There are 17 months until the next major round of national elections in the US – the midterm elections on 3 November 2026. Peter Finn gives an overview of the US electoral calendar up to the 2026 midterms, including elections for governor in New Jersey and Virginia this November and three upcoming US House special elections. The 2026 midterms will see elections for governor of 36 US states and territories, 21 of which are held by Democrats to Republicans’ 18.

• This article is the first in our new ‘The 2026 Midterms’ series curated by Peter Finn (Kingston University). The series will explore the run up to the 2026 US midterm elections at the state and national level. If you are interested in contributing to the series, contact Peter Finn (finn@kingston.ac.uk).

In late April we passed the hundredth day of Donald Trump’s second presidency, which began on January 20th. Trump’s inauguration was preceded by the convening of the 119th Congress on January 3rd. It is fair to say that the first four months of the 119th Congress have been turbulent politically, with Trump and his allies determined to upend an existing order they see as corrupt and biased against the US. Electorally, there have been two special elections in Florida to fill seats created by members who left to work within the Trump administration.

Taking the convening of the 119th Congress as a starting point, this piece charts the electoral journey to the 2026 midterms, including the upcoming gubernatorial election primaries and then elections themselves in June and on 4 November, the 2026 primaries from winter this year to next summer, and then the 2026 midterms themselves on 3 November 2026.

119th Congress

The 119th Congress currently has a Republican majority in both chambers. In the House of Representatives, Speaker Mike Johnson (LA) has a slender majority of just seven, with the Republicans controlling 220 seats to 212 for the Democratic Party. This majority may be cut further in September and November 2025 when three special elections to replace seats held by Democratic representatives who have recently passed away happen in Virginia, Arizona and Texas. The Democratic caucus in the chamber is led by Hakeem Jeffries (NY). On April 1st, there were two special elections in Florida to replace Matt Gaetz (Florida 1st) and Michael Waltz (Florida 6th), both of whom stepped down to take roles within the incoming Trump administration after winning seats in November 2024. Florida 1st was won by Jimmy Patronis (R), while Florida 6th was won by Randy Fine (R).

In the Senate, Republican Majority Leader John Thune commands a caucus of 53, compared with the 45 Democrats led by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. There are also two independent senators (Angus King and Bernie Sanders) who caucus with the Democrats.

Photo by Gabriel Meinert on Unsplash

2025 Primaries and off year elections

Though most scheduled US elections take place in even years, alongside midterms and presidential elections, some are scheduled to occur in odd years. Known as off year elections, there are two elections for governor and three major mayoral elections set for November 2025. As shown in Table 1, most significantly for national politics, there are gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia. In New Jersey, the current Democrat Governor Phil Murphy, is term limited, as is Virginia’s Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin. In New Jersey, the primary is scheduled for June 10th, with the election itself on November 4th. In Virginia, party primaries are June 17th, with the election also on November 4th.

As I previously wrote, the contests in both states may serve as bellwethers for the near-term electoral future of the Democratic Party: Kamala Harris won New Jersey by five percentage points, down from Joe Biden’s victory margin of nearly 16 percentage points in 2020. In Virginia, meanwhile, the Democrats’ margin similarly fell from over 10 points in 2020 to just over five (over the same period the state also flipped from a Democratic to Republican Governor).

Table 1 – Off year gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia

Sources: Ballotpedia; Ballotpedia 

The 2026 midterms

Hot on the heels of the 2025 off year elections will be the 2026 primary season. As Table 2 shows, this season will run from early 2026 through the height of summer. These primary elections will set the scene for the midterms that occur on November 3. These midterms will see all 435 seats in the House of Representatives up for election, as well as one-third of the US Senate. There will also be almost 40 gubernatorial elections held across US states and territories. Together, these elections will showcase the variety present in the US’s multilevel election system.

As Table 2 shows, of the 33 seats up for election in the Senate, the Democratic party will be defending 13, while the Republican Party are defending 20. Given how early we are in the 119th Congress, it is likely too soon to start discussing which senators in close seats might be most vulnerable. However, of note in the table below is that big names from both parties are up for election. In the Democratic Party, for instance, the seats of Cory Booker and Jon Ossoff in New Jersey and Georgia respectively are both up for re-election. While for Republicans, the seats of Susan Collins and Lindsey Graham in Maine and South Carolina will have elections. Finally, the seat of former Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, who is retiring after the 2026 elections, will, one presumes, likely be the focus of a tough primary within the Republican Party to run for the seat of one of the most consequential lawmakers of recent decades.

Table 2 – 2026 Senate elections by party

Sources: 270toWin; Ballotpedia; Senate

Finally, there are 39 gubernatorial elections occurring at state and territory level alongside the 2026 congressional midterms. As Table 3 shows, there are 36 state gubernatorial elections. The four largest states of California, Florida, New York, and Texas, are all holding elections. Both California and Florida have governors who are term limited, meaning that, irrespective of whether there is a change in party in power, there will be a change of governor. Nationally, of the 39 offices up for election, 16 office holders are term limited. In terms of party division, 21 of the gubernatorial offices up for election are held by Democrats, while 18 are held by Republicans.

Table 3 – 2026 state and territory gubernatorial elections

Sources: Ballotpedia; Ballotpedia; Ballotpedia; Ballotpedia; Ballotpedia; Ballotpedia; Ballotpedia

There is clearly a lot of politicking and partisanship to occur between now and the 2026 midterms. However, the details of the midterms highlighted above illustrate that they will be significant at both a national and state level. Nationally, they will determine the extent to which Trump is able to wield power within the federal government in his final two years as president. Moreover, as Table 3 shows, there will be significant churn in governorships at a state level.

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• Note: This article gives the views of the author, and not the position of USAPP – American Politics and Policy, nor the London School of Economics.