With just two days remaining before the 2026 midterm elections, campaigns across the United States are executing their final closing arguments. More than 52 million early votes have already been cast nationwide, setting the stage for high-stakes contests that will determine control of Congress and serve as a referendum on the current administration.
President Donald Trump is scheduled to wrap up his in-person campaign blitz with rallies in Iowa and Kansas. Both states, which the president won comfortably in 2024, are hosting critical Senate races that could decide control of the upper chamber. In Iowa, over 430,000 early ballots have been cast as of Saturday morning, with registered Democrats accounting for over 46% of pre-election ballots and Republicans making up 34%, running roughly three points ahead of their 2022 pace six days out, according to data from Catalist. In Kansas, voters have cast more than 420,000 ballots. While Republicans maintain a lead in early voting there, their margin has narrowed compared to the previous midterm cycle, with the Democratic share running six points ahead of the 2022 pace.
The final weekend schedule for the president involved an abrupt about-turn. After initially canceling the weekend rallies in favor of telephonic events—prompting questions about his schedule and health—Trump reversed course following appeals from supporters, ordering staff to hastily reinstate the physical events.
Meanwhile, electoral friction has surfaced in multiple states. In Alaska, Republican Senator Dan Sullivan addressed the ongoing controversy surrounding a second candidate with the exact same name on the ballot. Speaking on a national broadcast, Sullivan stated he would accept the election results regardless of the outcome, while criticizing his Democratic opponent, Mary Peltola, over allegations that her campaign was connected to recruiting the spoiler candidate. The Justice Department and Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy have launched investigations into the matter, with federal authorities examining potential statutory violations.
In Michigan, Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed campaigned with South Carolina Representative Jim Clyburn in Detroit. The event proceeded without El-Sayed’s former primary rival, Representative Haley Stevens, after lawmakers intervened to avert a public split. Tensions between El-Sayed and Stevens mounted following an outside campaign advertisement concerning foreign aid, leading local lawmakers to advise Stevens to skip the joint appearance.
Elsewhere, election preparations faced administrative hiccups. In central Arizona, the Yavapai County Recorder’s Office issued a public reminder on Saturday that President Trump is not on the ballot, noting that officials had received numerous calls from voters inquiring why the presidential race was missing from their local ballots.
As the final hours of the campaign tick down, the Justice Department is deploying more than 1,000 election monitors across all 50 states to observe polling places for potential federal voting law violations. State and local election offices continue to process millions of ballots, with experts noting that final certified results in certain remote or complex jurisdictions, such as Alaska with its ranked-choice voting system and vast geography, may take up to two weeks to resolve.
