Each week, the Weekly Brew brings you a collection of the most-viewed stories from the Daily Brew, condensed. But we’ve been thinking: why stop there?
Starting today, we’re going beyond the Daily Brew’s top stories to bring you more Ballotpedia content we think you might like. From Ballotpedia news headlines and YouTube videos to quick history lessons, you can wrap up your week with trusted, unbiased content about American politics and policy.
Today’s Weekly Brew brings together content from the week of September 28 - October 2.
This week’s top stories
Here are the Daily Brew stories our subscribers clicked on most this week.
17,205 major party candidates ran for Congress and state offices in 2026, including the most U.S. House candidates since 2018
This year, 17,205 major party candidates ran in regularly scheduled primaries for congressional, state legislative, state executive, and state judicial offices. Among those candidates were 8,824 Democrats and 8,381 Republicans.
Voters to decide on 474 rematches of elections from 2024 and 2022 this year
This year's ballot may look familiar to some voters because 474 races are rematches between candidates who last ran against each other for the office in 2022 or 2024 — the second-highest number of rematches since 2020.
By office type:
- 10.1% of U.S. House elections are rematches
- 4% of state executive elections are rematches
- 6.2% of state legislative elections are rematches
- 0.9% of local elections within the 100 most populous cities, state capitals, and the 200 largest school districts by enrollment are rematches
Rematches here only include those between major-party candidates for the same office, even if the specific district they're running for changed. For 2022 to 2026 rematches, this analysis includes only offices with four-year terms.
Like in previous election cycles, most rematches are between candidates who last ran against each other two years ago. This year, there are 414 rematches between candidates who last ran against each other in 2024. Meanwhile, there are 60 rematches between candidates who last ran against each other in 2022.
Democrats have won 13 previously Republican-held state legislative seats in special elections since Trump took office
Democrats have gained a net of 13 state legislative seats in special elections since January 2025 — all of which changed from Republican to Democratic control. Republicans have not won any Democratic-held seats during President Donald Trump's (R) second term.
Through Sept. 25, there were 89 districts where a Democrat appeared on both the special election ballot and the previous general election ballot, and 84 districts where a Republican did the same. In the 89 districts where Democrats ran both times, Democrats’ average special election vote was 38% of their vote totals in the previous regular general elections. In the 84 districts where Republicans ran both times, Republican average special election vote totals were 29% of their vote totals in the previous regular general elections.
Among the 62 districts where candidates from both major parties ran in both the special and most recent general elections, the average margin-of-victory (MOV) shifted 5.1 percentage points toward Democrats. Forty-seven of those 62 districts (76%) shifted toward Democrats, and 15 (24%) shifted toward Republicans.
The 13 seats that Democrats won were in: Mississippi (3), Florida (2), Iowa (2), Pennsylvania (2), and one each in Arkansas, Georgia, New Hampshire, and Texas.
Nearly two-thirds of 2026 legislative referrals reflect partisan divides in legislative support
Legislatures in 32 states referred 109 constitutional amendments and statutes to the ballot in 2026. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of those referrals reflect partisan divisions in the legislative votes that put them there.
Ballotpedia analyzed how Democrats and Republicans voted on each referral. Of the 109 legislatively referred measures on the ballot this year:
- 41 (37.6%) were classified as Republican, which was the single largest category. Twenty-one of those received unanimous Democratic opposition.
- 40 (36.7%) were classified as bipartisan, with the two parties' support levels within 20 percentage points of each other. Twenty-one received unanimous support from all voting members of both parties.
- 17 (15.6%) were classified as Democratic, including 11 that received unanimous Republican opposition.
- Six (5.5%) were classified as Lean Democratic.
- Five (4.6%) were classified as Lean Republican.
The Republican and Democratic categories together account for 58 (53%) of all referrals. For these measures, the parties’ support levels differed by more than 60 percentage points. Adding the two Lean categories brings the total to 69 measures, or 63% of all referrals.
Steeped in History
Welcome to Steeped in History, a new Weekly Brew column where we'll share a story from America's political past. Today’s column is adapted from Ballotpedia founder and CEO Leslie Graves’ weekly Substack column, Civic Blueprints.
1922 – Rebuke of the “Return to Normalcy”
In 1920, voters returned trifecta control of the federal government to the Republicans, electing Warren Harding president in a landslide. It was also the first election in which women had the vote. Harding promised Americans a "return to normalcy" after World War I.
In Congress, Democrats lost 60 House seats, giving Republicans a 302-132 majority. In the Senate, Democrats lost 10 seats, giving Republicans a 59-37 majority.
In the 1922 midterms, voters changed their minds. Republicans lost 77 House and six Senate seats, but kept their majorities in both chambers.
What happened?
There was a sharp recession in 1920-21, marked by a steep price decline that hit farmers hard. There was also labor unrest, including the 1922 Great Railroad Strike and The Big Coal Strike.
Those items might have been enough to set back any party in power. But there was an additional twist: Prohibition. As Jacob Grandstaff wrote:
Prohibition was ratified with the 18th Amendment under [President Woodrow] Wilson, but brewers and drinkers felt the full weight of the federal government under Harding. This raised anti-governmental sentiment, which tends to translate to anti-incumbent sentiment during election years.
Ballotpedia's Doug Kronaizl wrote that since 1922, Democrats lost an average of 388 state legislative seats in a Democratic president's first midterm, and Republicans lost an average of 345 seats during a Republican president's first midterm.
In the 1922 midterms, Republicans lost 890 state legislative seats across the country (the most in the 20th century) and 12 governorships.
1922 is a classic example of one of the most reliable patterns in American politics: the president's party usually loses ground in the midterms. Between 1862 and 2014, the president's party lost seats in Congress in all but three midterm elections.
It's also a reminder that the biggest changes don't always happen in Washington. Some of the most dramatic shifts in 1922 happened in state capitols, where many of the laws that affect daily life are written.
In other news
Go beyond the Daily Brew with Ballotpedia News. Explore this week's headlines below:
- California voters to decide $7.5 billion science and health research bond measure in March 2028
- Trump saw lowest average approval rating of his second term in September
- Trump issued eleven executive orders in September, bringing his total across both terms to 508
- Arizona one of five Trump-won states where Democrats defend governorships in 2026
This week’s read
This week’s read comes from Economy and Society, a weekly newsletter that delivers news about Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG).
State attorneys general ask SEC to scrutinize Moody’s ESG practices
On Sept. 24, Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen (R) sent a letter asking the Securities and Exchange Commission's Office of Credit Ratings to scrutinize Moody's over its use of environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) considerations in credit ratings. Twenty-one Republican state attorneys general co-signed the letter. All but five Republican attorneys general signed onto the letter.
Moody’s is one of 11 nationally recognized statistical rating organizations (NRSROs) registered with the SEC.
The attorneys general argued Moody's relied on inaccurate climate projections in an August report assessing heat and water risks to fossil fuel companies and industries, and said its ESG-related services and commitments create undisclosed conflicts of interest.
The attorneys general criticized Moody’s use of a specific climate scenario and a separate study that they said researchers later retracted because of inaccuracies.
This week’s watch
Mike Allen on Axios' New Book 'Simplify,' AI, and the Midterms
On this episode of On the Ballot: Axios co-founder Mike Allen joins Host Norm Leahy to talk about his new book, Simplify: Do 50% More with 50% Less, and why cutting through complexity matters more than ever in the age of AI. They also discuss data centers as a growing local political issue in Virginia and across the country, the three big shifts reshaping American technology, politics, and media, and why the days after the midterms could prove more eventful than election night itself.