Live midterm tracker shows 33 of 35 Senate races, 367 of 435 House races called

Democratic Senate column shows 54, including two independents

The live Associated Press results tracker published by The Guardian showed a changing congressional count on November 4, 2026. It had called 33 of 35 Senate races and 367 of 435 House races. The Democratic column showed 54 Senate seats, including two independents, while Republicans had 44; the House count showed 228 for Democrats and 139 for Republicans. Democrats were above the 218-seat threshold for House control, but uncalled contests and Associated Press estimates left both chambers’ final totals open to revision.

The tracker covered election results from all 50 states. Its initial schedule said first results were expected after 18:00 EST (15:00 PST, 23:00 GMT, 10:00 AEST). The live overview marked a seven-seat Democratic gain and seven-seat Republican loss in the Senate, plus a 25-seat Democratic gain and 25-seat Republican loss in the House. The display was a changing snapshot rather than a final return.

Races in both chambers remained uncalled. Associated Press calls a winner in a state when it determines that the trailing candidate has no path to victory, which can happen before 100% of the votes in that state have been counted. The service also provides estimates of the total vote in each state and updates the figures through election night and the following days as more turnout data becomes available. That methodology explains why totals can change after party control becomes clear.

The Guardian’s House cartogram used data from The Downballot and gave every seat the same size regardless of geography. In redistricted seats, more than one candidate could be marked as an incumbent if the candidate represented part of the previous district. Associated Press determines whether a seat has flipped by comparing previous districts that overlap the new one, which can classify a seat as a flip even when an incumbent wins. Where a race ends in a runoff between two candidates from the same party, Associated Press classes the race as already won by that party.

The guide said most US election seats are reliably won by one party, so congressional control turns on a smaller group of competitive battleground seats. Experts track those seats to predict overall results; a party that wins seats it was expected to lose often signals a successful night. The charts used blue shapes on the right for a good night for Democrats and red shapes on the left for a good night for Republicans.

Republicans held the Senate majority before the election. Thirty-three of the chamber’s 100 members were up for regular election, along with two special elections, and senators serve six-year terms. Florida and Ohio held those special elections because the previous holders of their seats, Marco Rubio and JD Vance, resigned to join the executive branch following the 2024 presidential election.

Before the election, the Cook Report classified six Senate races as genuine toss-ups. Democrats needed to win at least three of those, alongside the other races they were expected to win.

Republicans were defending a majority in the 435-member House. Democrats held 212 seats and needed 218 for control. The chamber has 435 voting seats, each representing a district of roughly similar size; members serve two-year terms and face reelection every even year. The Cook Political Report rated 18 House seats as toss-ups. Democrats were favored in enough seats to take the chamber without winning any of the 18. If they won every seat they were expected to win, they would have won a comfortable majority, and the balance of power rested on whether Democrats would hold the 18 seats rated lean Democratic. Republicans were favored in 195 seats and would have needed to sweep all 18 toss-ups and flip five Democratic-leaning seats to win.

Congress has two chambers, the House of Representatives and the Senate. The speaker of the House is the chamber’s presiding officer, elected by the representatives. Exclusive House powers include initiating revenue bills, impeaching federal officials and electing the president in the case of an Electoral College tie.

The Senate has 100 members who sit for six-year terms. One-third of the seats come up for election in each two-year cycle. Each state has two senators regardless of population, so Wyoming, with a population of fewer than 600,000, carries the same weight as California, with almost 40 million. Most legislation needs to pass both chambers. The Senate also approves senior presidential appointments, including Supreme Court appointments; has the sole power to provide advice to the president; consents to ratify treaties; and tries impeachment cases for federal officials referred to it by the House.

In most states, the Senate candidate with the most votes on election day wins the seat. Georgia and Louisiana require the winning candidate to garner 50% of votes cast; if no one does, they hold a runoff election between the top two candidates.

Maine and Alaska use ranked-choice voting instead of first-past-the-post voting in congressional elections. Voters rank candidates in order of preference. If no candidate receives a majority of first-choice votes, the least-supported candidate is eliminated and the ballots are transferred to each voter’s next-ranked candidate; the process continues until a candidate wins a majority. In some states, top-two or jungle primary systems bring candidates from all parties into the same primary, with the two receiving the most votes advancing regardless of party. The finalists could both be Democrats or both Republicans.

Gubernatorial elections were taking place in 36 states and three territories. Republicans and Democrats held 18 governorships each before the election, and three incumbent governors were retiring. The live page said Democrats took several key governorships. Governors are elected directly by state voters, and the candidate with the highest number of votes is declared the winner. In every state, the executive branch is led by a governor. Governors serve four-year terms, except in Vermont and New Hampshire, where tenures last two years. They implement state laws and have powers such as executive orders, executive budgets, legislative proposals and vetoes.

The Guardian’s pre-election profiles described the Republican Party, also known as the Grand Old Party or GOP, as the main US conservative party. The profile said Speaker Mike Johnson led the party in the House before the election, when Republicans held a slight 218-seat majority. The Democratic Party, described as the main US liberal party, was led in the House by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries; Democrats needed a net gain of four seats to overturn the Republican majority. In the Senate, Republican leader John Thune hoped to retain the majority while defending 22 seats, compared with Democrats’ 13, and Democratic minority leader Chuck Schumer needed a net gain of four seats for control.

The interactive was credited to Antonio Voce, Seán Clarke, Ed Gargan, Anna Leach and Ashley Kirk. The uncalled Senate and House contests and Associated Press’s continuing estimates left the displayed seat totals open to revision.