On Nov. 3, voters across the country will decide congressional, state, and local elections.

Today, we're covering our top 50 elections to watch on Election Day. We selected these elections based on past election results, unique election-specific circumstances, and election race ratings. The final selections include a mix of federal, state, and local races happening across 23 states.

Here's a look at those elections by office type. In these battleground races, we'll name the major-party candidates and any minor-party or independent candidate who could affect the outcome. Every candidate in each race is listed on its linked article.

U.S. Senate

Ten of our top 50 elections are for the U.S. Senate. Republicans have a 53-45 majority in the chamber, with two independents who caucus with Democrats.

Four elections are for open seats:

• Abdul El-Sayed (D) and Mike Rogers (R) are running to succeed Sen. Gary Peters (D) in Michigan.
• Josh Turek (D) and Ashley Hinson (R) are running to succeed Sen. Joni Ernst (R) in Iowa.
• Chris Pappas (D) and John Sununu (R) are running to succeed Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D) in New Hampshire.
• James Talarico (D) and Ken Paxton (R) are running for the seat in Texas, which effectively became open after Sen. John Cornyn (R) lost the Republican nomination.

In two of the top 50 elections, the incumbent’s party lost the state in the 2024 presidential election:

• Sen. Susan Collins (R) and Troy Jackson (D) are running in Maine, which Kamala Harris (D) won in 2024.
• Sen. Jon Ossoff (D) and Mike Collins (R) are running in Georgia, which President Donald Trump (R) won in 2024.

In Ohio, Sen. Jon Husted (R) and Sherrod Brown (D) are running in the special election to complete the final two years of Vice President J.D. Vance’s (R) six-year term that began in 2023.

Sen. Daniel S. Sullivan (R), Mary Peltola (D), Gerald Heikes (R), and Dan J. Sullivan (No Party Affiliation) are running in the second U.S. Senate general election in Alaska to be held using ranked-choice voting (RCV).

Sen. Pete Ricketts (R) and Dan Osborn (I) are running for the seat in Nebraska, where no Democrat is on the ballot. Cindy Burbank (D), the Democratic nominee, withdrew in July. The Nebraska Democratic Party endorsed Osborn in August 2025.

Sen. Roger Marshall (R) and Adam Hamilton (D) are running for the seat in Kansas. Kansas currently has a Democratic governor and two Republican U.S. Senators and has not elected a Democratic U.S. Senator since 1932.

U.S. House

Ten of our top 50 elections are for the U.S. House of Representatives, where Republicans have a 218-214 majority with one independent who caucuses with Republicans. There are also two vacancies in the chamber.

Two elections are for open districts:

• Christina Hines (D) and Michael Bouchard (R) are running to succeed Rep. John James (R) in Michigan's 10th.
• Jamie Ager (D) and Jennifer Balkcom (R) are running to succeed Rep. Chuck Edwards (R), who withdrew from the race after the Republican primary, in North Carolina's 11th. Edwards ended his campaign in August after the U.S. House Committee on Ethics recommended he be censured following an investigation related to allegations of sexual misconduct.

Three elections are for districts that were redrawn ahead of this year's elections:

• Rep. Kathy Castor (D) and Mike Beltran (R) are running in Florida's 14th. Donald Trump won the redrawn version of the 14th in 2024 with 54% of the vote, while Kamala Harris won the previous version of the district with 53% of the vote.
• Rep. Monica De La Cruz (R) and Bobby Pulido (D) are running for Texas' 15th, which was redrawn to be more Republican-leaning. Donald Trump won the redrawn version of the 15th in 2024 with 58% of the vote, while he would have won with 59% in the old district.
• Rep. Max Miller (R) and Brian Poindexter (D) are running in Ohio's 7th. Donald Trump won by 11 percentage points in both the redrawn and previous versions of the district.

Three elections include first-term incumbents seeking re-election in districts they won by five percentage points or less in 2024:

• Rep. Tom Barrett (R) and Will Lawrence (D) are running in Michigan's 7th. Barrett won 50.3%-46.6% in 2024.
• Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R) and Bob Brooks (D) are running in Pennsylvania's 7th. Mackenzie won 50.4%-49.4% in 2024.
• Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R) and Paige Cognetti (D) are running in Pennsylvania's 8th. Bresnahan won 50.7%-49.1% in 2024.

Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R) and Rebecca Cooke (D) are running in a rematch for Wisconsin's 3rd. In 2024, Van Orden defeated Cooke 51.3% to 48.6%. It is one of 44 rematches in U.S. House races this year, which accounts for 10.1% of all races.

Rep. Mike Lawler (R) and Cait Conley (D) are running in New York's 17th, a Republican-held district that Harris won in the 2024 presidential election.

Governors

Five of our top 50 elections are for governor. Nationally, 26 governors are Republicans, and 24 are Democrats.

Four elections are for open seats:

• Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) and Rick Jackson (R) are running to succeed Gov. Brian Kemp (R) in Georgia.
• Amy Acton (D) and Vivek Ramaswamy (R) are running to succeed Gov. Mike DeWine (R) in Ohio.
• David Crowley (D) and Tom Tiffany (R) are running to succeed Gov. Tony Evers (D) in Wisconsin.
• In Alaska, Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins (D), David Bronson (R), Treg Taylor (R), and Bernadette Wilson (R) are running to succeed Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R). The election is the second gubernatorial general election in Alaska to be held using RCV.

Gov. Joe Lombardo (R) and Aaron Ford (D) are running for the seat in Nevada. In 2022, Lombardo defeated incumbent Steve Sisolak (D) 48.8% to 47.3%.

Attorneys general

Three of our top 50 elections are for attorney general. Nationally, 27 attorneys general are Republicans, 22 are Democrats, and one is officially nonpartisan.

Nicole Cannizzaro (D) and Adriana Guzmán Fralick (R) are running in the open race to succeed Aaron Ford (D) in Nevada.

Incumbent Josh Kaul (D) and Eric Toney (R) are running in a rematch in Wisconsin. In 2022, Kaul defeated Toney 50.6% to 49.3%. It is one of 12 rematches for state executive offices in 2026.

Incumbent Kris Mayes (D) and Warren Petersen (R) are running in Arizona. In 2022, Mayes defeated Abraham Hamadeh (R) by 280 votes.

Secretaries of state

Two of our top 50 elections are for secretary of state. Nationally, 25 secretaries of state are Republicans, and 22 are Democrats. Alaska, Hawaii, and Utah do not have a secretary of state.

Both elections are for open seats. Garlin Gilchrist II (D) and Anthony Forlini (R) are running to succeed Jocelyn Benson (D) in Michigan.

Beau Bayh (D), Max Engling (R), and Greg Ballard (I) are running for the office in Indiana, which effectively became open after incumbent Diego Morales (R) lost the Republican nomination.

Other state executives

Two of our top 50 elections are for other state executive offices.

One election is for an open seat. Ben Allen (D) and Jane Kim (D) are running to succeed incumbent Ricardo Lara (D) as California Insurance Commissioner. This race is the first time two Democrats have advanced from the top-two primary for the office.

Four candidates are running for two seats on the Georgia Public Service Commission, which has a 3-2 Republican majority. If both Democrats win, the party will gain a 3-2 majority on the commission. If both Republicans win, the party will have a 4-1 majority on the commission. The 2025 elections replaced the commission's 5-0 Republican majority with the 3-2 Republican majority.

State supreme courts

Three of our top 50 elections are for state supreme courts.

Amy Eddy and Dan Wilson are running to succeed Justice Beth Baker on the Montana Supreme Court. Although the Court is officially nonpartisan, Bolts described it as having a 4-3 liberal majority. If Eddy wins, the liberal bloc will retain its majority. If Wilson wins, the conservative bloc will gain a majority.

Justice Anita Earls (D) and Sarah Stevens (R) are running for the North Carolina Supreme Court, which has a 5-2 Republican majority. This election cannot change the court’s majority this year, but three more seats are up in 2028. Control of the court flipped from a 4-3 Democratic majority to a 5-2 Republican majority following the 2022 elections.

Justice Jill Pohlman, who Gov. Spencer Cox (R) appointed in 2022, is standing for retention on the Utah Supreme Court for the first time. Utah Republican Party Chair Robert Axon opposes Pohlman's retention. The Utah State Bar supports it. No incumbent has lost a retention election in Utah since at least 1990.

State legislatures

Twelve of our top 50 elections are for state legislative chambers. They cover both chambers in six states:

• Alaska: Bipartisan coalitions run both chambers.
• Arizona and Wisconsin: Republicans control both chambers, and the governor is a Democrat.
• Michigan: Democrats control the Senate, and Republicans control the House.
• Minnesota: The House is tied, and Democrats control the Senate.
• Pennsylvania: Democrats control the House, and Republicans control the Senate.

Local elections

Three of our top 50 elections are for local offices.

Incumbent Karen Bass and Nithya Raman are running for mayor of Los Angeles, California. Although the race is officially nonpartisan, both Bass and Raman are Democrats. The Los Angeles branch of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) has endorsed Raman, who is running to Bass' left. The Los Angeles County Democratic Party and Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) have endorsed Bass.

Four candidates, including two incumbents, are running for two at-large seats on the City Board of School Commissioners in Baltimore, Maryland. This general election is the second ever for seats on the board. Read more on this race below.

Six candidates are running for three seats on the Public Power District Board in Omaha, Nebraska. According to The Downballot’s David Nir and Jeff Singer, if three candidates who support clean energy win, they would join incumbents Craig Moody and Eric Williams to form a majority on the board.