Democrat Annie Andrews is projected to beat Republican Sen. Darline Graham in South Carolina. Polls have closed in several states in the 2026 midterms, and it could be days or weeks before control of Congress is clear.
Democrat Annie Andrews is projected to defeat Republican Sen. Darline Graham in South Carolina. A New York Times/Siena poll last week showed the race as effectively a tossup, with Graham leading Andrews by less than one percentage point. Graham was appointed to the Senate after her brother, Lindsey Graham, died earlier this year.
Control of Congress
Polls have closed in South Carolina and Georgia, two states with crucial Senate races, in the 2026 midterm election that will decide control of Congress. Democrats need a net gain of three seats to flip the House and four to flip the Senate. Senate control hangs in the balance. It could be days or even weeks before it becomes clear which party will control each chamber.
Poll closing times
The first polls closed at 6 p.m. ET. Polls then closed at 7 p.m. ET in six states, including Georgia, and the next batch, at 7:30 p.m. ET, covers North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia. Polls in Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia close at 7 p.m. Hawaii's polls close at midnight Eastern, and the last polling places, in Alaska, close at 1 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday.
Races to watch
In Georgia, Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, in his first term, is fending off a challenge from Trump-endorsed Rep. Mike Collins. In Ohio, the Senate race between Democrat Sherrod Brown and Republican Jon Husted is competitive. Ohio's governor's race is between Republican Vivek Ramaswamy and Democrat Amy Acton. In Florida, Democrat Angie Nixon is challenging Republican Sen. Ashley Moody in a special election. In Texas, Democrat Gina Hinojosa is challenging Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, and no Democrat has won a Texas governor's race since Ann Richards in 1990.
In Indiana's 5th District, the first Hamilton County early-vote report showed Democrat J.D. Ford at 63.6% and Republican Rep. Victoria Spartz at 36.4%.
Voting problems
A programming error stopped ballot tabulators from scanning hand-marked paper ballots in Westchester County, New York. The state Board of Elections said it stemmed from an update to the county's election programming after initial testing. Ballots were secured under emergency procedures to be counted later, and the issue could delay the result of the NY-17 race between Rep. Mike Lawler and Cait Conley.
North Carolina's board of elections extended voting hours in some precincts because of minor technical issues on Tuesday, which have since been resolved. Technical issues caused delays in several North Carolina counties. In Pennsylvania, three precincts will stay open an extra half hour past 8 p.m. because machine set-up issues delayed opening, according to Chester County officials.
The Trump administration announced it was sending Department of Justice monitors to all 50 states. The first polls opened at 5 a.m. ET in Vermont.
