America Votes: Polls Open as Republicans Fight to Hold Congress

Folks, the polls are open. From a town hall in Vermont before sunrise to the last precincts in Alaska long after midnight, America is voting today — and the Republican hold on both chambers of Congress is what's on the table.

America Votes: Polls Open as Republicans Fight to Hold Congress

Washington, D.C. - It is a midterm election halfway through Donald Trump's second term, and the country is already voting in numbers that suggest nobody is sitting this one out.

The First Ballots Fall in Vermont

Five o'clock this morning in Vermont — 1000 GMT — and the first polls anywhere in the country are open. Al Jazeera's opening ladder runs like this: New Jersey, Virginia, Connecticut and Kentucky at 6am (1100 GMT); Georgia, Florida, Pennsylvania and New York between 6am and 7am (1200 GMT); Ohio and North Carolina at 6:30am (1130 GMT); Michigan at 7am (1200 GMT).

What's being decided is enormous. More than 230 million Americans are eligible to vote, Al Jazeera reports. All 435 House seats are contested. Thirty-five of the Senate's 100 seats are up. Voters in 36 states elect governors — and Fox News reports all but four states are holding legislative elections. Folks, that is a ballot with a lot of weight on it.

Fifty-Seven Million Votes Already Banked

The early vote came in waves, and the honest way to read it is as a running count. An AP analysis released on Friday 30 October had more than 43 million ballots cast, nearly 10 million more than at the same point before the 2022 midterms, with the biggest increases in states holding competitive Senate races. The BBC, citing the University of Florida Election Lab, put it above 43 million too, with four to five million early votes landing each day. Bloomberg, on 30 October, reported more than 48.5 million — and a 12-point Democratic advantage in early turnout, most pronounced in Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska.

And it kept climbing. Al Jazeera had more than 50 million on 1 November. On Election Day, Fox News, citing AP, reported more than 54 million ballots — nearly nine million more than in 2022. AP itself, on Monday 2 November, put the number above 57 million, with turnout surpassing the early vote four years ago in many closely watched states. The Guardian's phrase for it: record numbers.

A Three-Seat House, a Four-Seat Senate

Now the arithmetic, because it is tight. Republicans hold the Senate 53-47, per AP, and Democrats need a net gain of four seats for a majority. At 50-50, Vice President JD Vance holds the tiebreaker, the Guardian notes. NBC News puts the majority at 51, with 34 seats not on the ballot and two independents caucusing with the Democrats.

In the House, CBS reports Democrats need a net gain of three seats to reach 218. NBC News's count has Republicans on 219 and Democrats on 214, with vacancies — 218 is the line. Fox News sketches the range: a good Democratic night could reach as many as 240 seats; a good Republican night could leave the GOP on 212.

Governorships stand at 26 Republican, 24 Democratic, per Fox News. And one piece of history from CBS: the party controlling the White House has not picked up House seats in the midterms since 2002.

The President Who Asked to Be on the Ballot

Donald Trump is not on the ballot. But AP reports this election is a referendum on his second term, and he has campaigned like it. "I really want you to pretend I'm on the ballot," the president told a crowd in Salina, Kansas, on Sunday evening, at the final of several dozen rallies in the closing weeks.

The numbers he is carrying are heavy. AP-NORC's most recent polling finds only 35% of U.S. adults approve of his performance as president, and only 25% approve of his handling of the economy. About seven in ten say the country is heading in the wrong direction. AP reports voters are struggling with high prices and angry over an unpopular war with Iran, and that the war's impact on gasoline prices has been a vulnerability for Republicans.

AP also reports Trump has continued to make false claims about voting fraud, insisting noncitizens are casting ballots en masse, while his administration has filed lawsuits in Alaska and California. Democrats fear interference and intimidation as his Justice Department threatens to prosecute local election officials.

Michigan and the Argument Inside the Democratic Party

Michigan is where the Democratic Party's family argument is on the ballot. Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive who would be the first Muslim American to serve in the Senate, per CBS, faces Republican Mike Rogers for the seat of retiring Sen. Gary Peters. El-Sayed narrowly won the August primary against Haley Stevens — and Stevens reversed course over the weekend and endorsed Rogers.

CBS notes a Rogers win would be the first Republican Senate victory in Michigan since 1994, even though Trump has won the state twice.

Both sides know what it means nationally. Rep. Suzan DelBene, chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, put it plainly: "The American people are angry. They want change. They want folks who are going to stand up for them." The results, she said, "should deliver a very resounding messaging that people have soured on his agenda."

Maine, Ohio and the Wider Senate Map

Maine first. Republican Sen. Susan Collins, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, is seeking a sixth term in a state Kamala Harris won by three points in 2024. She faces former state Senate President Troy Jackson, chosen at the state party convention to replace scandal-plagued Graham Platner. CBS calls it one of the toughest reelection battles of her 29-year Senate career.

Ohio next. Democratic former Sen. Sherrod Brown, who lost his reelection bid in 2024, against Republican Sen. Jon Husted, in a race to finish the final two years of Vice President JD Vance's term. Trump won Ohio by more than 11 points in 2024 — but recent polling shows Brown with a narrow lead, CBS reports.

Then the long reach. Texas, where Democrat James Talarico faces Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton — a state no Democrat has won statewide since 1994, and one where Republicans have spent about $210m to help Paxton, the Guardian reports. Reuters had Democrats ahead in Maine, North Carolina and Kansas on 12 October, with Ohio competitive. AP's read: Republicans hope to hold Iowa, Kansas and Maine, and pick up Michigan.

Georgia and the History Sitting in the Governor's Race

Now Georgia — and folks, this is the one with history written all over it. Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, a Democrat, against Republican Rick Jackson, to replace term-limited GOP Gov. Brian Kemp. The spending has been heavy, particularly on Jackson's side, per CBS.

Here is why it reaches beyond one statehouse. Polls have Democrats within striking distance of the governor's mansion for the first time since 1998. And a Bottoms win would make her the first Black woman elected governor in American history.

That is the choice in front of Georgia voters today — and the rest of the country will read it for what it says about a party's reach.

Strikes on Qeshm Island Hours Before the Vote

Overnight, the war intruded. AP, in a report updated at 10:09 PM EST on Monday 2 November, says the United States conducted defensive strikes on some Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz, a U.S. official said — one not authorized to comment publicly, speaking on condition of anonymity. That official said Iranians using surface-to-air missiles against U.S. assets were targeted. Iranian state television reported explosions heard on Qeshm Island. AP describes the strikes as appearing limited, rather than a full return to hostilities.

NBC News reported at 9:06 PM EST that the U.S. military carried out limited strikes on Qeshm Island, according to two U.S. officials, who said the attacks were not a resumption of major combat operations. One official described Iran repeatedly targeting U.S. aircraft, and called the strike on a launcher self-defence.

AP notes Trump has previously said the U.S. wouldn't launch strikes on Iran before the midterms. Vice President Vance told reporters earlier on Monday that he had just spoken to Trump about talks with Iran and said "the president and I both feel pretty good about the prospects for potentially coming to a negotiated settlement."

The Ballot Questions and the Long Count

And it is not just candidates. Fox News counts 145 statewide ballot measures. In California, Proposition 40 — a one-time 5% tax on billionaires living in the state, with supporters claiming tens of billions for healthcare, food assistance and education — has split Democrats, with Sen. Bernie Sanders for it and outgoing Gov. Gavin Newsom against. Maryland and Missouri weigh major changes to how congressional maps are drawn. California, Arizona, Colorado and Nevada consider stricter voter ID. Alaska votes on repealing ranked-choice voting. Missouri decides whether to repeal a constitutional amendment protecting reproductive freedoms; Idaho and Virginia weigh their own abortion measures. More than 40 local measures across a dozen-plus states target data centres, more than 20 of them in Ohio.

Then comes the count. News organisations including AP analyse results and determine when a race can be called — the first reported results do not mean a winner has been called, Al Jazeera notes. Mail, provisional and other ballots are counted after election night, which is why close races could take hours, or days.

What the Night Will Tell Us

Watch the clock with us. Fox News's closing ladder begins at 6pm ET in parts of Kentucky and Indiana, moves through Georgia, Vermont and Virginia at 7pm, and opens the big batch — Pennsylvania, Michigan, Texas, Maine and Kansas among them — at 8pm. The last polls in Alaska close around 1am Eastern on Wednesday.

Turnout is the whole game, and the Republican National Committee's chairman knows it. "Everything depends on turnout," Joe Gruters said on the eve. "If we turn out our voters we win and that's what we've been planning for."

So here is what you can do, folks. Find your polling place before you leave — don't guess. Bring the ID your state requires. If you have a mail ballot, know your state's return rules and get it where it counts. Help one other person get to the polls. And when you see a claim tonight that a race is over before the votes are counted, check it against your local election office before you share it. It may not be clear tonight who controls Congress. That is not a glitch. That is the count.

By Jessica Ali, Staff Writer

This article was produced with AI-assisted research and editorial support. Sources: Associated Press, BBC, CBS News, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, NBC News, Fox News, Bloomberg, PBS NewsHour and Reuters. Photographs: Getty Images via CBS News; Fox News; Architect of the Capitol via Wikimedia Commons (public domain). Cover: Global 1 News editorial image.