November 3, 2026
The midterm congressional elections began in the United States today, Tuesday, at a very sensitive political stage that is not only limited to drawing the balance of legislative power, but is also considered a direct test of the popularity of President Donald Trump and the performance of his administration in his second term.
Polling centers have gradually opened their doors in the states of the East Coast, including New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Connecticut, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, and New Hampshire, amid variations in voting start dates from one state to another, and even between different regions within a single state.
The elections are taking place in a stressful internal climate dominated by popular dissatisfaction with rising prices and costs of living, and the repercussions of the war with Iran. These are factors that pushed the entitlement to turn into a practical referendum on Trump’s policies and the Republican Party’s ability to maintain the majority in Congress.
In this context, the Democratic Party is counting on exploiting the state of economic discontent and what it describes as the administration’s failure to fulfill promises to reduce the cost of living, to achieve gains that allow it to regain control of the House of Representatives or the Senate, or both.
For its part, the Republican Party is relying on its financial superiority in financing election campaigns and its ability to mobilize its voter base, in efforts to limit potential losses, in light of growing fears of losing control of the House of Representatives and a very complex battle to retain the majority in the Senate.
The competition map shows a strong convergence. Democrats need to win three additional seats to seize the majority in the House of Representatives, and a net four seats to control the Senate, amid tight races in states considered traditional Republican strongholds.
Tuesday’s due date includes the renewal of all seats in the House of Representatives (435 seats) and about a third of the seats in the Senate, giving the results the ability to reshape the entire American political scene during the second half of Trump’s term.
Although the Democrats’ chances in the Senate seemed limited at the beginning of the election campaigns, subsequent opinion polls proved the intensity of the competition in Republican states such as Texas and Kansas, which revived the possibilities of changing the partisan map for the majority.
As voters begin to flock to the polls, political circles await the results, which will not only determine the identity of those in control of Congress, but will also determine the extent of political influence available to President Trump in the remainder of his second term, amid a heavy legacy of internal and external challenges.
