CSPEN Hopes You Have Taken Advantage of One of the Foundational Pillars of Our Democracy – The Right to Vote
Overview
Today, November 3, 2026, is Election Day for the 2026 United States midterm elections, taking place exactly halfway through President Donald Trump’s second term. Voters nationwide are heading to the polls to determine which party will control both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives in the 120th U.S. Congress.
The Balance of Power
Republicans currently hold majorities in both chambers of Congress, which they are defending against a strong push from Democrats who are hoping to take control of one or both chambers. As Election Day gets underway, here is a reminder of what is at stake.
* U.S. House of Representatives: All 435 seats are up for election. Democrats need a net gain of 3 seats to flip the chamber and seize the majority. While the vulnerable contests vary a little between various national polling organizations, there are approximately forty House seats where the outcome is truly uncertain. And within the group of forty there are a baker’s dozen (13) of races which are considered toss ups as Election Day begins.
* U.S. Senate: A total of 35 seats are on the ballot (33 regular seats and 2 special elections in Florida and Ohio). Democrats need a net gain of 4 seats to win the majority. Similar to the House, while there are 35 States hosting elections, there are approximately eleven Senate seats in play. Within the group of eleven contested Senate seats, there are a total of six, all currently controlled by the Republican party, which are considered to be toss ups as Election Day begins.
CSPEN’s 2026 Election Day Scorecard
As we have done during past election cycles, CSPEN has once again developed a series of documents which track all 35 Senate races and the 13 vulnerable House races – with an emphasis on races in both chambers that have the potential to impact the make-up of the House and Senate Education, Veterans’ Affairs, and Appropriations Committees.
The primary document, the CSPEN State-by-State 2026 Election Day Scorecard, not only tracks all of the key races – including polling data from key sources providing their final updates as of noon ET today, but also shares some insights on each of the races which will impact the Committee structures noted above. A secondary document highlights each of the three House and Senate Committee’s current membership, the Senators and Representatives who are departing the Committees, the elected officials seeking re-election who are in the contested races, and the elected officials who appear to be in safe seats.
The Scorecard and Committee Tracking documents have been the focus of presentations and discussions as part of our regularly CSPEN Legislative & Regulatory Update webinars, posted on the CSPEN website, and will be published one final time by 4 PM ET this afternoon. We hope that you will find this information helpful is you are planning on tracking the 2026 midterm election results across the country like we are!
What’s Next
On Thursday’s CSPEN will use these resources to assist us in providing summary and analysis of the outcome of the Midterms and sharing with the higher education community what the results portend for the 120th Congress.
In addition to this important update, CSPEN will also provide attendees with a full summary of the Accreditation, Innovation, and Modernization Final Rule which was published in the Federal Register last Friday.
