Midterms Election Day; Iran war; Lindsay Clancy : NPR

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Election Day has arrived. This campaign has the biggest price tag in U.S. history. A record number of lawmakers are stepping down, setting the stage for Democrats to potentially regain control of Congress. All the while, President Trump’s popularity is at an all-time low. Here’s everything you need to know about today’s election, and four types of House races to watch as results come in. NPR has your guide for how to watch the results and when polls close, hour by hour.

• 🎧 The president’s unpopular policies have rocked the economy and made unexpected states like Arkansas, Kansas, Mississippi and Iowa crucial for deciding control of Congress, NPR’s Stephen Fowler tells Up First. Voters are concerned about the war in Iran, rising gas prices and issues like corruption. They expressed feeling neglected by Trump’s focus on grand events instead of their priorities. Both parties are investing heavily in numerous House races. Republicans’ closing message asked for two more years to fix issues, and Democrats argued they have already had too much time.
• 🎧 Trump said yesterday that if a portion of his supporters voted, they could win in a “landslide,” but he appeared to recognize the challenges ahead, NPR’s Franco Ordoñez says. He spoke in the past tense, which is unlike his usual bombast. Results could take days, and Trump’s team will closely monitor Republican turnout in crucial Senate races in places like Ohio, Kansas and South Carolina, where polls will close sooner. Strong turnout might ease Trump’s worries, but close races in South Carolina or Florida could signal a tough night for Republicans, Ordoñez says.
• ➡️ Race calls are crucial on election night. Here’s how NPR collaborates with the Associated Press to make them.
• ➡️ Just before Election Day, NPR conducted one final check-in with swing voters for its Swing Shift project. All of them have cast a vote for Trump in the past decade. They’re now rating his presidency while considering their choice when he isn’t on the ballot.
• ➡️ The U.S. Supreme Court rejected the Department of Justice’s last-minute request to intervene in its unprecedented feud with California over voter rolls. The DOJ sought to halt California from processing ballots for thousands of individuals identified as “likely” noncitizens.
• ➡️ The NPR App has all of NPR’s election coverage in one place — from the biggest stories across the country to the issues that matter close to home. Browse headlines, playlists, podcast episodes, videos and more, all on the 2026 Election tab.

Iran has been leveraging the U.S. midterms in its pressure campaign to push Trump back to negotiations. The elections could signal a possible return to conflict with the U.S. and Israel. The Associated Press reports that the U.S. conducted defensive strikes on Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz last night, including Qeshm Island, which is a key launch point for Iran’s strikes. While NPR could not independently confirm the details, Iran reported explosions on the island. This pattern of strikes has occurred several times in recent months, coinciding with heightened Iranian attacks on shipping vessels in the Strait.

• 🎧 Iranian officials say they prefer to return to negotiations. The country has offered to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in two days ahead of the seven it proposed in September, if the U.S. re-engages in talks, NPR’s Hadeel Al-Shalchi says. The Iranian inflation rate is around 90%, and residents are facing dire economic conditions alongside fears of potential bombings. As winter approaches, officials are urging millions of Iranians to conserve energy to avoid soaring natural gas prices. They say the country’s natural gas networks are unstable due to damage from the war. Al-Shalchi says Tehran is hoping it can wait out the U.S. election and possibly see Trump’s party lose control of Congress.