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Election Night 2026: What to Watch Hour by Hour (Eastern Time)

Facts checked Nov. 2, 2026 · Jamoke News does not project winners or call races; results link to the AP.

A viewer’s guide to election night, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026: when polls close in each state (Eastern Standard Time), and which Senate, governor and toss-up House races finish voting at each hour. Ratings are the Cook Political Report’s pre-election forecasts, not results; Jamoke News does not call races.

Senate toss-ups (Cook): Ohio, Maine, Michigan, Texas, Iowa, Kansas, Alaska. Democrats need a net gain of four seats for a majority. House: 218 seats for a majority; Cook rates 18 races as toss-ups. Senate math · All House toss-ups

Hour by hour (Eastern time)

Each race is listed under its state’s last scheduled poll closing (Alaska under midnight, when all but the western Aleutians close). In split-time-zone states (Florida, Michigan, Texas, Kansas and others), results can start appearing an hour earlier, when most of the state has closed. If you are in line when polls close, you can still vote.

6 p.m. ET

Polls close (last scheduled closing): Indiana (Eastern time), Kentucky (Eastern time)

No Senate, governor or toss-up House races on our watch list finish voting at this hour.

7 p.m. ET

Polls close (last scheduled closing): Florida (Eastern time), Georgia, Indiana (Central time), Kentucky (Central time), South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia

• Georgia Senate: Jon Ossoff (D) vs. Mike Collins (R), Cook Likely D · Georgia guide
• Georgia governor: Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) vs. Rick Jackson (R), Cook Toss Up
• Kentucky House toss-up: KY-06 Open (Barr)
• South Carolina Senate: Darline Graham (R) vs. Annie Andrews (D), Cook Lean R
• South Carolina House toss-up: SC-01 Open (Mace)
• Virginia House toss-up: VA-01 Wittman

7:30 p.m. ET

Polls close (last scheduled closing): North Carolina, Ohio, West Virginia

• North Carolina Senate: Roy Cooper (D) vs. Michael Whatley (R), Cook Likely D · North Carolina guide
• North Carolina House toss-up: NC-01 Davis
• Ohio Senate: Jon Husted (R) vs. Sherrod Brown (D), Cook Toss Up · Ohio guide
• Ohio governor: Amy Acton (D) vs. Vivek Ramaswamy (R), Cook Lean D
• Ohio House toss-up: OH-07 Miller

8 p.m. ET

Polls close (last scheduled closing): Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida (Central time), Illinois, Kansas (Central time), Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan (Eastern time), Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire (many polling places close at 7), New Jersey, North Dakota (Central time), Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota (Central time), Tennessee, Texas (Central time)

• Florida Senate: Ashley Moody (R) vs. Angie Nixon (D), Cook Likely R
• Florida governor: Byron Donalds (R) vs. David Jolly (D), Cook Lean R
• Florida House toss-ups: FL-14 Castor; FL-22 Open (Frankel)
• Maine Senate: Susan Collins (R) vs. Troy Jackson (D), Cook Toss Up · Maine guide
• Mississippi Senate: Cindy Hyde-Smith (R) vs. Scott Colom (D) vs. Ty Pinkins (I), Cook Likely R
• New Hampshire Senate: Chris Pappas (D) vs. John E. Sununu (R), Cook Lean D
• Pennsylvania House toss-up: PA-01 Fitzpatrick

8:30 p.m. ET

Polls close (last scheduled closing): Arkansas

No Senate, governor or toss-up House races on our watch list finish voting at this hour.

9 p.m. ET

Polls close (last scheduled closing): Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas (Mountain time), Louisiana, Michigan (Central time), Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota (Mountain time), South Dakota (Mountain time), Texas (Mountain time, El Paso area), Wisconsin, Wyoming

• Arizona governor: Katie Hobbs (D) vs. Andy Biggs (R), Cook Likely D
• Colorado House toss-up: CO-05 Crank
• Iowa Senate: Ashley Hinson (R) vs. Josh Turek (D), Cook Toss Up · Iowa guide
• Iowa governor: Rob Sand (D) vs. Zach Lahn (R), Cook Lean D
• Iowa House toss-up: IA-02 Open (Hinson)
• Kansas Senate: Roger Marshall (R) vs. Adam Hamilton (D), Cook Toss Up
• Kansas governor: Cindy Holscher (D) vs. Ty Masterson (R), Cook Toss Up
• Michigan Senate: Abdul El-Sayed (D) vs. Mike Rogers (R), Cook Toss Up · Michigan guide
• Michigan governor: Jocelyn Benson (D) vs. John James (R), Cook Lean D
• Michigan House toss-ups: MI-04 Huizenga; MI-07 Barrett; MI-10 Open (James)
• Minnesota Senate: Peggy Flanagan (DFL) vs. Michele Tafoya (R), Cook Lean D
• Nebraska Senate: Pete Ricketts (R) vs. Dan Osborn (I), Cook Lean R
• Nebraska governor: Jim Pillen (R) vs. Lynne Walz (D), Cook Lean R
• New York House toss-up: NY-17 Lawler
• Texas Senate: Ken Paxton (R) vs. James Talarico (D), Cook Toss Up · Texas guide
• Texas governor: Greg Abbott (R) vs. Gina Hinojosa (D), Cook Lean R
• Texas House toss-ups: TX-15 De La Cruz; TX-35 Open (Casar)
• Wisconsin governor: David Crowley (D) vs. Tom Tiffany (R), Cook Lean D

10 p.m. ET

Polls close (last scheduled closing): Idaho (Mountain time), Montana, Nevada, Oregon (Mountain time), Utah

• Montana House toss-up: MT-01 Open (Zinke)
• Nevada governor: Joe Lombardo (R) vs. Aaron Ford (D), Cook Toss Up

11 p.m. ET

Polls close (last scheduled closing): California, Idaho (Pacific time), Oregon (Pacific time), Washington

• California House toss-up: CA-22 Valadao
• Oregon governor: Tina Kotek (D) vs. Christine Drazan (R), Cook Lean D

Midnight ET

Polls close (last scheduled closing): Alaska (Alaska time), Hawaii

• Alaska Senate: Dan Sullivan (R) vs. Mary Peltola (D), Cook Toss Up · Alaska guide
• Alaska governor: Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins (D) vs. Dave Bronson (R) vs. Treg Taylor (R) vs. Bernadette Wilson (R), Cook Lean D

1 a.m. Wed. ET

Polls close (last scheduled closing): Alaska (Aleutian Islands)

No Senate, governor or toss-up House races on our watch list finish voting at this hour.

Sources: The Green Papers: 2026 poll closing times · 270toWin: 2026 poll closing times · Cook Political Report Senate ratings, Oct. 30, 2026 · Cook Political Report governor ratings, Oct. 29, 2026 · Cook Political Report House ratings, Oct. 30, 2026

Things that can slow the count

• Alaska: only first-choice votes are reported on election night; ranked-choice tabulation is scheduled for Nov. 18. Ranked-choice explainer
• Maine: the Senate race and the 2nd District use ranked-choice voting if no one tops 50% of first choices.
• Georgia: races where no one wins a majority go to a Dec. 1 runoff. Runoff rules
• Mail ballots: states that count mail ballots received after Election Day, such as California, can take days to finish.

Sources: Alaska Division of Elections: ballot counting schedule · Maine Secretary of State: ranked choice voting information · Georgia.gov: General election runoff, Dec. 1, 2026

Where to watch the results

• AP: 2026 election results: The Associated Press race calls most outlets use.
• How AP calls races: AP calls a race only when the trailing candidate has no path left to win.
• Fox News election results
• CNN election results
• NPR elections coverage
• Decision Desk HQ results
• Find your state election office: Official results come from each state, and they are certified days or weeks later.
• Jamoke News midterm hub: election-night headlines from outlets across the spectrum, refreshed every 30 minutes, and every 10 minutes in your browser on election night.

Poll closing times by state · When will we know the results?