The 2026 midterm popular vote: questions and answers

Counts as of Nov. 6, 2026, 12:14 p.m. ET.

Does the 2026 midterm election have a popular vote?

Not in the presidential sense, because no single race is on every ballot except the U.S. House. All 435 House seats are elected in every state, while Senate and governor races are held in only some states. So the House popular vote, every House vote added up by party, is the best stand-in for a presidential-style national vote. So far, Democrats lead the 2026 House popular vote by 12.4 points.

Who won the popular vote in the 2026 midterms?

Democrats lead the 2026 House popular vote by 12.4 points: Democrats 55.4%, Republicans 43.1%, other candidates 1.5%, as of Nov. 6, 2026, 12:14 p.m. ET. These are unofficial counts and some states are still counting, so the margin can still move.

How is the midterms popular vote calculated?

From the U.S. House races, because they're the only races on every ballot in a midterm. Senate and governor races are held in only some states, so they're left out. Add up the votes for every Democratic candidate, every Republican candidate and everyone else across all 435 House districts, then take each party's share of the total. So far, Democrats lead the 2026 House popular vote by 12.4 points.

Is there a Senate popular vote?

Not a meaningful one. Senators serve six-year terms, so only about a third of the Senate is elected in any year, and which states vote changes from one election to the next. Adding up Senate votes mostly measures which states happened to have a race, which is why the House popular vote is the standard national measure.

House of Representatives popular vote, 2026

Democrats lead the 2026 House popular vote by 12.4 points: 62,109,867 Democratic votes (55.4%) to 48,253,691 Republican votes (43.1%), with 1,667,097 for other candidates, as of Nov. 6, 2026, 12:14 p.m. ET. Unofficial counts, summed from all 435 districts.

How does the 2026 House popular vote compare to past elections?

So far the 2026 House popular vote is D+12.4, compared with R+2.6 in 2024, R+2.7 in 2022, D+8.6 in 2018. Earlier years are final totals from the Clerk of the U.S. House; 2026 is an unofficial count.

Why doesn't the House seat count match the popular vote?

Because seats are won district by district, not in proportion to the national vote. So far Democrats have 55.4% of the vote and 59.8% of the seats (260 of 435); Republicans have 43.1% of the vote and 40.2% of the seats (175).

Is the 2026 House popular vote official?

No. There's no official national total until the Clerk of the U.S. House publishes one after every state certifies its results. The count here is unofficial, summed from results published by state election officials, as of Nov. 6, 2026, 12:14 p.m. ET.