CNA Explains: Why do the US midterm elections matter? - CNA
Plenty is at stake in this midterm election as the Democrats try to win back control in the US Congress.
Election workers print sample ballots during mandatory testing of voting machines ahead of the 2026 midterm elections in Reno, Nevada, US, on Oct 7, 2026. (Photo: Reuters/Elizabeth Mendez)
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Lakeisha Leo 30 Oct 2026 06:00AM (Updated: 30 Oct 2026 10:19AM) Bookmark Bookmark Share WhatsApp Telegram Facebook Twitter Email LinkedIn Set CNA as your preferred source on Google Add CNA as a trusted source to help Google better understand and surface our content in search results. Read a summary of this article on FAST. Get bite-sized news via a newcards interface. Give it a try. Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST FAST The US midterm elections will be held on Nov 3, with millions of Americans already having cast their ballots for seats in the House of Representatives and Senate, as well as governorships across the country.
As the name suggests, midterms are held two years into each US presidential term. All 435 seats in the House of Representatives and about a third of the Senate (35 seats) are up for the ballot.
Plenty is at stake in this midterm election.
Currently, the Republicans hold a 218-214 majority in the House, and the Democrats must win a net gain of four seats to gain control.
CNA Games Guess Word Crack the word, one row at a time Buzzword Create words using the given letters Mini Sudoku Tiny puzzle, mighty brain teaser Mini Crossword Small grid, big challenge Word Search Spot as many words as you can Show More Show Less The Democrats are also fighting to win the Senate, where Republicans hold a 53-47 majority, and they must win a net of four additional seats to get control.
As of Thursday (Oct 29), nearly 40 million mail-in and early in-person votes have been cast, NBC News reported.
Reuters estimates that over 100 million ballots will be cast in this yearβs elections, if the turnout is anything like the previous midterms in 2022 - 112 million ballots were counted then, according to the US Election Assistance Commission.
