Iowa voters headed to the polls on Election Day, November 3, 2026, to decide a governor's race and a U.S. Senate contest that are both open for the first time since 1968, with control of Congress hanging in the balance nationwide.
Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds and Sen. Joni Ernst both opted against reelection, creating rare openings at the top of Iowa's ticket. Democrats hope to use those openings to win over voters frustrated by grocery and gas prices, manufacturing job losses, a struggling agricultural economy and rising cancer rates, according to election coverage from PBS.org.
What's on the ballot for Iowans
In the governor's race, Republican Zach Lahn faces Democrat Rob Sand, the state auditor and the only Democrat holding statewide elected office in Iowa. Lahn is a political newcomer who stunned members of his own party when he won the primary over a Trump-endorsed congressman.
The Senate race pits Republican Ashley Hinson, a congresswoman endorsed by President Donald Trump, against Democrat Josh Turek, a state lawmaker endorsed by former President Barack Obama. Hinson has tried to assure voters she will push back when Trump's policies are wrong for Iowa. Turek carries the endorsement of the last Democrat to win federal office in the state before Trump carried Iowa in three straight presidential elections.
Republicans currently control state government and hold every seat in Iowa's federal delegation, so anything short of a clean sweep would mark a shift in the state's political alignment.
Control of Congress at stake
Nationwide, Democrats need to flip four Senate seats and three House seats to take control of both chambers from Republicans, according to live updates from NBC News. A Democratic Congress would give the party a way to block Trump's agenda during the final two years of his term.
The Senate map has shifted in Democrats' favor. The party initially believed its path ran through Alaska, Ohio, Maine and North Carolina, but it now sees openings in Texas, Kansas and Iowa as well, according to PBS.org's Election Day reporting. Many of those are states Trump won by double-digit margins just two years ago.
House Republicans are mostly playing defense. Republicans and allied groups pulled spending from several House races in October, including races involving GOP incumbents in Iowa and New Jersey. Republican-led states including Texas and Florida attempted early redistricting at Trump's urging to minimize potential losses, though that strategy may fall short.
Trump predicts results 'better than you think'
Trump predicted Tuesday that the midterm results would be