Americans have already cast more than 50 million early votes. Tonight, the rest of the country decides — and by the time the last polls close in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands at 1 a.m. Eastern, we will likely know who controls the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House for the final two years of President Trump’s term.
This page is Pixlehale’s live record of the night. We will update it in waves as polls close across the country, reporting only races that the Associated Press or Decision Desk HQ have actually called. Anything still counting will be labeled exactly that — too early to call. No spin, no premature victory laps: just the results as they become real, in the order they arrive.
What’s at stake
The Senate begins the night at 53 Republicans and 47 Democrats, with 35 seats on the ballot. Democrats need a net gain of four seats to take the chamber outright; a gain of three produces a 50–50 Senate in which Vice President JD Vance’s tie-breaking vote keeps Republicans in control. Seven races were rated true toss-ups by the Cook Political Report: Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Ohio’s special election, and Texas. In practice, Senate control probably runs through some combination of those seven.
In the House, all 435 seats are up, Republicans are defending a narrow majority, and forecast models give Democrats a strong chance of flipping the chamber — though the final answer depends heavily on late-counting races in California and the West. Thirty-six governorships are also on the ballot, along with ballot measures across the country.
How the night unfolds
Election results do not arrive all at once; they arrive in waves, as polls close state by state. All times below are Eastern:
- 6 p.m. — The first closings: eastern Indiana and Kentucky. Early numbers, small samples — treat them as weather vanes, not verdicts.
- 7 p.m. — Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, Vermont, most of Florida, and the rest of Indiana and Kentucky. Georgia’s Senate race is the headline here.
- 7:30 p.m. — North Carolina, Ohio, and West Virginia. Ohio’s special election — former Senator Sherrod Brown trying to reclaim a seat against Senator Jon Husted — is one of the night’s pivotal contests.
- 8 p.m. — The big wave. Michigan, Maine, Texas, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Illinois, New Jersey, and more close together. This is the hour the Senate map starts to take shape — and the hour our Michigan cover story gets its ending.
- 9 p.m. — Iowa, Minnesota, New York, Wisconsin, Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska, and the last precincts in Michigan and Texas. Iowa’s open-seat race is a genuine toss-up.
- 10 p.m. — Nevada, Montana, Utah, and most of Idaho.
- 11 p.m. — California, Oregon, and Washington. House control may not be knowable until this wave reports.
- Midnight and beyond — Hawaii and Alaska, where Senator Dan Sullivan faces Mary Peltola in another true toss-up. The Aleutian Islands close at 1 a.m.
The races we are watching closest
Michigan (polls close 8 p.m., final precincts 9 p.m.) — Democrat Abdul El-Sayed against Republican Mike Rogers for an open seat, in the race this site has covered most closely. A final New York Times/Siena poll put El-Sayed ahead 53% to 42%, and prediction markets moved sharply toward him in the final week after Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens’s surprise endorsement of Rogers scrambled the race’s final days. Our full analysis: “What Does Haley Stevens Gain? The Endorsement That Only Helps Mike Rogers.”
Ohio (7:30 p.m.) — The special election for Vice President Vance’s old seat: Husted, the appointed incumbent, against Brown, a three-term senator attempting a comeback. Polling gave Brown a narrow edge.
Texas (8 p.m., final precincts 9 p.m.) — Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton against Democrat James Talarico. Democrats have not won statewide in Texas in more than three decades; a competitive finish here reshapes both parties’ maps.
Maine (8 p.m.) — Republican Senator Susan Collins, seeking a sixth term, against Democrat Troy Jackson, who leaned into the race late and led in final polling.
Kansas (8 p.m., western counties 9 p.m.) — Republican Senator Roger Marshall against Democrat Adam Hamilton. Democrats have not won a Kansas Senate race since 1932; Hamilton’s late surge made this a real contest.
Iowa (9 p.m.) — An open seat: Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson against Democrat Josh Turek, a former Paralympic medalist. Rated a near coin-flip in final markets.
Alaska (midnight) — Republican Senator Dan Sullivan against former Rep. Mary Peltola, in a four-candidate field complicated by a second candidate also named Dan Sullivan. If the Senate is still undecided at midnight, it may be decided here.
Also on the board: Georgia, where Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff is favored against Rep. Mike Collins; North Carolina, where former Governor Roy Cooper led final polls for an open seat; Minnesota’s open seat; Florida’s special election; and Nebraska, where independent Dan Osborn is testing whether a non-party candidate can break a Senate map.
Live updates
Results begin with the 6 p.m. wave. Each update below is timestamped; called races are attributed to the Associated Press or Decision Desk HQ.
Sources: Associated Press and Decision Desk HQ race calls (Election Day, Nov. 3, 2026); The Cook Political Report, 2026 Senate ratings (Oct. 30, 2026); New York Times/Siena College, Michigan poll (Oct. 23–Nov. 1, 2026); Kalshi, final 2026 midterm markets (Nov. 2, 2026); University of Florida Election Lab, 2026 early-vote totals; Vanderbilt Report and Political.org, Election Day 2026 race guides (Nov. 3, 2026); The Green Papers, 2026 polling hours.
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