Both gubernatorial and U.S. Senate elections are happening in 26 states in 2026
Twenty-six states are holding elections for both governor and the U.S. Senate on Nov. 3.
The gubernatorial elections in 16 states are open either due to term limits or because the incumbent is retiring. The U.S. Senate elections in eight states are open due to retiring incumbents. Six states — Alabama, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Wyoming — are holding open elections for both governor and U.S. senator.
In the 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump (R) won 16 of the 26 states. Kamala Harris (D) won eight. Not including Maine and Nebraska, which split their electoral votes, only Kansas and New Hampshire have incumbent governors from the party opposite the candidate who won that state in the 2024 presidential election.
In total, 36 gubernatorial offices — 18 Democratic-held and 18 Republican-held — are up for election in 2026. Nationally, Republicans control 26 governorships, and Democrats control 24.
In total, 33 U.S. Senate seats — 13 Democratic-held and 20 Republican-held — are up for election in 2026. Another two U.S. Senate seats — both Republican-held — are up for special election. Currently, Republicans have a 53-45 majority in the U.S. Senate. There are two independents who caucus with Democrats.
Rep. Kevin Kiley becomes the 10th member of the U.S. House to change party affiliation since 2000
On March 9, Rep. Kevin Kiley, who represents California's 3rd Congressional District, announced that he was immediately changing his party affiliation from Republican to independent. His decision means Republicans now have a 217-214 majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, with three vacancies. Kiley is the sole independent in the chamber.
Although Kiley has changed his party affiliation to independent, he said he will caucus with Republicans until Jan. 3, 2027 — the end of the 119th Congress.
Since 2000, nine other members have changed party affiliation while serving in the U.S. House.
During this time, six Democrats, three Republicans, and two independents departed their respective parties. These departures resulted in six members becoming Republicans, one becoming a Libertarian, and four becoming independents.
Reform California submits 1.3 million signatures for voter ID initiative
On March 2, the organization Reform California announced that it was submitting more than 1.3 million signatures to county election officials for verification of an initiative that would require voter identification and a constitutional requirement for state and county election officials to verify the citizenship of registered voters.
Supporters of the proposed amendment must submit 874,641 valid signatures, which is 8% of the votes cast in the previous gubernatorial election, to qualify for the ballot. The deadline to qualify a ballot initiative for the 2026 ballot in California is June 25.
Thirty-six states require voters to show some form of ID to vote at the polls on Election Day. Of these, 24 states require voters to present photo ID, with certain exceptions, and 12 states do not explicitly require photo ID. The remaining 14 states did not generally require voters to present an ID to vote at the polls on Election Day.