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

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.

President Donald Trump alluded to the likelihood that the Iran war will resume in earnest after next week’s midterm elections.

“You’ll see Iran in a couple of weeks, if you don’t mind,” Trump told a crowd on Tuesday during a rally in Lubbock, Texas.

Trump has used the campaign trail to defend the Iran war, contending Tehran’s regime cannot have a nuclear weapon.

At the same time, he has argued that gas prices, a midterm election pressure point, will drop precipitously once the war has ended, announcing on Tuesday he is terminating former President Joe Biden‘s “expensive and unnecessary methane regulations to save consumers and energy producers.”

Trump was accompanied to Texas by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a rare campaign appearance from the country’s top diplomat to coincide with the arrival of an oil tanker carrying 1 million barrels of heavy Venezuelan crude oil, part of a bilateral energy agreement reached after the United States captured deposed leader Nicolas Maduro.

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The debate between Rep. Zach Nunn (R-IA) and Democratic state Rep. Sarah Trone Garriott traded jabs with one another during their last debate before Election Day over each other’s attack ads.

Trone Garriott accused Nunn multiple times of not voting to release the names of the perpetrators in the Epstein files, saying, “He took $50,000 from people named in the Epstein files and then he voted twice not to release those files.”

Nunn clarified that he did not support the original versions of the Epstein files release, which would have made the identities of the victims public rather than just the perpetrators.

“I want to make sure Jeffrey Epstein and all of his accomplices are held fully accountable,” Nunn said. “He’s a disgusting human being, and we’ve been able to lead that legislation here in Iowa. Simply opening up and making the files transparent for the victims — their names, their addresses, their background —that’s not fair to the victims.”

Nunn attacked Trone Garriott in turn, saying she supports biological men in women’s and girls’ sports and teaching transgender ideology to elementary school children.

“Here’s the reality: I haven’t found a kindergarten teacher in America that wants to teach the curriculum she would dictate upon us,” Nunn said.

Rep. Zach Nunn (R-IA) said during the debate on Tuesday night against Democratic state Rep. Sarah Trone Garriott that Iowa has “paid a disproportionately high price” for the war in Iran.

Nunn, running for reelection to represent southwestern Iowa, referenced the six Iowa residents killed in the conflict in Iran as well as two Iowans killed last year in a terrorist attack that the congressman said was likely funded by Iran.

“We owe it to them to be able to provide a battle plan on how to protect our country and what this looks like going forward,” Nunn said, adding that he has supported increasing sanctions on Iran.

Trone Garriott said the conflict needs “better leadership in the Department of Defense” by impeaching War Secretary Pete Hegseth.

“He does not have the experience,” she said. “He is not accomplishing the goal, and we need someone who understands what global conflict means and how to bring this home so we can achieve our goals and bring stability to the world.”

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) endorsed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, a cross-party backing that could move the needle for the only Democrat on Alaska’s ranked choice ballot.

Murkowski released an email statement in which she urged voters to set partisan politics aside and support Kreiss-Tomkins, colloquially known as JKT, and his running mate, Anchorage Assemblyman Zac Johnson, an independent.

“Our future is too important to be hamstrung by partisan divisions,” Murkowski said. “Jonathan understands that governing requires listening to people with different perspectives and finding common ground to solve the problems all of us face.”

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Iowa Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand promised to veto any further restrictions on abortion passed by the state legislature if he is elected governor.

Iowa currently has a prohibition on elective abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, at which point a heartbeat is usually detectable via ultrasound.

Sand throughout the campaign has promised to veto any so-called culture war bills passed by the Republican-led legislature. When asked by the moderators during the final Iowa gubernatorial debate, Sand cited abortion as a prime example of a culture war issue.

“We now have a six-week ban. It’s incredibly restrictive,” Sand said. “I do not think that we need to go further, but a lot of the folks in the legislature said when that ban became law that they want to go further. I would veto going further.”

Sand has been criticized on the campaign trail by anti-abortion advocates for citing biblical passages that support the claim that life begins at “first breath” rather than conception.

GOP candidate Zach Lahn said that he would take action on certain culture war issues, such as protecting women’s sports and private spaces, banning certain books related to transgenderism from schools, and safeguarding unborn life.

“I believe that the most vulnerable people in our society need to be protected. That’s the lives of the unborn. That’s our daughters. That’s the young kids in school,” Lahn said.

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.

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.