Short answers from analyst Cristina Crespo Palomares to the most common questions about US elections: what the midterms are, how the Electoral College works, what a swing state is, who can vote and how campaigns are funded. Each fact links to its official source.
The midterms are the US elections held two years after each presidential election, halfway through the presidential term. The presidency is not on the ballot. Voters elect the whole House of Representatives (all 435 seats) and a third of the Senate, along with many state offices, including 36 governorships.
So they serve as a referendum on the White House, and they decide which Congress the president will have to work with for the next two years. The 2026 midterms are on November 3.
Source: USAGov: Congressional and midterm elections
Tuesday, November 3, 2026. Federal law sets congressional elections on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November of every even-numbered year. So they never fall before the 2nd or after the 8th.
In Spain, they play out overnight: the first polls close at midnight, mainland Spain time, and most close between 1:00 and 5:00 a.m. on November 4.
Source: U.S. Code, Title 2, Section 7 (GPO) · Poll closing times, with each state's official source (in Spanish)
All 435 seats in the House of Representatives, whose members serve two-year terms, and 35 of the 100 Senate seats. Senators serve six-year terms, and about a third of the chamber is up every two years. Voters also elect 36 governors and many state and local officials.
Source: House of Representatives: The House Explained · U.S. Constitution, Article I (National Archives)
In the House of Representatives, 218 of 435. In the Senate, 51 of 100. If the Senate is tied 50-50, the vice president decides: under the Constitution, the vice president presides over the Senate and votes only to break a tie.
The Midterms 2026 special (in Spanish) tracks, week by week, how many seats each party needs to flip each chamber.
Source: U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 3 (National Archives) · Midterms 2026 special (in Spanish)
Almost always. Since 1934, the president's party has lost House seats in 20 of the 23 midterm elections. It gained seats only in 1934, 1998 and 2002.
When the president's party loses its majority in Congress, the president is usually described as weakened for the remaining two years of the term, because the White House has less room to maneuver.
Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB) · Office of the Historian, U.S. House of Representatives
This applies only to presidential elections. The president of the United States is not chosen by direct vote. Each state has as many electoral votes as it has members of Congress: two for its senators plus one for each of its House members, whose number depends on population. The District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.) gets 3 more. That makes 538 in all, and a candidate needs 270 to win. California has 54; North Dakota, 3.
In almost every state, the candidate with the most votes takes all of its electoral votes. Only Maine and Nebraska split them. That is why a candidate can lose the popular vote and still win the presidency, as happened in 2000 and 2016.
Source: National Archives: What is the Electoral College? · National Archives: Distribution of electoral votes, 2024 and 2028 · National Archives: Frequently asked questions (Maine and Nebraska)
A state whose vote is not decided in advance: sometimes the Democratic Party wins and sometimes the Republican Party does. Swing states are also called battleground states.
These are the states where the election is won or lost, so candidates pour their rallies, visits and campaign money into them, especially the ones with the most electoral votes. The list shifts over time as each state's population changes.
To vote in a federal election you must be a US citizen, be 18 by Election Day, meet your state's residency requirements and register to vote by the deadline your state sets. North Dakota is the only state that does not require registration.
Foreign nationals cannot vote, not even permanent residents with a green card. The rules for people with criminal convictions vary from state to state.
Source: USAGov: Who can and can't vote
Mostly with private money: large and small donations from individuals, support from the parties and contributions from political action committees (PACs). PACs are groups that raise money to support candidates or causes, and there are limits on how much they can give.
Super PACs, on the other hand, can raise and spend unlimited amounts, as long as they do not give money directly to candidates or coordinate their spending with them. All of them report to the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
Source: FEC: Political action committees (PACs) · FEC: Contribution limits
Less than people in Spain tend to think. The Founding Fathers wanted to avoid Europe's absolute monarchies, so they designed a system of checks and balances to keep any one branch from overpowering the others.
The US political system rests on three branches: the legislative (Congress), the executive (the president) and the judicial (the Supreme Court and the lower courts). The president needs Congress to pass laws and budgets, the Senate has to confirm presidential appointments, and the courts can block the president's decisions. That is why control of Congress after the midterms matters so much.
Source: U.S. Constitution, Articles I, II and III (National Archives)
Drawing the boundaries of electoral districts to favor one party. House districts are normally redrawn every ten years, after the census.
Since the summer of 2025, several states have redrawn their maps mid-decade, which is almost unheard of, and the new lines could decide a number of seats in 2026. The state-by-state details are in “La guerra de los mapas” [The map war], part of the Midterms 2026 special (in Spanish).
Source: La guerra de los mapas [The map war], with each state's source (in Spanish)
They are the categories that US election forecasters such as the Cook Political Report, Sabato's Crystal Ball and Inside Elections use to rate each race. Safe: one party has it practically won. Likely: a clear advantage, though not a decisive one. Lean: a slight advantage. Toss-up: neither party has the edge.
They are not polls. Each rating is the forecaster's own assessment, and it changes as the campaign goes on.
Source: Race ratings board, Midterms 2026 special (in Spanish)
A national poll that asks people which party they would vote for in the congressional elections, without naming any candidates. It measures the general mood before a midterm election, even though seats are won district by district.
Source: Midterms 2026 special: House of Representatives (in Spanish)
Overnight from November 3 to 4, 2026, mainland Spain time. The first polls close at midnight (Indiana). Georgia, Virginia and Florida close at 1:00 a.m.; Pennsylvania, Michigan and Texas at 2:00; Arizona and Wisconsin at 3:00; Nevada at 4:00; and California at 5:00.
By that date both countries are on standard time, and the US East Coast is six hours behind Spain.
The figures reported on election night are not official. They are provisional counts published by each state and projections from the Associated Press and the television networks, which call a winner once they calculate that the rest of the count can no longer change the outcome. Even with 100 percent of the vote counted, the result is still provisional.
Official results come days or weeks later, when each state finishes its final canvass and certifies the results. The canvass checks and adds up every valid vote, including mail, early, overseas and provisional ballots, and each state does this within the deadlines set by its own law.
Source: Poll closing times, with each state's official source (in Spanish) · U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC): Results, canvass and certification · Associated Press: How AP declares winners
Because what is decided in Washington reaches Spain through trade, defense and relations with Europe. Starting October 18, 2019, the tariffs from the Airbus dispute hit Spanish products such as olives, wine and cheese.
Congress also controls funding for military aid and sets the tone with NATO allies, and it can pass or block much of the White House's trade agenda.
Source: Federal Register, 84 FR 54245, Annex A (USTR)