Five-state primaries shape the 2026 midterm fight for Congress

Voters in five states — Michigan, Virginia, Kansas, Missouri and Washington — have chosen their candidates for the November midterm elections, with Abdul El-Sayed among the winners in a Michigan primary contest. The results begin to define the matchups that will decide control of the 120th United States Congress. The elections are scheduled for November 3, 2026, near the midpoint of Donald Trump's second, nonconsecutive term as president. All 435 seats in the House of Representatives will be contested, along with 35 of the 100 Senate seats. Roughly 99 days before the vote, NPR assessed that Democrats need a net gain of three seats to take the House and four to take the Senate. The stakes are sharpened by a volatile backdrop. Trump has revived his claim that the 2020 election was stolen, gasoline prices averaged $4.06 per gallon, and the administration's removal of humanitarian protections for Haitians and South Sudanese nationals has made immigration a central campaign flashpoint.

Primaries in five states set the November battlefield

Voters in Michigan, Virginia, Kansas, Missouri and Washington went to the polls in primary elections to select the candidates who will compete in November's midterms. Among the results, Abdul El-Sayed won a Michigan primary contest as the general-election matchups began to take shape.

The stakes on November 3, 2026 are considerable. All 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives will be contested, along with 35 of the 100 seats in the U.S. Senate. The outcome will determine the composition of the 120th United States Congress, seated during Donald Trump's second, nonconsecutive term as president.

According to an NPR assessment made roughly 99 days before the election, Democrats need a net gain of three seats to win a House majority and a net gain of four seats to take the Senate. Those targets frame the campaigns now emerging from the five-state primary round.

Trump revives 2020 claims as Republicans plan midterm push

President Donald Trump returned to the subject of his 2020 defeat in a speech on July 16, repeating his claim that the election was stolen from him. He also asserted, according to reports, that he possesses documents showing a broken election system, and alleged an ongoing election interference coverup — a claim he made without providing evidence. A Thursday evening address was expected to focus again on his false claim that he won in 2020.

Republicans are also planning new machinery for the campaign. Trump announced that the party will hold its first-ever national midterm convention in Dallas ahead of the 2026 elections, according to reports. Separately, sources say Elon Musk is preparing to invest in the midterms to boost Republican turnout ahead of November through an aligned super PAC.

A commentary, meanwhile, argued that the power to structure congressional elections belongs to state and federal legislatures, not the president.

Immigration crackdowns become a campaign flashpoint

Immigration enforcement has emerged as a central point of contention in the run-up to November. A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration may proceed with ending temporary protected status for hundreds of South Sudanese nationals living in the United States, clearing a legal obstacle to their removal.

The administration has also formally stripped humanitarian protections from hundreds of thousands of Haitians, leaving them exposed to possible arrest and deportation. Homeland Security secretary Markwayne Mullin made the intent plain, saying of Haitians who lost protections: "We're going after them right now."

Together, the moves signal that immigration policy will feature heavily in the midterm campaign, with the administration treating enforcement as a political asset and its opponents likely to mobilise around the fate of those losing legal status.

Fuel prices and Iran talks hang over the campaign

Economic pressure is shaping the terrain as much as the primaries. U.S. gasoline prices averaged $4.06 per gallon on the Thursday before this report, a figure described as a significant source of voter dissatisfaction ahead of November. In response, a senior Democratic lawmaker has proposed eliminating tax breaks for overseas oil production, seeking to put Republicans on the defensive over energy costs.

Foreign policy is also entangled in the calendar. According to the Guardian's reporting, Tehran has adopted a drawn-out negotiating schedule intended to keep President Trump engaged in the Iran conflict through the midterm elections — a claim that rests on the Guardian's account of Iranian strategy rather than any public confirmation from Tehran, and one that stands in tension with the administration's own framing of the talks.

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