2026 Midterm Elections Countdown

The 2026 midterm elections fall on Tuesday, November 3 — Election Day — when every seat in the U.S. House, about a third of the Senate, and most governorships are on the ballot.

How many days until Midterm Election Day 2026?

Midterm Election Day 2026 is on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, which is 86 calendar days away. The live countdown above ticks down to the exact moment, to the second.

See where this falls among everything else — the event calendar.

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Midterm Elections 2026 records

Largest House swing (modern era)2010 — Republicans gained 63 seats, the biggest one-election shift since 1948

Highest midterm turnout in a century2018 — nearly 50% of eligible voters, the highest for a midterm since 1914

First U.S. midterm elections1790 — voters chose the 2nd Congress, just two years after the Constitution was ratified

Rare exception to the patternSince 1900, the president's party has gained U.S. House seats in a midterm only three times — 1934, 1998 and 2002

Register to vote, pick your state

Your vote is your voice, and midterms are decided by who shows up. Registration takes a few minutes, and many states have deadlines weeks before Election Day. Each link below goes to the official vote.gov registration page for that state: check your status, register, or update your address.

What's at stake in a midterm

All 435 House seats and 35 Senate seats (33 regular races plus two special elections) are contested, along with 36 governorships and thousands of state and local offices. Midterms regularly reshape the balance of power in Washington.

Why a Tuesday in November?

An 1845 law set federal elections on 'the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November', late enough for the harvest, early enough to beat winter, and on a day that let rural voters travel after Sunday church without conflicting with market Wednesdays.

Midterms that changed the country

Midterm results have repeatedly reshaped Washington: 1994's “Republican Revolution” flipped 54 House seats and delivered the GOP its first House majority in 40 years; 2006 handed Democrats both chambers amid war-weariness; and 2010's “shellacking” swung 63 House seats to Republicans, the largest one-election shift since 1948. Midterms are also historically a referendum on the sitting president — turnout and the national mood in the months before Election Day tend to matter more than any single local race.

Quick facts

Tuesday, November 3, 2026
All 435 House seats and ~1/3 of the Senate on the ballot
36 states elect governors
The Tuesday-after-first-Monday rule dates to 1845

Learn more

Vote.gov (register to vote) USA.gov: voting Wikipedia

Midterm Election Day 2026 — frequently asked questions

When is Midterm Election Day 2026?

Midterm Election Day 2026 is on Tuesday, November 3, 2026.

How many days until Midterm Election Day 2026?

86 calendar days, counting from today: Midterm Election Day 2026 falls on Tuesday, November 3, 2026. The clock at the top of the page counts down to the exact second.

Updated August 2026 · time-and-space.science

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