The 2026 midterm elections are coming up fast with the state primaries beginning in early March. The midterms happen every two years, falling in the middle of a president’s term. The reshifting of who controls Congress can limit or extend the president’s ability to pass laws depending on which party ends up having a majority.
The primaries, which determine which candidate will represent their party in the election, are held from March to August, depending on the state. The first primary was held on Mar. 3 for Texas, Arkansas and North Carolina. In early Texas results, James Talarico won the Democratic primary for the Senate, while a runoff for the Republican party between incumbent John Cornyn and challenger Ken Paxton is scheduled for later this spring. The run-off is required because neither candidate got at least 50% of the vote. This race sets up the midterm election in which voters are choosing either a moderate Democrat or a pro-Trump Republican, and it’s seen as the Democrats’ best chance at flipping a Texas Senate seat in decades.
These midterms decide who represents each state in Congress, and each midterm, one-third of the Senate and the entirety of the House of Representatives are up for election.
Oregon’s own primary will be held on May 19. This brings a new responsibility to eligible voters at Tualatin High School. They are now able to have a say in who represents our state in Congress, and in turn, they can have an effect on the last half of the presidential term.
“It does feel important to me to have the ability to vote,” senior Serzina Slider said. “People tend to undermine the youth and what they want, but our choices are extremely important, as they help build our future. It doesn’t feel that daunting of a responsibility and I know that it’s a good deed that will help shape our society.”
For the 2026 midterm elections, there are crucial states that make a huge impact on Congress and who controls both the House and Senate. Two states to focus on for an impact on the House of Representatives are California and Iowa; however, there are three different states that will have a major impact on the Senate. Those include Georgia, Michigan and Maine. All states are set to be a competitive battleground when seeing which candidates come out on top. Additionally, some of the states’ expected results are unclear and have been marked as unreadable toss-ups when it comes to the November elections.
Since the start of the 19th century, gerrymandering has been found as a major factor in elections in the U.S. Gerrymandering is drawing voting district lines in a certain way that will pointedly affect an upcoming election for the increased success of one or more parties. There is statewide redistricting every 10 years following the U.S. census. Redistricting is either approved by the state legislature or a commission, and it is illegal to intentionally remove voting power of racial minorities using redistricting, as stated in the Constitution and Voting Rights Act.
In 2025 there was much redistricting among the states purposely occurring right ahead of the midterm elections. One of the most notable was Texas’s new congressional map. It was approved by the Supreme Court after President Trump’s order to Gov. Greg Abbott back in July to redistrict Texas in order to gain five more Republican-leaning congressional districts. The lower courts ruled that the new map violated the Constitution by sorting voters based on race, postponing the new map’s implementation for a short while before the Supreme Court eventually overruled the lower courts’ claim and allowed the redistricting.
In response to the Texas redistricting, California came out with Proposition 50, which plans to negate the five seats gained by Texas by redrawing California’s districts in favor of Democrats and, in turn, gaining them five more congressional seats. This was created in hopes that it would balance out the midterms after the abrupt redistricting in Texas. Proposition 50 was put forth after gaining public support in a special election held by California Governor Gavin Newsom last November. Soon after the new map was created, Republicans challenged Prop 50 and claimed it was illegal racial gerrymandering. Federal courts ruled against this challenge to block the map, deeming there was no basis for preliminary injunction.
“Republicans’ weak attempt to silence voters failed,” Newsom stated in a social media post quoted by Democratic Docket. “California voters overwhelmingly supported Prop 50 (to respond to Trump’s rigging in Texas) and that is exactly what this court concluded.
