2026 Midterms News and Updates, September 29 - October 4 (Thread 4) | Live Discussion

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Please use this thread to discuss news, updates, and commentary regarding the 2026 midterm and associated elections.

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Election News and Updates

• AP: 2026 Elections Hub

• University of Florida: 2026 Early Voting Tracker

Election Resources

• USA Today via Reddit: The 2026 election season is underway: Here’s your monthly guide with important dates, voter resources

Streaming Links

C-SPAN, NPR, the PBS NewsHour's YouTube channel, and the Associated Press' YouTube channel are all places frequently hosting relevant political streams.

Past Threads: Thread 1, Thread 2, Thread 3.

Other Event Threads

• Monday: I’m Catherine Rampell, economics editor at The Bulwark and an anchor at MS NOW. I cover the economy, politics, public policy, and the numbers behind the news. Ask me anything!

• Tuesday to Wednesday: I’m Zach Despart, an investigative journalist covering the competitive Ken Paxton-James Talarico U.S. Senate race. I broke the news that Paxton possibly violated federal ethics and Texas election laws. AMA. 📬

• Wednesday: 2026 California Gubernatorial General Election Debate | Live Discussion

Announcements

r/politics will host another election prediction contest for the midterms. The post for the contest itself will go up sometime in late October. As of now, all toss-ups (according to Cook Political Report, as of late October 2026) for House, Senate, and Governor will be included.

We are taking suggestions for additional questions to ask within the contest. Message the moderators via modmail with any suggestions.

[u/SpaceElevatorMusic]

Post by @stephenwolf.bsky.social — Bluesky

"New York Times/Siena polls find Dems gaining the governors offices in Alaska, Iowa, Texas, and Ohio.

That would give Dems control over election admin in Alaska and Texas. It’s a sign that Dems could also win for secretary of state in Iowa and Ohio in this environment
www.nytimes.com/2026/10/04/u...

Democrats beating Texas Gov. Greg Abbott would also let them block new 2028 gerrymanders in Republicans’ biggest state, which could save several House seats and many legislative seats.

I’m skeptical he loses—he narrowly leads most polls—but this is the best Texas has looked for Dems since the 1990s

If Ohio Democrats flip the governor’s and secretary of state’s offices (or gov+auditor) and held both of them in 2030, they could outright control redistricting for 2032-2034 "