Virginia’s 5th Congressional District: 2026 House Race

Early voting has opened in Virginia ahead of the Nov. 3 general election, running through Oct. 31 with a voter registration deadline of Oct. 23. Voters statewide will decide three constitutional amendments covering reproductive rights, marriage equality (protecting gay and interracial marriage), and automatic restoration of voting rights for felons who complete their sentences.

Richmond-area voters will also weigh in on federal races: Sen. Mark Warner seeks a fourth term against Bert Mizusawa, while U.S. House contests include the 1st District (Rob Wittman vs. Shannon Taylor), 4th District (Jennifer McClellan vs. Robert Murray Jr. and Joan Bell), and 5th District (John McGuire vs. Tom Perriello and Cooke Harvey). Richmond and Chesterfield, along with 45 other Virginia localities, will vote on authorizing a local 1% sales tax for school construction, projected to raise roughly $47 million and $70 million annually, respectively. Richmond also holds a special School Board election between incumbent Anne Holton and Jackie McDonnough.

Virginia's 1st and 5th congressional districts have drawn roughly $1.1 million in combined trading on Kalshi and Polymarket, the most activity among the state's House races, as both could factor into control of Congress. In the 5th District, Republican Rep. John McGuire is favored over Democrat Tom Perriello. In the 1st District, Democrat Shannon Taylor is favored to flip the seat held by Republican Rep. Rob Wittman. A third race, the 2nd District rematch between Republican Rep. Jen Kiggans and Democrat Elaine Luria, has also seen heavy betting, with markets strongly favoring Luria.

More broadly, prediction markets favor Democrats to retake the House and give them an edge in the Senate, with over $165 million traded on House control and $99 million on the Senate across both platforms.

Early voting opened Sept. 18 in Virginia ahead of the Nov. 3 election, with voting continuing through Oct. 31 and a voter registration deadline of Oct. 23. Voters statewide will decide three constitutional amendments covering reproductive rights, marriage equality (protecting gay and interracial marriage), and automatic restoration of voting rights for felons who complete their sentences.

Congressional races include Democratic Sen. Mark Warner seeking a fourth term against Republican Bert Mizusawa, plus contests in the 1st District (Rob Wittman vs. Shannon Taylor), 4th District (Jennifer McClellan vs. Robert Murray Jr. and Joan Bell), and 5th District (John McGuire vs. Tom Perriello and Cooke Harvey). Richmond and Chesterfield voters, along with 45 other localities, will also weigh a potential 1% sales tax increase dedicated to school construction, projected to raise roughly $47 million annually in Richmond and up to $70 million in Chesterfield. Local races include a Richmond School Board special election and a contested Chesterfield School Board seat.

Controversy is growing over a series of federally funded advertisements praising President Trump, which critics say amount to taxpayer-financed self-promotion. The Associated Press reported the three ads have cost nearly $1.5 million, with the newest spot closely resembling a 2024 Trump campaign ad. The Wall Street Journal reported the Department of Homeland Security helped finance the spots.

Virginia Democrats have been especially vocal. Sen. Tim Kaine called the ads illegal and said they reflect Trump's sagging popularity amid rising costs tied to tariffs and his handling of conflict with Iran. Rep. Eugene Vindman said Trump is trying to change the subject ahead of the midterms, while former Rep. Tom Perriello, a congressional candidate, criticized Republican rival John McGuire for staying silent. Several Virginia Republicans facing competitive House races did not respond to requests for comment.

The White House defended the ads as public service announcements reminding Americans to "love their country," insisting they are not campaign material since Trump is not on any ballot.

Virginia voters head to the polls Nov. 3 to decide three constitutional amendments — on reproductive rights, marriage equality, and automatic restoration of voting rights for felons after sentence completion — alongside federal races. Sen. Mark Warner seeks a fourth term against Bert Mizusawa, while competitive U.S. House contests play out in the 1st (Wittman vs. Taylor), 4th (McClellan vs. Murray and Bell), and 5th (McGuire vs. Perriello and Harvey) districts. Richmond and Chesterfield voters will also weigh a 1% sales tax increase to fund school construction, alongside 45 other Virginia localities, plus local School Board and Board of Supervisors races. Early voting runs through Oct. 31.

Property records show Democratic candidate LaKesha Womack, who is challenging Republican Rep. Tim Moore in North Carolina's 14th Congressional District, purchased a home in neighboring District 12 this summer while her official voting address — located in District 14 — appears on Zillow as a rental listing. Womack initially agreed to discuss the matter but later canceled the interview and has not responded to further requests for comment.

The Constitution does not require House members to live in the districts they represent, only that they reside in the state, be at least 25 years old, and have held U.S. citizenship for seven years. Still, a WBTV review found two of North Carolina's 14 House members registered to vote outside their districts: Womack and Republican Rep. Brad Knott, whose Raleigh voting address falls in District 2 rather than his District 13. A third representative, Democrat Don Davis, was redrawn out of his old district in last year's redistricting and is now running in a seat reconfigured to favor Republicans.

Early voting opens Oct. 15 and runs through Oct. 31 in North Carolina, a key battleground in the 2025 midterms. The marquee race is the open U.S. Senate seat left by retiring Republican Thom Tillis, pitting Democrat and former Gov. Roy Cooper against Republican Michael Whatley, the Trump-backed former RNC chair, with Green and Libertarian candidates also on the ballot. Democrats are targeting the seat as part of a broader push to flip the four seats needed for Senate control.

The ballot also includes competitive U.S. House races, including Charlotte-area districts held by Reps. Alma Adams, Tim Moore and Mark Harris, plus down-ballot contests for the N.C. Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, state legislature, and Mecklenburg County offices. Voters will also weigh in on constitutional amendments covering voter ID, income tax caps and property tax limits, along with Charlotte bond measures for transportation, housing and neighborhood improvements. Election Day is Nov. 3, with North Carolina's results seen as a bellwether for national party control in Washington.

North Carolina's Republican-majority State Board of Elections approved new mail-in voting restrictions on Sept. 4, hours before counties began mailing absentee ballots for the 2026 midterms. The 3-2 party-line vote requires officials to disqualify ballots returned in unsealed envelopes, reversing a prior policy that treated such errors as non-material, and limits who may submit a ballot on a voter's behalf to close relatives or legal guardians. Gov. Josh Stein criticized the move as a last-minute "circumvention" of the law that could disenfranchise voters. Other states, including Wisconsin, have since begun mailing their own 2026 absentee ballots, with local clerks directing voters to online portals to request, track, and confirm receipt of ballots ahead of the Nov. 3 election.

The rollout continues amid a broader legal fight over President Trump's executive order targeting mail-in voting nationwide, which requires federal approval of ballot envelope designs and voter list submissions. A federal judge has extended an order blocking USPS enforcement of the directive through the November elections, and the Trump administration has again appealed to the Supreme Court to lift the injunction. North Carolina, the first state to send out 2026 absentee ballots, voluntarily submitted its envelope design for federal review while still challenging the order's constitutionality. The absentee request deadline in North Carolina is Oct. 20.

An NRCC ad targeting Jamie Ager, the Democratic candidate in North Carolina's 11th District, highlights a past "kid-friendly" farm festival where drag performers from the Beer City Sisters, including figures using names like "Sister Domina Trix," appeared. Ager's Hickory Nut Gap Farm had publicly thanked the group for attending the 2019 event before later locking the related Facebook post.

Performers and LGBTQ advocates, including Blue Ridge Pride, disputed the ad, with some performers claiming parts of the footage were AI-generated and issuing cease-and-desist demands. The NRCC stands by the ad. The dispute has become a flashpoint in the closely watched race days before the election.