Final Day of Voting in US Midterms: 35 Senate Seats Will Decide Control of Congress

Americans are heading to the polls on Tuesday for the final day of midterm voting. Candidates are making their final appeals to voters in high-stakes House and Senate races that will determine the balance of power in Congress, where Republicans currently control both chambers.

A shift in the balance of power could curb the executive influence of President Donald Trump and could have meaningful implications for domestic and foreign policy amid a generally unpopular US war with Iran, climbing inflation and record high fuel prices that have strained American households.

Thirty-five Senate seats are in play during the 2026 midterms, but the outcome of a few competitive races in both battleground and traditionally Republican states will determine which party will control the upper chamber of Congress next year.

Some of the most competitive and consequential Senate contests are in Michigan, Texas, Alaska, Ohio and Kansas.

Republicans currently hold 53 seats, while Democrats have 45 seats, in addition to independent senators Bernie Sanders and Angus King, who caucus with the Democratic Party, giving them a total of 47.

Democrats need to win four additional seats to shift the balance of power, while Republicans can afford to lose up to three seats and keep the majority, with the tie-breaking vote of Vice President JD Vance.

Leading into the midterms, Trump has not only campaigned for Republican candidates in battleground states like Michigan, Georgia and North Carolina, but has also embarked on a push in more reliably Republican states like Texas, Ohio, South Carolina, Florida, Iowa, Kansas and Mississippi.

Asked about his effort to bolster Mississippi Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, who is defending her seat against Democratic District Attorney Scott Colom, Trump said he 'can't take a chance.'

Michigan's race has been a bitter fight between former Republican representative Mike Rogers and former public health official Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive in a race that has highlighted the divide over US support for Israel.

In Texas, the last time a Democrat won a US Senate election was in 1988. State Attorney General Ken Paxton is running a close race against Democrat James Talarico, a former state representative and Presbyterian seminarian.

In Alaska, incumbent Republican Dan Sullivan is running against former Democratic Representative Mary Peltola. In Maine, longtime Republican Senator Susan Collins is defending her seat against Democrat Troy Jackson. In Ohio, incumbent Republican John Husted and former Senator Sherrod Brown, who lost his 2024 re-election bid, are competing.