2020 United States census

Tennessee and Michigan voters head to the polls to elect new governors, U.S. senators and other officials. In Tennessee, term-limited Gov. Bill Lee's seat is contested by Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn and Democrat Jerri Green, either of whom would be the state's first woman governor; a new GOP-drawn congressional map, which split Memphis among three districts, also faces its first test. Tennessee's Senate race pits Bill Hagerty against Marquita Bradshaw, with three constitutional amendments also on the ballot. In Michigan, Democrat Jocelyn Benson faces Republican John James for governor, while Abdul El-Sayed and Mike Rogers compete for an open U.S. Senate seat left by retiring Sen. Gary Peters, with control of the chamber at stake. Michigan voters also decide attorney general, secretary of state, all 13 U.S. House seats, the Legislature, and two statewide ballot proposals: one on whether to hold a constitutional convention, and one restricting campaign contributions from utilities and large government contractors.

Connecticut, choosing its governor the same day, also has several competitive state legislative races that could reshape the General Assembly. Open Senate seats are being decided in Fairfield County and Greenwich following retirements, while closely watched contests in southeastern and central Connecticut, including rematches and districts narrowly decided in 2024, will help determine partisan control of the chamber.

Massachusetts voters also decide whether to reelect a full slate of Democratic incumbents, including Gov. Maura Healey, who faces Republican Mike Minogue and independent Andrea James, and Sen. Ed Markey, seeking a third term against Republican John Deaton and other challengers. Also on the ballot are U.S. House races, state legislative seats, district attorney contests in Bristol and Norfolk counties, and nine statewide ballot measures.

South Carolina also held statewide elections the same day, with contested races for governor, lieutenant governor and other executive offices. The U.S. Senate seat formerly held by Lindsey Graham is contested by his sister, Republican Darline Graham, and Democrat Annie Andrews, while Republican Rep. Joe Wilson faces Democrat Zyon Khalifa for his U.S. House seat. More than 1 million South Carolinians voted early, surpassing the prior midterm record.

Kentucky voters also cast ballots for all 100 state House seats and half of the 38 state Senate seats, as Republicans defend their supermajority in Frankfort. Closely watched Louisville-area contests include Senate District 6, where GOP Sen. Lindsey Tichenor faces Democrat Christian Furman, and House District 38, a rematch between Democratic Rep. Rachel Roarx and Republican Carrie Sanders McKeehan after a narrow 2024 result. Other key races include Senate District 26, where Democratic Sen. Karen Berg faces Republican Everett Corley, and House District 48, pitting Republican Rep. Ken Fleming against Democrat Suhas Kulkarni, with Medicaid policy a central issue.

Twelve U.S. House seats covering the Dallas-Fort Worth area are on the Nov. 3 midterm ballot, with early voting running Oct. 19-30. Most races feature Republican incumbents—Keith Self, Pat Fallon, Lance Gooden, Jake Ellzey, Craig Goldman, Ronny Jackson, Beth Van Duyne and Roger Williams—facing Democratic challengers, plus a Libertarian in District 26. Three open seats stand out: District 30, vacated by Jasmine Crockett after her Senate run; and Districts 32 and 33, left open by Julie Johnson and Marc Veasey, respectively, after mid-decade redistricting reshaped them from Democratic-leaning to Republican-favored territory. In District 33, Colin Allred faces Patrick David Gillespie. Results are expected after 7 p.m. on Election Day.

Tarrant County, the last large Republican-held county in Texas, has become a focal point of the 2026 midterms as both parties pour resources into the race between Democrat James Talarico and Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton. Democrats narrowly won the county in 2018 and 2020 before Republicans reclaimed it in 2022 and 2024, but a January special-election upset by Democrat Taylor Rehmet reenergized the party ahead of this cycle. Demographic shifts—white residents now under 43% of the population, with Hispanic residents nearly 30%—are fueling projections that Talarico could carry the county by several points.

Tensions have escalated after the GOP-led commissioners court cut polling locations by nearly 30%, a move Democrats call voter suppression and Republicans defend as cost-saving. Ted Cruz rallied Republicans in support of County Judge Tim O'Hare, while Talarico has drawn large crowds with billionaire Mark Cuban and local endorsements crossing party lines. Paxton and allies have spent heavily on ads targeting Talarico, while Democrats emphasize economic frustration and voting-rights concerns as they push to flip a county both sides view as a bellwether for Texas.

Missouri's congressional map dispute continues even after two Supreme Court setbacks for Republicans. Secretary of State Denny Hoskins conceded during a contempt hearing and reverted to the state's 2022 congressional map after the Missouri Supreme Court unanimously found he improperly blocked a citizen referendum, which had gathered roughly 300,000 signatures, to suspend the GOP's 2025 map. That map would have shifted the delegation from 6-2 to 7-1 Republican.

Five Missouri voters have since sued Hoskins, seeking roughly $80 million in damages on behalf of about 162,000 people whose referendum signatures were verified, alleging he violated statutory duties by improperly rejecting the petition and repeatedly directing election authorities to use the invalid 2025 map.

Republicans, including Rep. Bob Onder, Gov. Mike Kehoe, and Hoskins, are still pursuing the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which has expedited briefing ahead of the Sept. 19 overseas ballot deadline. Legal scholars note the Supreme Court's stay effectively controls the outcome regardless of the appeals court's ruling, with broader implications for the 2026 midterm balance of power.

The Missouri Supreme Court unanimously blocked new Republican-drawn congressional districts, backed by Donald Trump, from taking effect in the November election and ordered a statewide referendum on whether to uphold or reject the map. Though used in the August primary, the map cannot be used again unless voters approve it; the 2022 map remains in effect for the midterms otherwise. The court ruled that a constitutional provision allowing referendums on "any act" of the Legislature applies to congressional redistricting, overturning Secretary of State Denny Hoskins' rejection of a petition backed by over 300,000 signatures.

The map had targeted the 5th Congressional District held by Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, stretching it into rural Republican territory. Attorney General Catherine Hanaway and Gov. Mike Kehoe called the ruling an unprecedented constitutional crisis and vowed an immediate appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court; Trump called it a "Dark Day" for Missouri. Hoskins vowed to keep fighting, while Democrats and redistricting advocates celebrated the decision as a rare setback in Trump's nationwide mid-decade redistricting push spanning more than a dozen states ahead of the midterms.

The Missouri Supreme Court has unanimously blocked new Trump-backed congressional districts from being used in the November election, ruling that a referendum petition against the map was valid and must go before voters. The decision means the state's 2020 census-based map stays in effect for 2026, dealing a rare setback to Republicans' national mid-decade redistricting push aimed at flipping an additional U.S. House seat. Attorney General Catherine Hanaway said she would immediately appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, calling the ruling a "constitutional crisis," while Gov. Mike Kehoe and Secretary of State Denny Hoskins also condemned the decision.

The new map, drawn after Trump urged Republicans to redraw districts nationwide, had targeted Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver's Kansas City-based seat. Opponents had gathered over 300,000 signatures for a referendum, which Hoskins rejected—a decision the court overturned. The ruling was one of only a handful nationally to go against Republican redistricting efforts amid a fight that has spread to more than a dozen states.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) won her party's primary in Florida's newly drawn 20th Congressional District, a plurality-Black seat centered on Broward County, after her old 25th District seat was eliminated in Republican-led mid-decade redistricting ordered by Gov. Ron DeSantis. Rather than run in a new, whiter district that favored Trump, she chose to compete in the 20th, drawing criticism from local Black leaders, the Broward Black Democratic Caucus, and Congressional Black Caucus members who saw her candidacy as a threat to Black political representation already weakened by the Supreme Court's rollback of the Voting Rights Act; Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries declined to endorse her.

Wasserman Schultz defeated a divided field of four Black challengers — former Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, rapper Luther "Luke" Campbell, Elijah Manley, and Dale Holness — leaning on seniority, fundraising, and an Appropriations Committee seat while her rivals split the opposing vote. Her win makes her the only white House member representing a plurality or majority-Black district heading into 2027, following the elimination of Rep. Steve Cohen's Memphis district by Tennessee Republicans. The broader Florida redistricting effort cut four Democratic-leaning seats ahead of the midterms.

Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green ruled that Missouri's new, Trump-backed congressional map can be used in November's elections, rejecting a bid by the coalition People Not Politicians to force a statewide referendum on the redrawn districts. Green sided with Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins and GOP officials, finding the state constitution does not extend referendum rights to congressional redistricting and that swapping maps after the August primary would violate federal law. Opponents, including PNP director Richard von Glahn, immediately vowed to appeal to the Missouri Supreme Court, which upheld the map in May without ruling on referendum eligibility. Republicans, including Gov. Mike Kehoe and RNC Chairman Joe Gruters, celebrated the decision.

The map reshapes Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver's Kansas City-based 5th District, pushing roughly 59% of its voters into new, rural Republican-leaning territory, and is expected to shrink Missouri's Democratic House delegation from two seats to one. The push, prompted by Trump's call for GOP-led states to redraw lines ahead of the midterms, has spurred litigation nationwide as Republicans and Democrats race to lock in favorable maps in states including Texas, North Carolina, California, and Utah, with control of the House at stake.