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Midterm elections live updates: Voters heading to polls today for high-stakes midterms

There are key House and Senate races that could determine control of Congress.

ByABC NEWS
Last Updated: November 3, 2026, 3:40 AM EST

Voters are heading to the polls on Tuesday for the last day of voting in the high-stakes midterm elections.

There are several key House and Senate races that could determine the balance of power in Congress as well as significant races for governor around the country. The elections could ultimately determine how effective President Donald Trump's agenda is in the back half of his second term.

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Here's how the news is developing.
Nov 02, 2026, 5:39 PM EST

This midterm election is most expensive ever, federal campaign spending data shows

An analysis of Federal Election Commission data by campaign finance tracker, OpenSecrets projects that spending on the 2025-2026 election cycle will reach about $12 billion -- meaning that, at the federal level, this cycle is slated to be the most expensive midterm election on record.

An analysis by AdImpact that incorporated gubernatorial elections found it to be the most expensive cycle on record, surpassing even the 2023-2024 general election cycle.

"I Voted" stickers are seen on a table on the last day of early voting at the Cuyahoga Board of Elections, November 01, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Advertising spending across House, Senate and gubernatorial races this cycle cost about $7.1 billion, according to an analysis by the Wesleyan Media Project. About $1.4 billion of that ad spending occurred late in the cycle, between Oct. 12 and Oct. 25.

-ABC News' Will Lennon

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