Clayton County, Georgia

Kansas House District 19, covering parts of Overland Park, Prairie Village and Leawood in Johnson County, will see a rematch of its 2024 race. Democratic incumbent Stephanie Sawyer Clayton, who has held the seat since 2012 and switched parties from Republican to Democrat in 2018, faces Republican challenger Mark Hermes again after defeating him previously. A win would give Clayton a seventh term. Clayton's platform emphasizes government transparency, education funding, tax relief and reproductive access, while Hermes centers his campaign on judicial accountability, court reform and child welfare policy, including support for electing rather than appointing Kansas judges.

General elections are set for Nov. 3, with most polling locations open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

St. Louis County Executive Sam Page is not seeking reelection, setting up a race between County Assessor Jake Zimmerman, a Democrat, and County Councilman Dennis Hancock, a Republican. Both candidates have pointedly framed the contest as civil and governance-focused, a contrast to recent county political fights.

The race unfolds amid projected county budget deficits of $40 million to $60 million, with Page's proposed nearly $930 million operating budget including a roughly 7% spending cut. Zimmerman argues the deeper problem is administrative dysfunction between county leadership and the council, while Hancock blames poor fiscal management rather than genuine crisis. The two diverge on economic development and regional cooperation: Zimmerman favors strict clean-energy mandates for data centers and exploring shared services like 911 dispatch, while Hancock wants to streamline permitting to match neighboring counties. A Hancock win would return Republicans to the county executive post for the first time since Gene McNary left office roughly 37 years ago.

Early voting opened in Georgia for the 2026 midterm election, running through Oct. 30, with Oct. 23 as the deadline to request an absentee ballot. Nearly every major statewide office is open, with new officeholders guaranteed in most races. The headline contest pits Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms against Republican Rick Jackson for governor, while incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff faces Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Collins in a closely watched Senate race.

Down-ballot races include lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, agriculture, insurance and labor commissioner, plus two Public Service Commission seats, congressional and legislative contests. Voters will also decide three constitutional amendments covering conservation-use acreage limits, nonpartisan election of probate judges, and dedicated funding for 911 systems. Turnout data is tracked through the secretary of state's Election Data Hub. The races carry significant implications for prediction markets given Georgia's status as a key battleground state.

The race for Texas Agriculture Commissioner has turned contentious after Democratic candidate Clayton Tucker's attorneys sent a letter to the state GOP asking party leadership to declare Republican opponent Nate Sheets ineligible. Texas law requires candidates to have spent five of the last 10 years engaged in agriculture, agricultural government work, or operating a qualifying farm or ranch. Tucker's team argues Sheets' Honey Rock Ranch has been owned only four years, is held by an LLC rather than Sheets personally, and that his honey business doesn't count as producing crops or livestock.

Sheets dismissed the challenge as a "last-ditch" move by a losing campaign, and his team countered that Tucker himself is unqualified, pointing to financial disclosures and LinkedIn records showing Tucker's career has been in political organizing rather than farming or ranching. Tucker maintains he grew up in agriculture and calls it his life's work. The Texas GOP has been given three business days to respond publicly. Republicans have held the office since the 1990s, and outgoing Commissioner Sid Miller has predicted Republicans could lose it amid data center and THC policy fallout.

The 2026 race for Texas Agriculture Commissioner features Republican Nate Sheets against Democrat Clayton Tucker, along with Libertarian candidate Kelly. Incumbent Sid Miller lost his primary bid to Sheets, a businessman and co-founder of Nature Nate's Honey who is backed by Gov. Greg Abbott and other prominent Texas Republicans. Sheets identifies with the MAHA movement and has focused his platform on clean food production, curbing tax breaks for data centers, rural economic development and stricter employment verification requirements.

Tucker, a rancher and Texas Farmers Union secretary with a background in trade justice advocacy, ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. Her platform emphasizes protecting family farms from data center expansion, lowering food costs, regulating chemicals like PFAS, and expanding hemp farming and agricultural co-ops. Libertarian candidate Kelly, an ecology consultant and lecturer, calls for cutting regulations, auditing the agriculture department and protecting property rights. The office oversees agribusiness regulation, rural economic development and disaster relief for the state's roughly 230,000 farms.

Texas voters will choose a new agriculture commissioner in 2026 after incumbent Sid Miller lost his Republican primary to Nate Sheets, a honey-business owner backed by Gov. Greg Abbott. Sheets faces Democratic nominee Clayton Tucker, a longtime party campaign organizer with no primary opposition, and Libertarian candidate Austin R. Kelly in the general election.

The office oversees the Texas Department of Agriculture, which regulates cattle, grain, pesticides, hemp and organic operations, administers the National School Lunch Program, and supports rural economic development and disaster relief. Sheets has raised significantly more money than Tucker, drawing large donations from Abbott-aligned PACs, the Texas Farm Bureau and individual businessmen. Tucker's funding includes a notable contribution from musician Don Henley. Kelly's campaign has raised minimal funds. With agriculture as Texas' second-largest industry and the state a top national exporter, the race carries stakes for farmers and ranchers navigating climate pressures, labor shortages and supply chain issues.

Sid Miller's primary loss sets up a Sheets-Tucker-Kelly race for Texas agriculture commissioner in 2026.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom campaigned with North Carolina Democrats in Charlotte and Monroe over Labor Day weekend, part of a four-day "Take It Back" tour through Alabama, South Carolina and North Carolina focused on voting rights, redistricting and civil rights. In Charlotte, Newsom joined volunteers canvassing for U.S. Senate candidate Roy Cooper, state Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls and other Democratic candidates. He then traveled to Monroe, more heavily Republican territory, for a rally with state party chair Anderson Clayton and other candidates.

Monroe's Republican mayor, Robert Burns, publicly framed the visit as proof the town and state have become politically significant, warning Democrats they "should be worried." The tour follows an earlier Newsom stop in Rock Hill, South Carolina, tied to his memoir, which fueled ongoing speculation about a potential 2028 Democratic presidential bid. His visits add a prominent national figure to a competitive midterm cycle in the Carolinas.

South Carolina Republicans returned to the polls Tuesday to pick a nominee for the Senate seat long held by the late Lindsey Graham, who died in July after winning renomination in June. Sen. Darline Graham, appointed to fill her brother's term and backed by President Trump and Sen. Tim Scott, faced Rep. Ralph Norman in a runoff after neither cleared a majority in the Aug. 11 primary; third-place finisher Rep. Russell Fry endorsed Graham. The winner faces Democrat Annie Andrews in the fall.

In Georgia's 13th Congressional District near Atlanta, Democrats Everton Blair and Marcye Scott, daughter of late Rep. David Scott, competed in a runoff to serve the remainder of Scott's term after topping a five-candidate field in July. Neither is seeking the full term beginning in 2027; that contest will pit Democratic state Rep. Jasmine Clark against Republican Jonathan Chavez in November. Both races drew attention as tests of turnout and party strength ahead of the 2026 midterms, now 70 days off.