Obama will travel to Ohio on Oct. 24 to rally support for Democrats in two closely watched races ahead of the November midterm elections.

Obama will campaign alongside former Sen. Sherrod Brown, a three-term Democrat seeking to reclaim his Senate seat from Republican Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH), who was appointed to replace Vice President JD Vance. He will also support Democratic gubernatorial nominee Amy Acton, who is working to win over voters in traditionally Republican parts of the state. Acton faces tech billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy, a former Republican presidential candidate, as they seek to succeed term-limited Gov. Mike DeWine (R-OH).

The Ohio appearances are part of a broader effort by Obama to bolster Democratic candidates in competitive races as the party seeks to regain control of Congress. Obama is also scheduled to campaign in Detroit on Oct. 24 with Abdul el Sayed, the Democratic nominee for Michigan’s open Senate seat.

A protester interrupted the final debate between Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and her Democratic challenger, Troy Jackson, on Thursday night.

The protester was swiftly removed from Gracie Theater in Bangor, Maine, but not before shouting toward the stage at Collins, introducing himself as a young person who’s “terrified” about data centers he said were “destroying” the climate.

He began by apologizing that he was “so sorry to interrupt.”

“Still the one” blared on the speakers as a crowd welcomed Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) to the final debate of the Maine Senate race on Thursday evening.

The debate is one of four that have been held over the last couple of weeks, but this one will feature a live audience and be held in Bangor, Maine.

Outside the venue, the Gracie Theater at Husson University, Troy Jackson supporters also gathered with signage and a large banner that read “Let Them Eat Road Salt.” The phrase is a riff on Jackson’s “we can’t eat road salt” remark at a prior debate.

BANGOR, Maine – “Still the one” blared on the speakers as a crowd welcomed Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) to the final debate of the Maine Senate race on Thursday evening.

The debate is one of four that has been held over the last couple weeks, but this one will feature a live audience and be held in Bangor, Maine.

Outside the venue, The Gracie Theater at Husson University, Troy Jackson supporters also gathered with signage and a large banner that read “Let Them Eat Road Salt.” The phrase is a riff on Jackson’s “we can’t eat road salt” remark at a prior debate.

MONROE, Michigan — Vice President JD Vance drew laughs and middle fingers from a Republican crowd Thursday afternoon.

Vance took the stage at a Republican National Committee rally backing former Michigan Rep. Mike Rogers, the Republican nominee for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat.

“This is a lively crowd! What’ve y’all been drinking?” the vice president, a diehard Ohio State fan, joked before poking fun at the crowd. “It’s great to be in Monroe, right here in the heart of what folks used to call the Rust Belt, and now we are rebuilding it. No more rust here. We’re building gold, right here in the state of Michigan. And not too far, I might add, from Buckeye football.”

The crowd responded to Vance’s joke with boos and by flipping him the bird.

“Oh, man. A hardcore Republican crowd just gave me about 45 middle fingers, but that’s OK,” he joked. “You all can make fun of me on Buckeye football all you need, so long as we get out there and make Mike Rogers the next senator from the great state of Michigan.”

President Donald Trump is reportedly slated to campaign for Republicans in Iowa on Thursday, Oct. 22, and Sunday, Nov. 1, in the lead-up to the midterm elections.

Jeff Kaufmann, Chairman of the Iowa GOP, posted on X Thursday afternoon that he spoke with Trump and said the president is “anxious for Iowans to hear his message before they vote.”

Republicans up and down the ticket are fighting stiff competition from Democrats in Iowa. According to the RealClearPolitics average, Democratic Senate candidate state Rep. Josh Turek (D-IA) has a 1-percentage-point lead over U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA) for the state’s open seat. Democrat gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand has a more than 8-percentage-point lead over Republican Zach Lahn, per the RealClearPolitics average.

Iowa also has three competitive House seats currently held by Republicans. Early voting in Iowa started on Oct. 14.

FLAT ROCK, Michigan — Vice President JD Vance traveled to Flat Rock on Thursday afternoon to take part in a CBS News town hall that will air this weekend, with just over two weeks until Election Day 2026.

Vance, who is pulling double duty this cycle as the Republican National Committee’s finance chairman, has been a top GOP surrogate, crisscrossing the nation in recent weeks in support of downballot Republicans as polls indicate a potential blue wave in November.

Following the town hall, Vance will deliver remarks in Monroe, Michigan, at an RNC rally, but at least one high-profile Republican candidate will not be in attendance. Rep. John James, the Republican nominee in Michigan’s gubernatorial race, announced Thursday afternoon that he would not attend the event. James currently trails Jocelyn Benson, the Michigan secretary of state and Democratic gubernatorial nominee, by 6.8 points in the RealClearPolitics polling average.

The pair will debate on Thursday evening.

White House officials declined to say if Mike Rogers, the Republican nominee for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat, will attend the event in Monroe. The RealClearPolitics average showed Rogers down 2.7 points to Democratic nominee Abdul el Sayed as of Thursday afternoon.

Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) urged Republicans to prepare an ambitious budget reconciliation package for the lame-duck session after the November midterm elections, warning that the party could have a narrow window to advance its legislative priorities if Democrats take control of Congress.

“We will do a reconciliation bill — one way or the other we will,” Moreno said, referring to the fast-track budget process that allows certain legislation to pass the Senate with a simple majority rather than the usual 60-vote threshold. “Obviously, if we lose control of Congress, it’ll be the Last Supper.”

Moreno said the package would be “giant” and include “all the Republican priorities that we can get done.”

The Ohio Republican called on lawmakers to remain in Washington through the end of the year if Republicans lose control of both chambers, arguing that they should use the weeks between the election and the new Congress to push legislation.

“If we lose the House and the Senate, we should be here from Nov. 9 until Dec. 31 with no break at all,” Moreno said. “Like, we’ll have turkeys here for Thanksgiving because we have to get this done.”

Michigan Senate candidate Mike Rogers’s wife handed out gift cards for gas at a Detroit gas station on Wednesday as his campaign battles to flip the seat red in just a few weeks.

Kristi Rogers passed out free $10 gift cards to customers at Freedom Fuel, a gas station near I-94, according to the Detroit News. It is unclear whether she mentioned her husband’s close race with Democrat Abdul el Sayed during the encounters, which took place shortly before Michigan votes in the 2026 midterm elections on Nov. 3.

AUSTIN, Texas — Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa held an event Thursday morning demanding that Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) debate her, but she was instead greeted by a write-in candidate pressuring Hinojosa to debate.

Write-in candidate Jenn Mack marched onstage just minutes after Hinojosa arrived, calling for “equal airtime.” The crowd quickly booed her off as security took Mack off stage.

While majority of the crowd chanted for Abbott to come out, some scorned Mack’s removal from the event.

“She’s a legitimate contestant for governor of the state of Texas,” an attendee said. “You just ran her off the stage.”

Hinojosa has challenged Abbott to four debates and shown up outside the governor’s mansion in Austin with an extra podium to field questions from reporters, trying to goad Abbott into a forum.

The event was moved to a nearby park after the Department of Public Safety blocked off the streets surrounding the governor’s mansion, where she addressed her supporters.

Former President Bill Clinton is making his first appearance of the midterm campaign season alongside Democrat David Jolly, who is vying for the Florida governorship.

Florida turned deep red over the Trump years, and coverage of Florida Democrats in the 2024 elections likened the results to an almost extinction-level event for the state party. Democrats see a possible opening this cycle, however, and are calling in the popular former president to help mobilize voters. Clinton is slated to join Jolly at an interfaith event in Hollywood, Florida, on Oct. 20.

Like the more active former President Barack Obama, Clinton is picky about his endorsements, with each usually only entering the arena in the final weeks. He was unusually active in the 2024 election cycle, in a last-ditch effort to pump life into the ailing campaign of then-Vice President Kamala Harris.

The popular incumbent Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) is termed out, and his hoped-for successor Byron Donalds doesn’t enjoy the same level of popularity. Most polls have Donalds in the lead, but a few have Jolly on top. A Change Research poll, surveying 1,277 registered voters in Florida from Sept. 25-27, had Jolly leading 48% to 46%.

Donalds is looking to make up for the uncertainty with massive spending, spending $90 million on ads compared to Jolly’s $7 million.

Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico raised $64 million in the third quarter of 2026, setting a record for third-quarter fundraising in a Senate campaign as Democrats seek to flip the Republican stronghold.

Republican nominee Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general, raised $18 million during the same period.

Talarico has collected more than $134.3 million since September 2025, with more than 1.3 million donors contributing to his bid. His campaign said roughly 97% of donations were $100 or less.

The record haul highlights Democrats’ hopes of winning a statewide race in Texas, where Republicans have maintained a firm grip on statewide offices for decades.

Talarico’s fundraising total surpasses previous records set by Democratic Senate candidates. Former Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke raised $38.1 million in the third quarter of 2018 while challenging Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), coming within a few percentage points of unseating him.

South Carolina Democrat Jaime Harrison later raised $57 million in the third quarter of 2020 in his unsuccessful bid to defeat the late Sen. Lindsey Graham.

Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico, currently a seminary student on leave, was pressed by a Republican voter at a CNN town hall meeting Thursday on his Christian views.

The voter, a young woman, raised concerns over Talarico’s application of faith based on his past comments, including remarks about the number of genders and biblical justifications for abortion. The voter asked Talarico whether he believed the Bible to be the authoritative word of God.

“Do you believe that the Bible is the absolute source of truth, and God’s final authoritative word, even when our culture says otherwise?” she asked.

The Texas Democrat promptly responded “yes,” before adding, “I think it’s important to remember that even the early church, the disciples who actually knew Jesus of Nazareth, the early church we often talk about as a singular body, when in reality it was more like early churches, because there was a lot of disagreement, there was a lot of debate, and that’s something that we should be comfortable with.”

Talarico went on to address attack ads that have targeted his past comments, including when he called God “nonbinary.”

“When I said that, I was being provocative, and I want to admit that and come clean about that,” Talarico said of the nonbinary comment. “But I think what I was saying is actually not controversial theologically. The idea that we can’t define God using human categories.”

In recent months, Talarico has said he “missed the mark” on his previous statements.

The woman also asked if Talarico believed “Jesus is the only savior for people here on Earth.”

“I believe Jesus is the truth, the way, and the light,” he responded.

Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico said he wants to go back to “OG capitalism” at a live CNN town hall Wednesday night.

“All of the wealth is being accumulated by the top 1%,” Talarico said. “It’s actually not going to the people doing the actual work in this economy. Capitalism was an innovation at the time from the feudal system. The idea that you should be compensated for your labor, that you should be compensated for your time, that was a revolution.”

Talarico was asked by CNN’s Erin Burnett about past comments in which he called capitalism an “oppressive system” and talked about dismantling the system.

Talarico responded that his comments were taken out of context and that he supports capitalism, not “crony capitalism,” which he defined as as a system where people “can pay for access and pay for control.”

“What I’m trying to get back to is OG capitalism, where we actually reward work instead of wealth, and right now, people could still accumulate wealth,” the Texas Democrat continued. “Of course, I’m all for success.”

Talarico’s campaign has centered on fighting billionaires and creating an economy with “fewer trillionaires and more millionaires.”

“The biggest divide in this country is not left vs. right,” his campaign website says. “It’s top vs. bottom. Billionaires want us looking left and right at each other instead of looking up at them.”

Sand said he wanted to ensure children in the state do not become a combination of hungry and angry by providing free breakfast and lunch in schools.

“I think this is something that we should all be invested in because I get so hangry if I’m not eating. I know it’s the same for kids,” Sand said.

Sand said he has discussed with his two sons, ages 9 and 12, how their classmates may be struggling in school if they are hungry or if they have other challenges at home.

“I don’t want my boys to be hangry in school, and I don’t want the other kids that are in the class with them to be hangry either because that’s going to disrupt everyone’s experience,” Sand said.

Sand said it would be possible to fund a free school breakfast and lunch program by pulling additional federal dollars from national assistance programs in which “other states are chipping in.”

“There’s always the statement, ‘There is no such thing as a free lunch,’ and I say you have a point, but this lunch is on sale,” Sand said, referencing the quote attributed to free-market economist Milton Friedman.