2026 Midterm Elections

GOP senator says Republicans don't deserve majority: 'Hell, we ain't done anything'

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) argued that there was a "good chance" of Republicans losing the midterms because they "ain't done nothing" while having control of Congress.

"Everything that goes on up here, Benny, is about, oh, we got to get reelected," Tuberville told MAGA influencer Benny Johnson on Wednesday. "We got to keep the majority. Well, h---, we ain't done anything in the majority. Why should we keep majority?"

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'Blowout brewing': GOP said to have 'no way on earth' to keep House unless Trump rebounds

Voters will head to the polls Thursday in New Jersey to decide on a replacement to fill the U.S. House seat most recently held by Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill, and CNN's Harry Enten is closely watching that special election as a bellwether for the midterm elections.

Democrat Analilia Mejia will face off against Republican Joe Hathaway in the 11th Congressional District election, which Enten said could go a long way toward predicting the results of November's contest for control of Congress

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Dem candidates flooded with 'eyepopping' campaign cash hauls: report

Democrats are increasingly encouraged about the midterm elections as they bank tens of millions of dollars in donations, a considerable amount of which will be devoted to retaking the Senate with the House already expected to flip from GOP rule.

According to Politico's Liz Crampton, Democratic candidates are setting fundraising records to be used to win Senate seats in states where the growing unpopularity of Donald Trump is making traditionally red states competitive.

The numbers are staggering, Politico is reporting, while noting that Texas Democrat James Talarico led the pack with an "eye-popping" $27 million raised over the past three months, with his campaign announcing $10 million coming in since winning his March 3 primary.

Other Senate candidates reported similarly strong numbers:

Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff: More than $14 million in the first quarter.
North Carolina's Roy Cooper: $13.8 million
Ohio's Sherrod Brown: $12.5 million in his comeback bid to unseat appointed Sen. Jon Husted (R).
Alaska's Mary Peltola: $8.9 million

The fundraising surge reflects Democratic optimism about Senate prospects, Politico is reporting. While Democrats still face disadvantages due to the traditional nature of the conservative states in play, Trump's tanking approval ratings and the unpopularity of the ongoing war in Iran have the party feeling increasingly bullish about their chances.

Democrats facing competitive primaries did not report as strong numbers, as donors split among several candidates. In Michigan, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow raised $3 million, slightly ahead of opponent Abdul El-Sayed's $2.2 million in a contested primary. In Iowa, both state Sen. Josh Turek and state Rep. Zach Wahls each raised $1.1 million in the first quarter.

Trump's signature achievement draws brutal ratings: 'No wonder he's struggling!'

CNN's Harry Enten pointed to underlying data that shows why President Donald Trump is struggling with broad swaths of the electorate.

Federal income taxes are due Wednesday, which will be the first day where the president's tax and spending bill kicks in, but Enten told "CNN News Central" that Americans aren't feeling any benefits from the Republican-passed law.

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Postal workers hit back at Trump with national TV ad over attacks on mail-in voting

The American Postal Workers Union swung back at President Donald Trump this week with a new national television advertisement blasting his attacks on mail-in voting and describing why it's so important to Americans, The Hill reported.

In the spot, "America Needs Vote by Mail," the campaign features everyday Americans — a flight attendant, college student and farmer — identifying why they rely on absentee ballots. The 30-second commercial is sponsored by the 200,000 member union and starts airing in Ohio this week, where the first mail-in ballots were cast in 1864 by Union Army soldiers, according to The Associated Press. After that the campaign moves to other states.

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'Fake': NY Times editors pinpoint crack in Trump's armor that could bring him down

The New York Times editorial board had a message Tuesday on what it takes to defeat Trumpism — and authoritarianism — as midterms approach.

The editors described how the landslide defeat of Viktor Orban by Peter Magyar in Hungary should inspire Americans hoping to see change in the United States amid President Donald Trump's tumultuous second administration. They outlined the different ways opposing candidates could identify vulnerabilities for Trump and his regime using Magyar as an example of how to defeat autocratic rule and apply "an American version of this strategy."

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Seething MAGA base accuses Trump of 'betraying his biggest campaign promise’

Trump's hardline immigration zealots were seething and accusing President Donald Trump of betraying the core promise that got him elected, according to an Axios report published Monday.

A frustrated coalition of conservatives, led by immigration hawks from the Heritage Foundation and other GOP think tanks, is blasting the White House for softening its deportation rhetoric ahead of the midterms. They're furious that Trump appears to be caving to wealthy donors and big business lobbyists who want cheap labor over enforcement.

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Republican Senate majority risk grows due to Trump's mayhem: analysts

The political map could shift dramatically in Democrats' favor — and Republicans are panicking, according to reports on Monday.

New polling from The Cook Political Report just moved four critical Senate races toward blue, signaling a potential Democratic tsunami that could flip control of the chamber this fall, The Daily Beast reported.

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'The tears of MAGA will flow': Internet brutally mocks GOP fears over potential Orbán loss

The internet was mocking MAGA followers over how they could respond to a potential loss for Hungary's authoritarian prime minister Viktor Orbán, a far-right symbol.

Orbán has served four consecutive terms as prime minister in the Eastern European country since 2010 and MAGA was looking to the Sunday election as a signal of what could happen during midterms in the United States. Vice President JD Vance and President Donald Trump have also been vocal supporters, with Vance even heading to Hungary to stump for the prime minister and Trump making multiple endorsements of Orbán, who has been referred to as a dictator by outside observers.

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Chaos engulfs Eric Swalwell's campaign as sex assault allegations emerge: report

The gubernatorial campaign of Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) is seeing a wave of resignations, in anticipation of a potentially ruinous story alleging sexual misconduct by the longtime congressman.

According to Politico, "Members of senior leadership have departed the campaign, including Courtni Pugh, a strategic adviser who served as Swalwell’s top liaison to organized labor groups. Pugh confirmed her resignation, but declined to comment further. Two other people, who were granted anonymity to discuss internal campaign dynamics, confirmed there have been at least four departures."

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'Straw that broke the camel's back': Trump now facing deluge of impeachment calls

Democratic lawmakers were starting to rethink their strategy going into the midterms and considering the idea of impeaching President Donald Trump, The New York Times reported on Friday.

Democrats have long thought it would be more important to focus on affordability and the economy heading into the election cycle, but after Trump's threat this week to wipe out the entire Iranian civilization, things have changed. His demands amid the ongoing war in Iran, combined with voter outrage, "have opened the floodgates of Democratic calls for the president’s removal."

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'This could end poorly': GOP had 'ugly' scramble in lead-up to big Senate choice

The Republican Party found itself extinguishing fires up to the very last moments of confirming a Senate candidate for this year's midterm elections.

White House insiders were keen to maintain the Donald Trump-endorsed candidate, Brenda Wilson, for the Indiana seat. But staffers found themselves fighting off a growing interest in Alexandra Wilson, with the long-time Trump supporter initially asked to drop from the race. But she refused to do so, and from there, Alexandra Wilson found herself in frequent, combative discussions with three Trump administration aides.

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White House 'wasn't ready for this' as Trump endorsement in key race falls flat: report

Donald Trump’s attempt to rid himself of Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) for being a thorn in his side is not going according to plan, Politico is reporting.

Trump's endorsement has failed to deliver the knockout punch he expected after he endorsed Rep. Julia Letlow (R-LA). "The Trump endorsement has not had a close-out move. Cassidy was ready for her," said GOP state Rep. Mike Bayham. "They defined her before she introduced herself."

Letlow is underwater on every metric. She's been massively outspent by Cassidy on the airwaves, has low name ID compared to her opponents, and faces State Treasurer John Fleming — another candidate with MAGA appeal and his own political network. Running her first statewide campaign under a compressed timeline, she's unable to capitalize on Trump's endorsement or rally the base behind her.

Mark Harris, a Cassidy aide, highlighted the strategic failure: "We're in the middle of a dogfight. Everyone's expectation is that she would shoot to a large lead and that we'd all be running from behind. But frankly I think they just weren't ready for this race."

Letlow's campaign strategy has been catastrophically flawed. Her ads have almost exclusively focused on her Trump endorsement rather than attacking Cassidy or defining herself to voters. Meanwhile, Cassidy has gone hard after her on the airwaves.

Letlow's other major vulnerability: geography. She hails from a rural district in north Louisiana far from the population centers of New Orleans and Baton Rouge — a region culturally aligned with the Deep South and vastly different from the Catholic, Cajun, and Creole influence dominating southern Louisiana.

"People haven't met her. She's almost invisible as a candidate," said East Baton Rouge Parish Chair Woody Jenkins. "When you're just meeting someone new in politics, and you hear all these bad things, you might have a first impression, but you tend to start having second thoughts. And he's just relentless in it."

The race has become a critical test of Trump's power. His approval ratings are at all-time lows, and his ability to remove Republicans who crossed him — like Cassidy's 2021 impeachment conviction vote — is now in serious question.

MAGA Inc. has remained mysteriously silent about whether it will spend money on Letlow for the primary or runoff, suggesting internal doubts about her viability.