US 2026 Elections: The Senate and Governor Races at Stake on November 3

On November 3, 2026, Americans voted in the midterm elections, renewing Senate seats and governorships in several states.¹ To take back the Senate from the Republicans, the Democrats needed to gain a net four seats.²³ The next day, media projections gave the Democrats control of both the House and the Senate. These are projections, not closed official counts, and for some of the races described here the sources do not yet report the outcome.¹⁴

Which Senate races were at stake?

In Alaska, former Democratic congresswoman Mary Peltola challenged incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan in one of the most closely watched races of the year. In the primary, Peltola won 49.5% of the vote and Sullivan 41.4%.⁵ Peltola was Alaska’s only representative in the House from 2022 to 2025, elected in a special election to succeed Don Young, who died in 2022. Sullivan is serving his second term in the Senate.⁵ The candidates also include independent Daniel J. Sullivan and Republican Gerald Heikes. Alaska Republicans had asked for Daniel J. Sullivan to be removed from the ballot, accusing the Democrats of wanting him to draw votes away from the senator. He, however, won the battle to stay on the ballot.⁵ In Tennessee, Republican Bill Hagerty sought a second term against Democrat Marquita Bradshaw. In Michigan, voters chose for the seat left by Democrat Gary Peters, who is in his second term and chose not to run again. The state was won by Donald Trump in two of his three presidential races.⁶⁷

Which governors were being elected?

In Arizona, Democrat Katie Hobbs, in her first term, faced Republican congressman Andy Biggs, a longtime ally of Trump. In 2022, Hobbs beat Kari Lake by less than one point. Arizona’s is one of five Democratic governorships up for election in states Trump won in 2024.⁸ According to Decision Desk HQ, a company that collects and projects results, Hobbs was projected the winner of a second term.⁹ In Texas, Republican Greg Abbott ran for a fourth term against Democrat Gina Hinojosa, who was neck and neck with him in the polls. Dawn’s text indicates that Hinojosa went on to prevail over a Republican, but the available excerpt breaks off before specifying anything further.¹⁰⁴ In Tennessee, Republican Governor Bill Lee could not run again because of term limits. Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn started as the favorite against Democrat Jerri Green.¹¹

How does voting work in Alaska, and why does it complicate the results?

Alaska uses ranked-choice voting: in the primary, the four candidates with the most votes advance to the general election. In the governor’s race there are therefore four names on the ballot: Republicans Dave Bronson, Treg Taylor and Bernadette Wilson, and Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins. The outgoing governor, Mike Dunleavy, cannot run again.¹²⁵ In the primary, Kreiss-Tomkins won almost 23%. Democrat Tom Begich, at almost 21%, later withdrew. Wilson followed at 10%, Bronson at 8% and Taylor at 7%.¹² The sources consulted do not explain how preferences are counted or when polls close in Alaska. For this reason, it is not possible to say from these materials when a final result will arrive, or what outcome the vote in the state produced.¹²⁵

Why do the results come in waves?

Polls do not all close at the same time. In Texas and Tennessee, closing was set for 8 p.m. EST, Eastern standard time. At 9pm ET (0200 GMT), according to Dawn, the votes were still largely to be counted in most of the decisive House and Senate races.¹⁰¹¹¹ The first projections concerned North Carolina and Georgia. In North Carolina, former governor Roy Cooper beat Republican Michael Whatley and was identified as the first Senate seat taken from the Republicans. In Georgia, Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff was projected the winner. At that point, control of the Senate remained uncertain, with millions of votes still to be counted.¹³

What is confirmed and what is not

The projections cited by Dawn indicate that the Democrats took Senate seats from the Republicans in at least six states, including Texas, Kansas and South Carolina. They also cite North Carolina, Ohio and Iowa. These are assessments by television networks and agencies, not certified results.¹³⁴ For Alaska, Tennessee and Michigan, the sources we have do not report the outcome. Before the vote, a Harvard model gave the Democrats a 96% probability of winning the House and 78% for the Senate: these were estimates, not results.^1251167

This article was written by artificial intelligence from the sources cited, without human review. Automatic newsroom by Redazia.

Sources

Footnotes

1. US midterms: Democrats projected to flip North Carolina Senate seat, hold Georgia, Dawn, 2026-11-04 ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

2. Midterm Election Results (Live Updates): First Polls Close, Forbes · Business, 2026-11-03 ↩

3. Midterm Election Results (Live Updates): Democrat Roy Cooper Wins North Carolina—First Senate Seat Flipped, Forbes · Business, 2026-11-04 ↩ ↩²

4. US midterms: Democrats projected to win Congress in major setback for Trump, Dawn, 2026-11-04 ↩ ↩² ↩³

5. Alaska live results: 2026 Senate election, The Hill, 2026-11-03 ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

6. Tennessee live results: 2026 Senate election, The Hill, 2026-11-03 ↩ ↩²

7. Michigan live results: 2026 Senate election, The Hill, 2026-11-04 ↩ ↩²

8. Arizona live results: 2026 governor’s election, The Hill, 2026-11-03 ↩

9. Democrats hold Arizona governor’s mansion with Hobbs win, The Hill, 2026-11-04 ↩

10. Texas live results: 2026 governor’s election, The Hill, 2026-11-03 ↩ ↩²

11. Tennessee live results: 2026 governor’s election, The Hill, 2026-11-03 ↩ ↩² ↩³

12. Alaska live results: 2026 governor’s election, The Hill, 2026-11-03 ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

13. US midterms: Democrats projected to flip Senate and take full control of Congress, Dawn, 2026-11-04 ↩