Your Guide to the 2026 Midterm Elections: Know Before You Vote

Midterm elections are where voters pass judgment on the governing party's performance. The 2026 midterms are shaping up to be a significant test — with all 435 House seats and 34 Senate seats on the ballot.

Here's what you need to know.

What's on the Ballot in 2026?

U.S. House of Representatives (all 435 seats) — Every House seat is up every two years. Incumbents running for re-election will be defending their full voting record from the 119th Congress (2025–2026). New candidates will be running on platforms that can now be compared against the votes their party took in Washington.

U.S. Senate (34 of 100 seats) — Senate seats have six-year terms, so roughly one-third are up each election. In 2026, the seats at stake are primarily from the Class 2 Senate cohort. Many of these senators have six-year voting records to scrutinize.

Gubernatorial and state races — Dozens of governor's races and state legislative elections will also be on the ballot, though these don't show up in congressional voting records.

Key Dates to Know

• Primary season: Most states hold congressional primaries from March through August 2026
• General election: Tuesday, November 3, 2026
• Voter registration deadlines: Vary by state — check your state's deadline, typically 15–30 days before election day

How to Research Incumbents: Beyond the Campaign Website

For current members of Congress running for re-election, the most valuable research tool isn't their campaign website — it's their actual voting record.

Incumbents have been in office, casting votes on legislation that affects your life. Those votes are public record. Here's how to evaluate them:

Step 1: Get their roll call voting record

Use VoteClarity to see how your incumbent senators and representative voted on the issues you care about most. Enter your ZIP code, select your issues, and you'll get alignment scores based on actual 119th Congress votes — not campaign talking points.

Step 2: Look for consistency

Does their stated position on climate, healthcare, or the economy match their voting record? Politicians who vote one way and campaign on another are a known phenomenon. The voting record is the ground truth.

Step 3: Compare across sessions

For senators, check their records from the 118th Congress (2023–2024) too. Patterns across multiple sessions tell you more than any single vote.

Step 4: Look at what they *didn't* vote on

Missed votes on high-stakes legislation can be a deliberate strategy. A pattern of absences on contentious bills in your issue areas is worth noting.

How to Research Challengers

New candidates don't have a congressional voting record, but that doesn't mean you're flying blind:

Prior elected office — If they served in a state legislature, that voting record may be searchable through your state legislature's website or through third-party trackers like Ballotpedia.

Endorsements — Who is backing them? Endorsements from issue-based organizations (environmental groups, healthcare associations, gun rights or gun safety organizations) signal where they'll likely stand.

Follow the money — FEC filings show who is donating to the campaign. Major donors often have issue-area positions that correlate with the candidate's expected priorities. Search at fec.gov.

Debate records and questionnaire responses — Many candidates complete questionnaires from issue-based organizations. These become part of the public record.

The 2026 Issues That Matter Most

Based on the 119th Congress's legislative activity and polling, the issues most likely to drive 2026 midterm decisions:

The economy and cost of living — Inflation, jobs, and household economic conditions consistently rank as top voter concerns. How has your representative voted on economic legislation?

Healthcare costs — Drug pricing, ACA protections, and Medicaid funding have all come up in legislative votes.

Energy and climate — A major fault line in the 119th Congress, with significant votes on IRA provisions, energy permitting, and environmental regulations.

Immigration — Border policy and enforcement legislation have generated high-profile votes.

Social Security and Medicare — Any budget discussions touching entitlement programs become campaign flashpoints.

For any of these, VoteClarity can show you where your incumbent representatives actually voted — not just what they said on the trail.

Making Sense of "Bipartisan" Bills

When a bill passes with bipartisan support, that sounds good — but it doesn't tell you whether the bill was good policy. Some of the most consequential legislation in recent history passed with bipartisan votes; so have some of the worst.

The question isn't "did my rep vote with the other party?" It's "did my rep's vote align with my values and priorities?"

VoteClarity's alignment scores cut through the partisan framing. Your score is based on your issue priorities, not any party's position.

Get Ready for November

The most powerful thing you can do before November 2026 is understand what your representatives actually did with the power you gave them.

See your alignment scores — it takes 90 seconds and uses real roll-call vote data from the 119th Congress. Know before you vote.