Election Day 2026 is here. By the end of today (Tuesday, November 3, 2026), the balance of power in Washington is almost certain to have shifted. But the big question is, by how much?
Voting in the 2026 midterm elections across the country is now underway, and most political analysts say it could be a blowout for the Democrats, with polls showing that voters are broadly concerned about the economy—especially inflationary pressures and rising gas prices.
What do the latest polls say?
The latest CNN Poll of Polls shows that 52% of voters prefer Democrats for Congress, compared to 43% preferring Republicans. NBC puts it at 52% for Democrats and 44% for Republicans.
As Axios reports, election forecaster Nate Silver says the Democrats have a 95% probability of winning the House and an 80% probability of winning the Senate. More than just a “blue wave,” Silver says today’s election could be a “blue tsunami.”
What is the makeup of Congress right now?
Currently, the 100 Senate seats are made up of 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats, and 2 Independents (who caucus with the Dems).
The 435 House seats are made up of 218 Republicans, 214 Democrats, and 1 Independent (with two vacancies).
To flip both chambers, the Democrats need to achieve just 218 seats in the House and 51 in the Senate—something polls show is within reach.
However, historically, polling has underrepresented Republican support in some states. A lot of races will also ultimately hinge on voter turnout. That means nothing is certain until every last vote is counted.
How can I track the election results live?
If you want to track the 2026 midterm results as they come in, you can do so online in several ways, including:
- Maps galore: News organizations love to visualize election data, especially using maps. To see individual states turn blue or red for their open House and Senate seats tonight, you can follow along online with interactive maps from the Associated Press, Bloomberg, CNN, Fox News, and 270toWin.
- YouTube: Cord-cutters may still prefer live broadcast coverage of election results, and for them, YouTube is a great option. Several major news outlets will be streaming their election coverage live this evening, including ABC News, CBS News, Fox News, and PBS NewsHour.
- Google: If you don’t feel like watching talking heads or seeing maps slowly turn blue or red, and instead just want a quick update, Google is your friend. The search giant usually embeds the latest election results at the top of search result pages when you type in related queries like “election results” or “Midterm results.”
- iPhone: Apple’s iPhone supports Live Activities—widgets that live on your home and lock screen that update in real time. Today, Apple’s News app lets people opt in to display real-time election results on their screen—no manual action required to see the latest results. To enable the Live Activity election widget, open the News app, then tap the “Follow the 2026 midterms live” banner at the top of the screen.
Polls begin to close at 6 p.m. ET tonight, so you can expect to see the first results shortly after.
However, if you do plan on watching all the results, you could be in for a late night. The final polls in the country—those in Alaska—don’t close until 1 a.m. ET.
