Hotline’s 2026 Election Calendar

It’s an election year once again, with control of Congress and 36 governor’s races up for grabs. As the year begins, Democrats are favored to flip the House.

Here’s a brief breakdown of the key dates our congressional campaign correspondents are following throughout the next few months. In addition, check out Hotline’s full interactive Google calendar for the latest election news and notes.

January

The election season starts slowly with the Texas-18 special-election runoff on Jan. 31. Two Democrats advanced from the Nov. 4 special election to replace the late Rep. Sylvester Turner in Houston. The seat will have remained open for nearly 11 months.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp will also have to schedule a special election to replace Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, whose resignation was set to take effect on Monday.

March

Primary season kicks off with a slew of races in a pair of competitive Southern states on March 3. The marquee race is the Texas Senate GOP primary, where Sen. John Cornyn is fighting for his political life against two opponents who are more Trump-aligned. It seems increasingly likely that nobody will clear the 50 percent threshold to avoid a runoff in May. Further down the ballot, the redrawn congressional lines in Texas—coupled with the frustrations of serving in the modern House—have spurred nearly a dozen lawmakers toward the exit. These open seats could completely remake the Lone Star State’s congressional delegation.

On March 17, voters will head to the polls in Illinois in a handful of safe open House races and pick a Democrat to replace longtime Sen. Dick Durbin.

• March 3: Arkansas, North Carolina, Texas primaries
  • Competitive races to watch: N.C. Senate (open), N.C.-11 (R), N.C.-01 (D); Texas Senate (R)
  • Safe open races: Texas-08 (R), -10 (R), -19 (R), -21 (R), -22 (R), -30 (D), -33 (D), -37 (D), -38 (R)
• March 10: Mississippi primaries
  • Competitive races to watch: Miss. Senate (R)
• March 17: Illinois primaries
  • Safe open races: Ill. Senate, Ill.-02 (D), -04 (D), -07 (D), -08 (D), -09 (D)
• March 31: Arkansas primary runoff

May

May will see plenty of safe-seat primaries that will serve as de facto general elections, especially on SEC primary day, May 19. That day, voters will decide who will replace retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and retiring Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, and Georgia voters will choose a Republican to take on Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, the most vulnerable senator on the map. A week later on May 26, we’ll finally resolve the Texas runoffs.

• May 5: Indiana, Ohio primaries
  • Competitive races to watch: Ohio-01 (D), -09 (D), -13 (D), Senate special (R)
• May 12: North Carolina primary runoffs
• May 12: Nebraska, West Virginia primaries
  • Competitive races to watch: Neb.-02 (R-OPEN)
• May 19: Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Oregon, Pennsylvania primaries
  • Competitive races to watch: Pa.-07 (R), -08 (R), -01 (R), -11 (R), Ga. Senate (D), Ga. governor (open), Ky.-06 (R)
  • Safe open races: Ala. governor (R), Ky. Senate (R), Ga.-01 (R), -10 (R), -14 (R), Pa.-03 (D)
• May 26: Texas primary runoffs

June

June’s primaries will have the biggest impact on who will control Congress when the dust finally settles. Competitive races in Maine (June 9), New York (June 23), and Colorado (June 30) will solidify nominees in must-win races for both parties. Earlier in the month, on June 2, nearly every federal race in Iowa will have competitive contests.

• June 2: California, Iowa, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, South Dakota primaries
  • Competitive races to watch: Calif. governor (open), Iowa governor (open), Iowa Senate (open), Iowa-01 (R), -02 (R), -03 (R)
  • Safe open races: Iowa-04 (R), N.J.-12 (D)
• June 9: Maine, North Dakota, Nevada, South Carolina primaries
  • Competitive races to watch: Maine Senate (R), Maine governor (open), Nevada governor (R), Maine-02 (open)
  • Safe open races: S.C. governor (R), S.C.-01 (R), -05 (R)
• June 16: Oklahoma, Virginia primaries
  • Competitive races to watch: Va. Senate (D), Va.-01 (R), -02 (R), -07 (D)
• June 23: Maryland, New York, Utah primaries
  • Competitive races to watch: N.Y.-03 (D), -04 (D), -17 (R), -18 (D), -19 (D), -21 (open)
  • Safe open seats: N.Y.-12 (D), -07 (D), U.T.-04 (D)
• June 23: S.C. primary runoffs
• June 26: Ala. primary runoffs
• June 30: Colorado primaries
  • Competitive races to watch: Colo. governor (open), Colo.-08 (R)

August

The drag-out Democratic Senate primary in Michigan will finally come to a close on Aug. 4. The bitter race between Rep. Haley Stevens, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, and 2018 gubernatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed has already laid bare deep divisions within the party as the trio compete to take on Mike Rogers, the presumptive GOP nominee in the open race for the seat being vacated by Democratic Sen. Gary Peters. Michigan also plays host to five House races that could decide control of the lower chamber.

The Minnesota gubernatorial primary (Aug. 11) has new life after Democratic Gov. Tim Walz announced on Monday he would not seek reelection. Republicans could have a legitimate shot at flipping the race if they can nominate a candidate who can be competitive in the general election. Unfortunately for them, the Minnesota Republican Party is beholden to the whims of its base and has nominated not-ready-for-prime-time candidates in recent statewide elections.

• Aug. 4: Arizona, Kansas, Michigan primaries
  • Competitive races to watch: Ariz. governor (D), Kan. governor (open), Mich. governor (open), Mich. Senate (open), Mich.-08 (D), -07 (R), -10 (open), -11 (open) -04 (R), Kan.-03 (D), Ariz.-01 (open), -06 (R), -02 (R)
  • Safe open races to watch: Ariz.-05 (R)
• Aug. 6: Tennessee primaries
  • Competitive races to watch: Tenn.-05 (R)
  • Safe open seats: Tenn.-06 (R)
• Aug. 8: Hawaii primaries
• Aug. 11: Connecticut, Minnesota, Vermont, Wisconsin primaries
  • Competitive races to watch: Wis. governor (open), Minn. governor (open), Wis.-03 (R), -01 (R), Conn.-05 (D)
• Aug. 18: Alaska, Florida, Wyoming primaries
  • Competitive races to watch: Alaska Senate (R), Alaska governor (open), Alaska-AL (R), Fla. governor (R), Fla. Senate special (R)
  • Safe seats to watch: Wyo. Senate (R)

September

The last primary month of the year ends with a bang. On Sept. 1, Sen. Ed Markey will square off against Rep. Seth Moulton in the Democratic Massachusetts Senate primary. A week later, New Hampshire will hold its primaries, in which nearly every federal office is contested plus Democrats will duke it out to take on first-term GOP Gov. Kelly Ayotte.

• Sept. 1: Massachusetts primaries
  • Competitive primaries to watch: Mass. Senate (D), Mass.-06 (D)
• Sept. 8: N.H. primaries
  • Competitive primaries to watch: N.H.-01 (open), N.H. Senate (open), N.H. governor (R)

October

Congress’ last scheduled session day is Oct. 5, leaving members the rest of the month of campaign for reelection.

November

Voters will head to the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 3.