Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2026

« 2025
Election Analysis Hub, 2026
Election analysis
Top 15 elections to watch Municipal partisanship Uncontested elections Competitiveness reports: Congress State executives State legislatures
Elections coverage
Election results, 2026 Election previews Congressional elections State government trifectas State legislatures State executives Governors Municipal elections Mayoral elections

Thousands of elections are taking place in 2026 across the United States, including primary and general elections at the federal, state, and local levels. These include elections for all 435 seats in the U.S. House, 33 of the 100 seats in the U.S. Senate, and 36 of 50 state governorships.

This page presents Ballotpedia's ongoing research and curation on 2026 elections in the United States, including:

• Coverage of U.S. Senate and U.S. House elections
• Coverage of state elections, including gubernatorial and state legislative races
• Coverage of local elections, including mayoral and other municipal elections
• Coverage of statewide ballot measures

The content on this page is organized by level of government (federal, state, local) and then by office type within those levels.

To review a previous year's version of this page, click one of these links: 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025.

Federal politics[edit]

United States House of Representatives[edit]

See also: United States House of Representatives elections, 2026

Elections to the U.S. House will be held on November 3, 2026. The seats of all 435 representatives will be up for election. The seats of the six non-voting members of the U.S. House will be up for election as well.

As a result of the 2024 elections, Republicans maintained a majority in the chamber, winning 220 seats to Democrats' 215.^[1]

The partisan breakdown in the U.S. House before and after the election is as follows:

Featured analysis (from 2024)[edit]

• Congressional margin of victory analysis: An electoral margin of victory (MOV) is the difference between the share of votes cast for the winning candidate and the runner-up in a single-seat election. In a multi-seat race, the MOV is the difference between the vote share received by the bottom-placing winning candidate and the top-placing losing candidate. Margins of victory can be used to measure electoral competitiveness, political party or candidate strength, and, indirectly, the popularity of a particular policy or set of policies.
• Rematches in 2024 general elections: An election rematch occurs when the same candidates run against each other in consecutive election cycles. In the 2024 general election, 536 elections in Ballotpedia's coverage scope were rematches for single-seat offices between the same candidates who ran in 2022. Additionally, 69 elections in 2024 were rematches for single-seat offices between the same candidates who ran in 2020.^[2]

More related analysis[edit]

Tap the box below to show more analysis articles related to the 2026 U.S. House of Representatives elections.

United States Senate[edit]

See also: United States Senate elections, 2026

Elections to the U.S. Senate will happen on November 3, 2026. Thirty-three of the 100 seats in the chamber are up for election and another two seats are up for special election.

Of the 33 regularly scheduled general elections in 2026, Democrats control 13 and Republicans control 20.

Looking ahead at the 2026 general elections, Democrats need to gain a net of four seats to win a majority in the chamber. Meanwhile, Republicans can only lose two seats and retain a majority in the chamber.

As a result of the 2024 general elections, Republicans won a 53-45 majority in the chamber. Additionally, two independents caucus with the Democrats. Heading into the 2024 general election, Democrats had a 47-49 majority with four independents. Three of those independents caucused with the Democrats, and one other counted towards the Democratic majority for committee purposes.

Democrats could not lose any seats and retain a majority in the chamber. Meanwhile, Republicans needed to gain a net of two seats and retain a majority in the chamber. In the 2024 general elections, Republicans gained a net of four seats.

Four incumbents—all Democrats—lost re-election in the general elections in 2024.

Democrats are defending two seats in states that Donald Trump (R) won in the 2024 presidential election. Those states are Georgia and Michigan. Republicans are defending one seat in a state that Kamala Harris (D) won in the 2024 presidential election. That state is Maine.

As of November 29, 2025, eight U.S. Senate incumbents—four Democrats and four Republicans—are not running for re-election in 2026.

Two special elections will also happen on November 3, 2026. One special election is to fill the last two years of the six-year term that Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) was elected to in 2022. The other special election is to fill the last two years of the six-year term that J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) was elected to in 2022.

Those elected to the U.S. Senate in the regularly scheduled elections on November 3, 2026, will begin their six-year terms on January 3, 2027.

The partisan breakdown in the U.S. Senate before and after the election is as follows:

More related analysis[edit]

Tap the box below to show more analysis articles related to the 2026 U.S. Senate elections.

State politics[edit]

State legislative elections[edit]

See also: State legislative elections, 2026

In the 50 states, there are 99 state legislative chambers altogether. Across 46 states, 88 of those chambers are holding regular legislative elections in 2026. The general election for state legislative races is on November 3, 2026.

States are also holding special state legislative elections in 2026 to fill vacant seats. Click here for more.

In the U.S. Territories, five legislative chambers are holding regularly scheduled elections in 2026. Elections will be held for the American Samoa House of Representatives, the Guam Legislature, the Northern Mariana Islands Senate and House of Representatives, and the U.S. Virgin Islands Legislature.

Two state legislative chambers, the Michigan and Minnesota state Houses, changed party control following the 2024 general election. Republicans won control of the Michigan House from Democrats, and secured a tie in the Minnesota House.

There were elections for the members of 85 of the nation's 99 legislative chambers in 2024, representing 5,807 of the country's 7,386 state legislative seats (79%).

As of January 25th, 2026, Republicans controlled 55.12% of all state legislative seats nationally, while Democrats held 43.83%. Republicans held a majority in 57 chambers, and Democrats held the majority in 39 chambers. Two chambers (Alaska House and Alaska Senate) were organized under multipartisan, power-sharing coalitions. One chamber (Minnesota House of Representatives) was split evenly between both parties.

Partisan balance of all 7,386 state legislative seats
Legislative chamber			Other	Vacant
State senates	836	1,119	6	12
State houses	2,401	2,952	20	40
Total:	3,237	4,071	26	52

More related analysis[edit]

Tap the box below to show more analysis articles related to the 2026 state legislative elections.

State executive elections[edit]

See also: State executive official elections, 2026

State executive offices up for election in 2026 include 36 gubernatorial seats, 31 lieutenant gubernatorial seats, 30 attorney general seats, and 26 secretary of state seats. Including down-ballot races, there are 300 state executive offices up for election across 43 states in 2026.^[4]

Heading into the 2026 elections, the partisan balance of state executive officials nationally is as follows:

• 24 Democratic governors and 26 Republican governors
• 21 Democratic lieutenant governors and 24
• 22 Democratic attorneys general, 27 Republican attorneys general, one nonpartisan attorney general
• 22 Democratic secretaries of state 25 Republican secretaries of state

State executives act in many capacities according to the powers granted to them by their state constitutions. They are also charged with implementing and enforcing laws made by state legislatures. There are 748 executive seats spread across 13 distinct types of offices in the United States.^[5] Of the 13 executive offices, only seven exist in all 50 states: governor, attorney general, superintendent of schools, insurance commissioner, agriculture commissioner, labor commissioner, and public service commissioner.

State executive offices up for election in 2025 included two gubernatorial seats, two lieutenant gubernatorial seats, and one attorney general seat. Including down-ballot races, there were eight state executive seats up for election across four states in 2025.^[6]

State executive offices up for election in 2024 included 11 gubernatorial seats, nine lieutenant gubernatorial seats, 10 attorney general seats, and seven secretary of state seats. Including down-ballot races, there were 167 state executive seats up for election across 30 states in 2024.

More related analysis[edit]

Tap the box below to show more analysis articles related to the 2026 state executive elections.

State judicial elections[edit]

See also: State judicial elections, 2026

A total of 303 appellate court seats are up for election in 2026. The seats include:

• 65 supreme court seats
• 238 intermediate appellate court seats

More related analysis[edit]

Tap the box below to show more analysis articles related to the 2026 state judicial elections.

Local elections[edit]

See also: United States municipal elections, 2026

This section will contain links to all local elections elections covered on Ballotpedia in 2026, including municipal elections, school board elections, local trial court judicial elections, and local ballot measure elections. More information will be added to this page as it becomes available.

Ballotpedia's coverage scope for municipal elections includes elections on the ballot in the 100 largest U.S. cities by population, as well as elections for mayors, city council members, and district attorneys in each state capital.

Throughout 2026, Ballotpedia is providing comprehensive local election coverage in 31 states. Use the links below to navigate to pages for each of these states, which contain additional links to specific counties.

Arkansas • Arizona • California • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Hawaii • Idaho • Iowa • Illinois • Indiana • Kentucky • Maine • Michigan • Minnesota • Montana • North Carolina • New Mexico • Nevada • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Texas • Virginia • Washington • Wisconsin • Wyoming

More related analysis[edit]

Tap the box below to show more analysis articles related to the 2026 local elections.

Ballot measures[edit]

See also: 2026 ballot measures

As of January 24, 2026, 64 statewide ballot measures were certified for the ballot in 32 states for elections in 2026.

More related analysis[edit]

Tap the box below to show more analysis articles related to the 2026 ballot measures.

Election coverage by state[edit]

Click your state on the map below to navigate to relevant election information.
See also: Elections by state and year.

Election resources[edit]

Footnotes[edit]