US voters head to polls to deliver midterm verdict on Trump

Americans voted Tuesday in midterm elections that could shift control of Congress, with Democrats favored to win the House and the Senate outcome uncertain. The contests are widely viewed as a verdict on President Donald Trump’s first two years in office, as voters express concern about affordability and his handling of the issue. Michigan’s Senate race between Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers drew attention after Democrat Haley Stevens endorsed Rogers. The Justice Department said it was deploying 1,000 election monitors and observers across all 50 states.

All 435 House seats and 35 of the Senate’s 100 seats were up for election.

Democrats needed to gain at least three House seats and four Senate seats to win majorities in both chambers.

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit in California seeking to block ballots it said might be invalid, but the Supreme Court rejected the administration’s request for an emergency order.

A judge dismissed the Justice Department’s effort to block certification of Alaska’s election results.

Three dozen gubernatorial races, along with thousands of state legislative contests and ballot measures, were also on the ballot.

Published Nov 4, 2026 1:16 am KST

Updated Nov 4, 2026 2:06 am KST

First time voter Afruza Begum, 71, after casting her ballot along her son Miskat Husen, at a community center on Tuesday in Hamtramck, Michigan. Americans go to the polls in consequential midterm elections, where control of the House and the Senate is at stake for the remainder of President Donald Trump's second term in office. Getty Images via AFP-Yonhap

Americans headed to the polls in Tuesday's midterm elections to deliver a verdict on the first two years of President Donald Trump's second term, with surveys and nonpartisan analysts favoring Democrats to wrest the House of Representatives from Republicans while control of the Senate remains uncertain.

The battle for the Senate is unfolding across nearly 10 closely contested statewide races, most in Republican strongholds.

History is against Trump's Republicans: the sitting president's party has lost ground in Congress in all but two midterm elections since World War Two. Trump's approval rating is hovering near his all-time lows, dragged down by deep voter frustration over the war with Iran and the resulting rise in fuel prices.

There is little doubt this year's election is all about Trump, the central U.S. political figure for most of the last decade. Trump himself has told his supporters repeatedly to "pretend I'm on the ballot," a message Democratic leaders have happily echoed.

Trump, in a television interview on Tuesday morning, boasted of what he billed as his achievements in Venezuela and Iran and declared optimism for fellow Republicans in an election he has said should be treated as if he were on the ballot himself.

"I think the results are going to be better than you think," he told Fox News, adding that he would be watching the results come in later Tuesday night at the White House, where he is hosting a viewing reception.

In remarks that appeared aimed at swaying largely Democratic-leaning voters unhappy with U.S. support for Israel, Trump said that Washington would stop $4 billion in annual funding to Israel after the end of this year.

U.S. policy toward Israel has been a particular focus in Michigan, where progressive Democrat Abdul El-Sayed is running a closely watched campaign for Senate.

The president has sought to energize his base with more than two dozen campaign rallies since the start of October, the vast majority in states he easily won in 2024, underscoring the extent to which Republicans are playing defense.

Led by Trump, Republicans have portrayed Democratic candidates as radical, un-American and even communist.

"The Democrat Party has nominated the most extreme and dangerous slate of candidates in American history," Trump said on Monday during a speech in Washington.

But opinion polls show voters are most concerned about affordability, and disapprove of Trump's handling of the issue, after his sweeping tariff policy and his decision to attack Iran in February increased domestic costs. Republican candidates, meanwhile, have struggled to distance themselves from a president who demands fealty and rarely acknowledges mistakes.

Voters have their identification and ballots verified by poll workers inside a polling location at Center Elementary School Annex on Tuesday in Kent, Ohio. Americans go to the polls in consequential midterm elections, where control of the House and the Senate is at stake for the remainder of President Donald Trump's second term in office. Getty Images via AFP-Yonhap

All 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are up for election, along with 35 of the Senate's 100 seats, though the majority of contests are not considered competitive. Democrats must flip at least three House seats and four Senate seats to win a majority in each chamber.

Democrats have little margin for error. The party must defend all of its current seats while winning at least two states that voted for Trump by a double-digit margin two years ago: Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas.

Opinion polls show Democrats either narrowly leading or within striking distance in all of those states.

Michigan race roiled by cross-party endorsement

The Michigan Senate contest between El-Sayed, 42, and Republican former U.S. Representative Mike Rogers, 63, received a fresh jolt on Sunday when Democrat Haley Stevens, who narrowly lost to El-Sayed in the party's primary election, endorsed Rogers in a surprise reversal.

In addition to the implications for Senate control, the Michigan race represents a high-profile test of whether Republicans' identity-based attacks – El-Sayed would be the nation's first Muslim senator — prove effective in a battleground state.

A win for El-Sayed, who has criticized Israel and supports liberal policies such as universal healthcare, would also be seen as a boost for the party's left wing ahead of the 2028 presidential election.

The Alaska Senate race has been caught up in its own turmoil, after the New York Times reported that the campaign of Democratic candidate Mary Peltola, 53, helped recruit a third candidate who shares the first and last name of her Republican opponent, Dan Sullivan, 61.

Peltola has denied involvement. Trump's Justice Department has launched a criminal probe into the allegations and filed a lawsuit to block certification of the election results, though a judge dismissed the latter effort.

In Texas, Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico, 37, has his party once again dreaming of winning the biggest Republican state after decades of heartbreak. His scandal-plagued opponent, Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, 63, has benefited from a nine-figure investment from the world's richest man, Elon Musk, who has spent hundreds of millions of dollars boosting Republicans.

In Kansas, Democrat Adam Hamilton, 62, a megachurch pastor, holds a narrow polling lead over Republican U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, 66. The state voted for Trump by more than 16 percentage points in 2024 and has not elected a Democratic senator in nearly a century.

And in Maine, Republican U.S. Senator Susan Collins, 73, is once again seeking to defy the Democratic leanings of her home state and win a sixth term. She faces Democrat Troy Jackson, 58, a former state senate president who unexpectedly became the nominee after Democratic oyster farmer Graham Platner dropped out amid accusations of misconduct, which he denied.

Other competitive Senate races are taking place in Iowa, Nebraska, Ohio and South Carolina, all Republican-held seats.

Trump's Justic Department intervenes

The U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday it was deploying 1,000 election monitors and observers to all 50 states in what it called the largest Election Day monitoring effort in history.

Department officials have said priorities include areas with a history of voter access issues and places with competitive races that could be targets of voter intimidation.

There are 47 U.S. House races widely seen as competitive, according to a Reuters analysis of the leading election forecasters. If the other contests all proceed as predicted, Democrats would need to win only 13 of the competitive races to secure a majority.

The fight for the House has been waged largely on Republican turf, including some districts Trump carried by double digits in 2024. A Trump-backed Republican effort to redraw districts in several states to make them safer for the party appears not to have yielded the gains the White House expected.

Democrats have warned that Trump, who has long falsely claimed that U.S. elections are rigged, may attempt to challenge Tuesday's results if Republicans lose.

In addition to its actions in Alaska, Trump's Justice Department also filed a lawsuit in California to block ballots it says may be invalid, a break from decades of practice meant to insulate elections from political influence. The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected the administration's request for an emergency order in the case.

Three dozen governors' races will also take place on Tuesday, as well as thousands of state-level legislative contests and ballot measures on issues from a billionaires' tax to abortion rights.

美国周二举行中期选举，此次选举结果可能改变国会的控制权。民主党有望赢得众议院，但参议院的归属仍不明朗。此次选举被广泛视为对特朗普总统执政头两年的一次评判，选民们对住房负担能力以及特朗普处理住房问题的方式表示担忧。密歇根州民主党参议员候选人阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德和共和党候选人迈克·罗杰斯之间的竞选备受关注，此前民主党参议员候选人海莉·史蒂文斯公开支持罗杰斯。司法部表示，将在全美50个州部署1000名选举监督员和观察员。

众议院全部 435 个席位和参议院 100 个席位中的 35 个席位都进行了选举。

民主党人需要赢得至少三个众议院席位和四个参议院席位才能在两院都获得多数席位。

美国司法部在加利福尼亚州提起诉讼，试图阻止其所称可能无效的选票，但最高法院驳回了政府提出的紧急命令请求。

一名法官驳回了司法部阻止阿拉斯加州选举结果认证的请求。

此次选举还包括三十六场州长竞选，以及数千场州立法机构选举和投票议案。

发布于2026年11月4日凌晨1点16分（韩国标准时间）

更新于2026年11月4日凌晨2:06（韩国标准时间）

71岁的阿弗鲁扎·贝古姆（Afruza Begum）是第一次投票，周二她在密歇根州哈姆特拉姆克的一个社区中心与儿子米斯卡特·胡森（Miskat Husen）一起投完票后合影。美国民众正在参加至关重要的中期选举，此次选举将决定众议院和参议院的控制权，这将影响唐纳德·特朗普总统第二个任期的剩余时间。图片来源：Getty Images via AFP-Yonhap

周二的中期选举中，美国民众前往投票站，对唐纳德·特朗普总统第二个任期的前两年进行评判。民调和无党派分析人士均倾向于民主党从共和党手中夺回众议院的控制权，而参议院的控制权仍不明朗。

参议院席位之争正在近 10 个竞争激烈的全州选区展开，其中大部分选区都是共和党的传统票仓。

历史对特朗普的共和党不利：自二战以来，共和党在国会的中期选举中，除了两次例外，其余每次都失去了席位。特朗普的支持率徘徊在历史低点附近，这主要是由于选民对伊朗战争以及由此导致的油价上涨深感不满。

毫无疑问，今年的选举完全围绕着特朗普展开，他在过去十年里一直是美国政坛的核心人物。特朗普本人曾多次告诉他的支持者“假装我的名字出现在选票上”，民主党领导人也欣然响应了这一信息。

特朗普周二上午在电视采访中吹嘘了他在委内瑞拉和伊朗取得的所谓成就，并表示对共和党同僚在选举中的表现充满信心。他曾表示，应该像他自己参选一样对待这次选举。

“我认为结果会比你想象的要好，”他告诉福克斯新闻，并补充说他将在周二晚上晚些时候在白宫观看计票结果，他将在那里主持一个观看招待会。

特朗普发表的言论似乎旨在争取那些对美国支持以色列感到不满、倾向于民主党的选民的支持。他表示，华盛顿将在今年年底之后停止每年向以色列提供 40 亿美元的资金。

美国对以色列的政策一直是密歇根州的关注焦点，进步民主党人阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德正在那里进行一场备受瞩目的参议员竞选。

自 10 月初以来，总统已举行了二十多场竞选集会，试图激励他的支持者。其中绝大多数集会都在他 2024 年轻松赢得的州举行，这凸显了共和党人处于守势的程度。

在特朗普的带领下，共和党人将民主党候选人描绘成激进分子、反美分子，甚至是共产主义者。

“民主党提名了美国历史上最极端、最危险的候选人名单，”特朗普周一在华盛顿发表讲话时说。

但民意调查显示，选民最关心的是生活成本，并且对特朗普处理这一问题的方式表示不满。此前，他推行的全面关税政策以及2月份对伊朗发动攻击的决定都推高了国内生活成本。与此同时，共和党候选人一直在努力与这位要求民众绝对忠诚、却鲜少承认错误的总统划清界限。

周二，在俄亥俄州肯特市中心小学附属楼的投票站内，选民们正在接受工作人员的身份核实和选票核对。美国民众正在参加至关重要的中期选举，此次选举将决定众议院和参议院的控制权，这将影响唐纳德·特朗普总统第二个任期的剩余时间。图片来源：Getty Images via AFP-Yonhap

美国众议院全部435个席位以及参议院100个席位中的35个都将进行选举，但大多数席位的竞争并不激烈。民主党必须至少赢得众议院三个席位和参议院四个席位才能在两院都获得多数席位。

民主党容错空间很小。该党必须保住所有现有席位，同时还要赢得至少两个两年前以两位数优势投票支持特朗普的州：阿拉斯加州、爱荷华州、堪萨斯州、内布拉斯加州、俄亥俄州、南卡罗来纳州和德克萨斯州。

民意调查显示，在所有这些州，民主党要么以微弱优势领先，要么与对手差距不大。

密歇根州的竞选因跨党派背书而陷入混乱

42 岁的埃尔-赛义德和 63 岁的共和党前美国众议员迈克·罗杰斯之间的密歇根州参议员竞选在周日迎来了新的波折，民主党人海莉·史蒂文斯在党内初选中以微弱劣势败给埃尔-赛义德后，出人意料地转而支持罗杰斯。

除了对参议院控制权的影响之外，密歇根州的这场选举也是对共和党基于身份的攻击（埃尔-赛义德将成为美国第一位穆斯林参议员）是否在摇摆州奏效的一次高调考验。

埃尔-赛义德曾批评以色列，并支持全民医疗保健等自由主义政策。如果他获胜，也将被视为该党左翼在 2028 年总统选举前的一次提振。

阿拉斯加州参议员竞选陷入了混乱之中。《纽约时报》报道称，53岁的民主党候选人玛丽·佩尔托拉的竞选团队帮助招募了第三位候选人，这位候选人与61岁的共和党对手丹·沙利文同名同姓。

佩尔托拉否认参与其中。特朗普的司法部已对这些指控展开刑事调查，并提起诉讼试图阻止选举结果的认证，但法官驳回了后者的诉讼请求。

在德克萨斯州，37岁的民主党参议员候选人詹姆斯·塔拉里科(James Talarico)让民主党再次燃起了赢得这个共和党最大州的希望，结束了数十年的失利。他丑闻缠身的对手，63岁的共和党总检察长肯·帕克斯顿(Ken Paxton)则受益于世界首富埃隆·马斯克(Elon Musk)的巨额投资。马斯克已花费数亿美元支持共和党。

在堪萨斯州，62岁的民主党人亚当·汉密尔顿是一位大型教会牧师，他的民调支持率略微领先于66岁的共和党参议员罗杰·马歇尔。该州在2024年总统大选中以超过16个百分点的优势投票支持特朗普，并且近一个世纪以来都没有选出过民主党参议员。

在缅因州，73岁的共和党籍联邦参议员苏珊·柯林斯再次试图挑战家乡的民主党倾向，赢得第六个任期。她的对手是58岁的民主党人特洛伊·杰克逊，这位前州参议院议长在民主党籍牡蛎养殖户格雷厄姆·普拉特纳因不当行为指控而退出竞选后，意外地成为该州的候选人，普拉特纳否认了这些指控。

其他竞争激烈的参议院选举正在爱荷华州、内布拉斯加州、俄亥俄州和南卡罗来纳州进行，这些席位目前都由共和党把持。

特朗普的司法部介入

美国司法部周二表示，将向所有 50 个州部署 1000 名选举监督员和观察员，称之为历史上规模最大的选举日监督行动。

部门官员表示，优先事项包括历史上存在选民准入问题的地区以及可能成为选民恐吓目标的竞争激烈的选举地区。

路透社对主要选举预测机构的分析显示，目前有47场美国众议院选举被普遍认为竞争激烈。如果其他选举结果均按预测进行，民主党只需赢得其中13场即可确保众议院多数席位。

众议院的控制权之争主要在共和党的传统票仓展开，其中包括一些特朗普在2024年大选中以两位数优势获胜的选区。特朗普支持的共和党试图在几个州重新划分选区，以使这些选区对共和党更加有利，但这一努力似乎并未取得白宫预期的效果。

民主党人警告说，长期以来一直错误声称美国大选被操纵的特朗普，如果共和党人败选，可能会试图挑战周二的选举结果。

除了在阿拉斯加的行动外，特朗普的司法部还在加利福尼亚州提起诉讼，试图阻止其所称可能无效的选票生效。此举打破了数十年来旨在保护选举免受政治干预的惯例。美国最高法院周一驳回了政府就此案提出的紧急命令请求。

周二还将举行三十六场州长选举，以及数千场州级立法选举和投票表决，议题涵盖从亿万富翁税到堕胎权等各个方面。