Next year will see multiple heated elections across the nation, several of which will be held before the November midterm elections.
Democrats are vying to retake control of the House of Representatives, where Republicans only have a small majority, and are aiming to keep the lower chamber under their control while maintaining their three-seat majority in the Senate.
These are the elections to watch:
Texas Senate Republican primary
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) is running for a fifth six-year term in the Senate, 24 years after he was first elected to the seat in 2002. The incumbent senator is facing serious competition from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX).
Cornyn and Hunt believe Democrats will benefit the most in the general election if Paxton is the nominee, as the attorney general is a staunch conservative with some previous scandals. However, others have downplayed this possibility, with someone close to the Paxton campaign telling the Washington Examiner there’s “no concern” about the general election.
Maine’s primary and general race for Senate
One Senate seat potentially winnable for the Democratic Party is Sen. Susan Collins’s (R-ME) seat. Gov. Janet Mills (D-ME) is running in the party’s primary and has the backing of various Democratic household names, such as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Govs. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) and Andy Beshear (D-KY).
Mills’s biggest opponent in the primary is Graham Platner, a former oyster farmer and Marine veteran, who has the endorsements of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA). Platner’s campaign was plagued by controversy in October, though he issued an apology for his past statements, with Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin standing by the candidate.
Collins said in December she plans to seek reelection, giving her a sixth term, should she win.
California gubernatorial election
California will elect a new governor as Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) is term-limited. The state’s Top Two Candidates Open Primary Act dictates that the two candidates who receive the most votes on Primary Election Day, set for June 2, 2026, will move on to the general election, regardless of party affiliation.
The top contestants in this election include Reps. Katie Porter (D-CA) and Eric Swalwell (D-CA), Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, and Steve Hilton, the latter two running as Republicans. Bianco has a narrow lead of 1% over Hilton and Swalwell, who are both tied at 12%. Porter is trailing the other three candidates after she faced negative press in October for her conduct with her staff and during an interview.
North Carolina Senate race
North Carolina will see two recognizable faces run for Sen. Thom Tillis’s (R-NC) seat, as the sitting senator is not seeking reelection. Former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper is vying for his party’s nomination against pastor Orrick Quick, as is former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley against author and former Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Don Brown.
Whatley, who chaired the RNC during President Donald Trump’s 2024 victory, has connected Cooper to the viral stabbing of Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte, North Carolina, and also criticized the former governor’s handling of law enforcement cooperating with deportation efforts. Cooper, meanwhile, is financially well-backed, raising $14.5 million in his campaign’s first 65 days, almost triple Whatley’s fundraising.
Kentucky House 4th district primary race
One seat Trump is targeting in 2026 is Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District, currently held by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY). The fiscal hawk lawmaker has given Trump trouble in enacting his vision for the nation, as Massie has criticized the president on various issues, including the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein is answering Trump’s call for a primary challenger against Massie, joining the race in October. The primary election will be held on May 19.
Georgia House 14th district special election and Senate election
Georgia will conduct a special election for Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-GA) seat, as the sitting lawmaker is resigning on Jan. 5. Multiple candidates are running for her soon-to-be vacant seat, including former Federal Emergency Management Agency worker Star Black, teacher Jeff Criswell, and state Sen. Colton Moore.
Moore told the Washington Examiner he is “100% pro-Trump,” but downplayed the need for either the president or Greene’s endorsement to win this race. He also said the breakup between Trump and Greene, once a vocal supporter of the president, is “extremely sad.”
Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) is seeking a second term in what could be one of the most closely watched Senate races in 2026. Ossoff won his first term in 2021, after winning a runoff election against then-Sen. David Purdue (R-GA) by slightly over 1%.
Republican candidates aiming to unseat Ossoff include Reps. Buddy Carter (R-GA) and Mike Collins (R-GA), former Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley, and horse trainer Reagan Box.
Ohio Senate race and gubernatorial election
Ohio’s Senate election will see incumbent Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH) run for his seat after being appointed to it by Gov. Mike DeWine (R-OH) in January. Husted’s appointment was made just a few days before then-Sen. JD Vance was inaugurated as the nation’s 50th vice president.
Various Democratic candidates are running in the party’s primary, one of whom is former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, who lost reelection in 2024 to Republican challenger Bernie Moreno. Brown is painting his comeback bid as “standing up for workers,” which he argues is not happening in Washington and is the purpose of his run.
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Former 2024 presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy didn’t win the Republican Party’s presidential primary race, but he did gain major name recognition as an ally to Trump in his run. He announced his candidacy for the Ohio governor’s mansion in February, scoring the Ohio Republican Party State Central Committee’s backing a few months later.
Ramaswamy is likely to face Dr. Amy Acton as his Democratic opponent. She is the former state health director.
