Trump predicts 35 Senate seats will decide 2026 midterms
The president called the Tuesday election the most important in history while polling suggests Democrats hold an advantage in key chambers.
By Layla Fontaine ·
President Donald Trump declared the Tuesday midterms the most important elections in American history during a speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
The president concluded his final campaign rally of the cycle by standing before the memorial's reflecting pool. He spent a portion of the address detailing recent renovation projects in the capital and at the White House. Trump then shifted focus to the upcoming vote, stating that the Democratic Party has nominated the most radical and dangerous candidates in U.S. history.
During the campaign, Trump repeatedly accused Democratic challenger Abdul El-Sayed, who is running for Senate in Michigan, of being a jihadist and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. El-Sayed, if elected, would become the first Muslim senator in the nation. The president described the opposition field as dangerous and yihadist in his final remarks to supporters.
Trump made the speech after a 25-stop tour across multiple states over the preceding days. He focused his efforts on Republican strongholds that recent surveys indicate are leaning toward the Democrats. Those states include Texas, Iowa, and Kansas.
Voters will choose 35 members of the Senate, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives, and more than 30 state governorships on Tuesday. Local offices are also on the ballot in various jurisdictions.
Decision Desk HQ, a polling modeling firm, estimates Democrats have an 84% chance of taking control of the House of Representatives. That probability is five points higher than the figure from one week ago. The same model gives Democrats a 65% chance of regaining a majority in the Senate, an increase of eight percentage points from the previous week.
The election determines which party controls the legislative branch for the next two years. Republicans currently hold the majority in both chambers of Congress.
