Breaking: Election Day is here! Make your selections: Your vote on prices, health care and war

Good morning and welcome to Election Day. Polls are open across the country on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, and every voter has a job to do today. This is the midterm election, halfway through President Donald Trump's second term, and the results will decide who controls Congress for his final two years, according to Ballotpedia. All 435 House seats are on the ballot, along with 35 Senate seats and 36 governorships. If you are not sure where to vote, go to vote.gov or check with your state election office. Poll hours vary by state, and anyone who is in line when the polls close is entitled to vote, so stay in line. Identification rules also vary by state, so check your state's rules before you head out.

The stakes are high for Democrats. Republicans hold 218 House seats to Democrats' 214, with one independent and vacancies, and Democrats need a net gain of just three districts to take the majority, while Republicans can afford to lose no more than two, according to Ballotpedia. In the Senate, Republicans hold 53 seats, Democrats hold 45, and two independents caucus with Democrats. Democrats need a net gain of four seats for a majority there, and Republicans can lose only two. Winners begin six-year Senate terms on January 3, 2027. In the states, Republicans hold 26 governor's offices to Democrats' 24, and Democrats would need a net gain of two governorships for a nationwide majority, a position Republicans have held since 2010.

The mood of the country points to why this day matters so much. The Associated Press describes this election as a referendum on Trump's second term, with voters struggling with high prices and angry over an unpopular war with Iran. AP-NORC polling finds that 35 percent of U.S. adults approve of Trump's job performance, 25 percent approve of his handling of the economy, and about 7 in 10 say the country is heading in the wrong direction. Most respondents blame him for high prices. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries has outlined a 100-day agenda focused on the cost of living and oversight, and if Democrats win even one chamber, investigations and possible impeachment proceedings become likely. Jeffries would be the first Black speaker of the House.

Democratic leaders and voters are framing the day around kitchen-table concerns. "The American people are angry. They want change," Rep. Suzan DelBene, the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said, according to the Associated Press. James Moore, a 57-year-old librarian in Raleigh, North Carolina, told the AP why he cast his ballot: "I'm paying more taxes. I'm paying more for my healthcare. I'm paying more for everything." More than 57 million people had already voted as of Monday, surpassing the early vote of four years ago in many closely watched states, according to the AP.

Democrats face real obstacles. The 2026 elections will likely be the most expensive in history, and Republican committees outraised and outspent Democratic committees, helped by Trump-affiliated groups and Elon Musk, although at the candidate level Democrats outraised their opponents, according to the AP. An AP analysis of AdImpact data found that 88.1 percent of Republican general election television ad spending went to states and districts Trump won in 2024, including more than $850 million spent where he won by 10 points or more. Republicans also tried to beat the midterm pattern, in which a president's party almost always loses seats, through redistricting. Six states, California, Florida, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas, are using new congressional maps after mid-decade redistricting, and Ohio also uses a new map, though new districts in Florida and elsewhere may not vote as drawn.

Here in the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley, the region is at the center of the fight. In Ohio, polls are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. local time. There is no Senate race this year, but the governor's office is an open seat, with Republican Vivek Ramaswamy facing Democrat Amy Acton; the AP reported that Ramaswamy's campaign faced backlash over an ad featuring Acton's estranged mother. In Michigan, polls run from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., and both the Senate and governor's races are open seats. The Senate contest features Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers against Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, and on Sunday El-Sayed's former primary opponent Haley Stevens endorsed Rogers, according to the AP. In Kentucky, polls are open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., with an open Senate seat on the ballot and no governor's race. In West Virginia, polls run from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., where Republican incumbent Shelley Moore Capito is seeking reelection to the Senate and there is no governor's race.

The Senate map stretches well beyond this region. In North Carolina, Democratic former Gov. Roy Cooper faces former Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley for the seat Thom Tillis vacated after clashing with Trump. In Georgia, Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff faces Republican Rep. Mike Collins. In Ohio's special Senate election, Democratic former Sen. Sherrod Brown faces Republican Sen. Jon Husted. In Texas, Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, whom Trump backed over Sen. John Cornyn in the primary, faces Democrat James Talarico. In Maine, Republican Sen. Susan Collins faces Democratic former state Senate President Troy Jackson, and the AP says economic strain and tariffs have made the state competitive. In New Hampshire, Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas faces former Republican Sen. John E. Sununu for the seat Jeanne Shaheen is leaving. Race ratings as of October 27 from Cook, Decision Desk, Inside Elections and Sabato show Maine as a toss-up on all four, with Iowa, Kansas, Alaska and Michigan ranging from toss-up to leaning toward one party, and Georgia leaning to likely Democratic.

Voters are also choosing governors in 36 states, and Democrats are defending five governorships in states Trump won in 2024: Arizona, Kansas, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Republicans are defending two governorships in states Kamala Harris won: New Hampshire and Vermont. In Georgia, Republican health care executive Rick Jackson faces Democratic former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms to succeed Brian Kemp. In Nevada, Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo faces Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford. The AP also calls the governor races in Texas, Florida and Iowa competitive. Democrats hope to hold a majority of governorships for the first time in two decades.

Trump has been active on the trail, holding dozens of rallies and ending Sunday in Salina, Kansas, where he told supporters, "I really want you to pretend I'm on the ballot," according to the AP. His schedule included Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas, and many Republican candidates kept their distance. Republican National Committee Chairman Joe Gruters said, "Everything depends on turnout. If we turn out our voters, we win, and that's what we've been planning for." The AP reports that Republicans were bracing to lose the House and fighting to hold the Senate, with one or two seats potentially tipping either chamber, while Democrats were cautiously optimistic.