US midterm elections 2026: When polls open and close, and the key races to watch

More than 230 million eligible voters across the United States can head to the polls on Tuesday to decide who will represent them in Congress, with control of both chambers hanging in the balance.

All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are being contested, along with 35 of the 100 seats in the Senate. Voters in 36 states will also elect governors. Republicans currently hold both chambers of Congress.

Voting hours are determined and set by each state, so opening times differ across the country. The first polls are set to open in Vermont at 5am (10:00 GMT). Voting in New Jersey, Virginia, Connecticut and Kentucky will start at 6am (11:00 GMT).

In Georgia, Florida, Pennsylvania and New York, voting will start between 6am (11:00 GMT) and 7am (12:00 GMT), while Ohio and North Carolina will see voting begin at 6:30am (11:30 GMT). In Michigan, polls will open at 7am (12:00 GMT).

Polls close in waves as the evening unfolds. The earliest closures come at 6pm (23:00 GMT) in Indiana and Kentucky. Voting in Michigan closes at 8pm local time and in Kansas at 7pm local time, both equivalent to 01:00 GMT on Wednesday, while polls in Iowa close at 8pm (02:00 GMT on Wednesday). Alaska is the last state to finish, wrapping up at around 1am Eastern Time (06:00 GMT) on Wednesday.

The first results could start arriving on Tuesday as polls begin to close, with more coming in through the evening and some on Wednesday as additional states finish voting and officials release their counts. Early figures, however, will not necessarily mean a winner has been announced. Election officials release vote counts as ballots are processed, while news organisations such as the Associated Press analyse the results and determine when a race can be called. Closely contested races could take hours, or even days, to settle, so it may not be immediately clear which party will control Congress.

Voters can cast their ballots by mail, early, or in person on election day. Many mail, provisional and other ballots are counted after election night, which is why final tallies can take a few days, or even weeks, to complete.

The stakes are finely poised. Senate Democrats need a net gain of four seats to reach a majority, while House Democrats need three seats to take control of that chamber.

Several races are drawing particular attention as the two parties go head-to-head. In Michigan, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers are locked in a closely watched contest after Democratic Representative Haley Stevens decided to endorse Rogers on Sunday. In Florida, Democrat Angie Nixon is challenging Republican Senator Ashley Moody, and in Georgia, Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff faces Republican Mike Collins.

Elsewhere, Republican Senator Susan Collins is up against Democrat Troy Jackson in Maine. In New Hampshire, Democratic Representative Chris Pappas is on the ballot against Republican John Sununu, a former senator. And in North Carolina, voters will choose between Democrat Roy Cooper and Republican Michael Whatley.