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When Will We Know the 2026 Election Results?

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Most 2026 House, Senate and governor races will be called on election night, Tuesday 3 November, between the first full-state poll closings at 7 p.m. ET (parts of Indiana and Kentucky close at 6 p.m.) and the early hours of Wednesday. Control of Congress can take longer. The House call came eight days after the vote in both 2022 (16 November) and 2024, because close seats in California and other mail-heavy states take days to count. Results are counted by the states; the Associated Press (AP) projects winners from those counts, and most networks and newspapers follow AP or their own decision desks.

Checked against Ballotpedia, state election offices and AP, CNN, NPR and Al Jazeera election-night guides, 3 November 2026. Race ratings are the Cook Political Report’s of 2 November 2026.

Last updated: 3 November 2026, 12:41 p.m. ET.

Below: when each group of states closes its polls (Eastern time), which races to watch at that hour and whether a quick call is likely, then why some states take days.

Hour-by-hour: when polls close and what to watch

A race is not called until the last polling place in that state closes, so this timeline goes by each state’s final closing time. Your own state’s closing time is on our poll closing times board.

Time (ET) Last polls close in Key Senate and governor races
6 p.m. None yet (most of Indiana and Kentucky close) None
7 p.m. GA, IN, KY, SC, VA, VT (most of FL) Georgia Senate and governor, South Carolina Senate
7:30 p.m. NC, OH, WV North Carolina Senate, Ohio Senate and governor
8 p.m. AL, CT, DE, DC, FL, IL, ME, MD, MA, MS, MO, NH, NJ, OK, PA, RI, TN Maine Senate, New Hampshire Senate, Florida Senate and governor, Mississippi Senate
8:30 p.m. AR None rated competitive
9 p.m. AZ, CO, IA, KS, LA, MI, MN, NE, NM, NY, SD, TX, WI, WY Texas, Michigan, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and Minnesota Senate; Michigan, Iowa, Kansas, Wisconsin and Arizona governor
10 p.m. MT, NV, UT (most of ID) Nevada governor
11 p.m. CA, ID, OR, WA Oregon governor, many close House seats
Midnight HI (most of AK) None rated competitive in Hawaii
1 a.m. AK (western Aleutians) Alaska Senate and governor

Source: Ballotpedia poll hours, converted to Eastern time. North Dakota counties set their own closing times between 7 and 9 p.m. local, so its polls close anywhere from 8 to 11 p.m. ET.

6 p.m. ET: the first polls close

Most of Indiana and Kentucky close at 6 p.m. ET, and their western corners an hour later. Neither state has a statewide race rated competitive. Kentucky’s open Senate seat, left by Mitch McConnell, is rated solid Republican. Expect early vote counts to appear, but no statewide calls until the rest of each state closes at 7.

7 p.m. ET: Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia and most of Florida

  • Georgia Senate: Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff against Republican Rep. Mike Collins, rated likely Democratic. Georgia counts quickly: in 2024 only 2% was left at midnight. The catch is the 50% rule. If no candidate wins a majority, the race goes to a runoff on 1 December.
  • Georgia governor (open): Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms against Republican Rick Jackson, rated a toss-up. The same runoff rule applies, so a close finish may not be settled until December.
  • South Carolina Senate: Republican Darline Graham against Democrat Annie Andrews, rated lean Republican; a late-October New York Times poll found it a toss-up. South Carolina reports slowly: in 2024 under 80% was in three hours after polls closed.

Most of Florida also closes at 7, and the state posts its early and mail votes within minutes. Its races are listed at 8 p.m., when the Panhandle closes.

7:30 p.m. ET: North Carolina, Ohio, West Virginia

  • North Carolina Senate (open, Thom Tillis retiring): Democrat Roy Cooper against Republican Michael Whatley, rated likely Democratic. A Cooper win would flip the seat. Mail and early votes come first, then Election Day votes; in 2024 the Democrat led for about the first hour.
  • Ohio Senate (special): Republican Sen. Jon Husted against Democrat Sherrod Brown, rated a toss-up.
  • Ohio governor (open): Republican Vivek Ramaswamy against Democrat Amy Acton, rated lean Democratic.

Both states count fast. In 2024 Ohio passed 90% reporting around 11 p.m. ET and North Carolina at 11:36 p.m. ET. Both ended their grace periods for late-arriving mail ballots, so fewer votes are left after Tuesday than in past years. Early Ohio numbers usually look more Democratic than the final result.

8 p.m. ET: the big wave

Sixteen states and Washington, D.C., finish voting, along with most of Texas, Michigan, Kansas and the Dakotas.

  • Maine Senate: Republican Sen. Susan Collins against Democrat Troy Jackson, rated a toss-up. Maine has no central election-night count, so reporters gather results from nearly 500 towns; in 2024 it took until Wednesday afternoon to reach 90%. Maine uses ranked-choice voting for this race. If no one wins a majority, the ballots go to a ranked-choice tabulation that likely would not happen until late next week.
  • New Hampshire Senate (open): Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas against Republican John E. Sununu, rated lean Democratic. Results come in town by town and usually pass 90% only early Wednesday. Some towns close at 7 p.m.
  • Florida: the Senate special (Republican Sen. Ashley Moody against Democrat Angie Nixon) is rated likely Republican, and the open governor’s race (Republican Byron Donalds against Democrat David Jolly) lean Republican. Florida is the fastest big state: about 99% was counted by 10:51 p.m. ET in 2024.
  • Mississippi Senate: Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith against Democrat Scott Colom, rated likely Republican. Mail ballots postmarked by Tuesday count if they arrive by 10 November.
  • Pennsylvania: no Senate race this year. Gov. Josh Shapiro is up for re-election and all 17 House seats are on the ballot. Pennsylvania cannot open mail ballots until 7 a.m. on Election Day; in 2024 it reached 90% at 12:48 a.m. ET.

8:30 p.m. ET: Arkansas

Arkansas’s Senate and governor races are rated solid Republican. Expect quick calls.

9 p.m. ET: Texas, Michigan and the Midwest

  • Texas Senate: Republican Ken Paxton against Democrat James Talarico, rated a toss-up. Most of Texas closed at 8, but the El Paso area closes at 9, and no call comes before that. In 2024 more than 60% of the vote was in by 9 p.m. and 90% after midnight. Early results lean more Democratic than the final count. The governor’s race (Republican Gov. Greg Abbott against Democrat Gina Hinojosa) is rated lean Republican.
  • Michigan Senate and governor (both open): Democrat Abdul El-Sayed against Republican Mike Rogers for Senate, and Democrat Jocelyn Benson against Republican John James for governor, both rated lean Democratic. Michigan can swing late: in 2024 Wayne County (Detroit) released hundreds of thousands of votes around 4 a.m.
  • Iowa Senate (open): Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson against Democrat Josh Turek, rated a toss-up. Iowa reports absentee votes first, so Democrats often lead early. The open governor’s race, Democrat Rob Sand against Republican Zach Lahn, is rated lean Democratic.
  • Kansas Senate and governor: Republican Sen. Roger Marshall against Democrat Adam Hamilton, and the open governor’s race between Democrat Cindy Holscher and Republican Ty Masterson, both rated toss-ups. Most Kansas polls close at 8 p.m. ET, but counties may stay open until 9. Kansas also accepts postmarked mail ballots until Friday.
  • Nebraska Senate: Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts against independent Dan Osborn, rated lean Republican. Douglas County (Omaha) does not report mail ballots that arrive on Election Day until Friday.
  • Minnesota Senate (open): Democrat Peggy Flanagan against Republican Michele Tafoya, rated lean Democratic. Hennepin County (Minneapolis) usually drops most of its votes in one late batch.
  • Wisconsin governor (open): Democrat David Crowley against Republican Tom Tiffany, rated lean Democratic. In 2024 Wisconsin reached 90% at 2:22 a.m. ET.
  • Arizona governor: Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs against Republican Andy Biggs, rated likely Democratic. Arizona’s slower counting is covered below.

10 p.m. ET: Nevada, Utah, Montana

  • Nevada governor: Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo against Democrat Aaron Ford, rated a toss-up. If it is close, expect to wait days (see below).

Montana’s open Senate seat and Utah’s statewide races are rated safely Republican.

11 p.m. ET: California, Washington, Oregon

The West Coast closes, and with it many of the House seats that decide control. California counties have up to 30 days to count, and close House races there regularly take a week or more to call. Oregon’s governor’s race (Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek against Republican Christine Drazan) is rated lean Democratic.

Midnight and 1 a.m. ET: Hawaii and Alaska

Hawaii and most of Alaska close at midnight ET, and Alaska’s western Aleutian Islands at 1 a.m. ET.

  • Alaska Senate: Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan against Democrat Mary Peltola, rated a toss-up. Alaska’s election-night count covers about 70% of the vote. Mail ballots can arrive until 13 November (overseas ballots later), and if no one tops 50%, the ranked-choice tabulation is set for 18 November.
  • Alaska governor (open): rated lean Democratic, which would be a flip, and it follows the same counting calendar.

Why some states take days

A slow count does not mean something is wrong. These are the rules that stretch it out:

  • Late-arriving mail ballots: in June the Supreme Court upheld state laws that count ballots postmarked by Election Day and received afterward (Watson v. Republican National Committee). California counts them if they arrive within seven days, Nevada until 5 p.m. Saturday, Mississippi until 10 November and Alaska until 13 November.
  • Signature checks and curing: voters whose mail-ballot signature does not match get time to fix it. Arizona’s deadline is 5 p.m. Sunday 8 November, and Nevada’s is six days after the election. In Arizona, mail ballots dropped off on Election Day without an ID go through signature checks before they are counted.
  • No early processing: Pennsylvania cannot open mail ballots before 7 a.m. on Election Day, so its count runs late into the night.
  • Ranked-choice voting: Maine’s Senate race and Alaska’s races go to a ranked-choice tabulation if no candidate wins a majority. That happens on 18 November in Alaska and likely late next week in Maine.
  • Runoffs: Georgia sends any race where no one tops 50% to a runoff on 1 December.
  • Recounts: very close races can trigger an automatic recount or a candidate’s request, depending on state law. AP generally does not call a race inside the recount margin.

Early leads also move. Many states report early and mail votes first, so one party can lead for hours and then fall behind as Election Day votes or big-city batches come in. That shift is the count, not fraud.

When will we know who controls the Senate and the House?

Senate

Republicans hold 53 seats, Democrats 45, and two independents caucus with Democrats, for 47. Thirty-five seats are on the ballot: the regular 33 plus special elections in Florida and Ohio. A tie at 50-50 goes to Republicans because Vice President JD Vance breaks ties, so Democrats need a net gain of four seats to reach 51.

That means holding their seats in Georgia, Michigan, New Hampshire and Minnesota and flipping four Republican-held seats from the competitive list: North Carolina, Maine, Ohio, Texas, Iowa, Kansas and Alaska, with South Carolina further back. Nebraska’s challenger, Dan Osborn, is an independent rather than a Democrat.

If the decisive seats are in the Eastern and Central states, Senate control could be clear by early Wednesday. If it comes down to Alaska, it may wait for the 18 November tabulation. A Georgia runoff would push a seat to 1 December. In 2022 Senate control was settled on 12 November, when Nevada was called.

House

All 435 House seats are up. Going in, Republicans hold 218, Democrats 214, one is held by an independent (Kevin Kiley of California) and two are vacant. A majority is 218, so Democrats need a net gain of four. Because many close districts are in California and other states that count for days, House control was called eight days after the election in both 2022 and 2024, and the last 2024 House race was not called until 3 December.

Where to follow results

  • The Associated Press: AP’s race calls feed most news sites and TV networks. AP says it calls a race only when it is highly confident of the outcome.
  • Your state’s election office: the official count lives on your secretary of state’s or election board’s results page; USA.gov lists every state election office.

What you see on TV and online are projections, not official results. Counties then canvass the vote and states certify it, on deadlines that run from mid-November into December depending on the state (Nevada counties within 10 days, Alaska by 25 November). The new Congress is sworn in on 3 January 2027.

What time do polls close in my state?

Our poll closing times board shows every state in local time and Eastern time, including the 14 states split across two time zones. If you are in line when polls close, stay in line: you can still vote. Wondering about the day off? See whether Election Day is a federal holiday.

Sources

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