The 2026 midterm campaign is entering its last stretch, with control of Congress still genuinely up for grabs.
Election day is November 3, when all 435 seats in the House of Representatives, 35 of the 100 Senate seats, and 39 governorships will be decided. The outcome will shape the final two years of President Trump's second term and determine the makeup of the 120th Congress. Senate Republicans currently hold the majority, and party leaders have been candid about where the fight will be won or lost: Senator Tim Scott, who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, has named Maine, Iowa, Alaska, and Ohio as the four states most likely to decide whether the GOP keeps control.
Maine has emerged as one of the most closely watched races in the country. Senator Susan Collins, the Republican incumbent, and Democratic challenger Troy Jackson debated this week in Bangor. Third quarter fundraising reports filed with the Federal Election Commission showed Jackson, a former state senate president who entered the race in July after the previous Democratic nominee's campaign ended, raised twenty point four million dollars, nearly four times what Collins brought in over the same period. In Georgia, Republican Representative Mike Collins has also posted comparatively weak fundraising numbers, a signal that has unsettled some in the party. In Texas, traditionally a reliable Republican state, the Senate race has drawn unusual national attention, with Democratic nominee James Talarico running a competitive campaign.
Money is flowing heavily into these contests. Elon Musk's America PAC has contributed roughly two hundred seventy six million dollars to Republican super PACs and allied groups over the past three months, including ten million dollars to a PAC supporting Republicans in Texas. At the same time, a Fox News poll found that cost of living concerns are weighing on Republican prospects nationally, a reminder that economic sentiment, more than any single endorsement or ad buy, tends to move midterm elections.
Watch for additional fundraising disclosures, debate performances in Ohio, Iowa, and Alaska, and whether cost of living remains the dominant issue through election day on November 3.
How many Senate seats are up this year?
Thirty five of the 100 Senate seats are being contested, made up of 33 regular Class II seats plus two special elections.
Why is the Texas Senate race notable?
Texas is traditionally a reliable Republican state, so a competitive Democratic campaign there has drawn significant national attention and spending.