Will the 2026 midterms happen? Short answer: Yes.
Long answer: Elections happen because thousands of local officials follow state and local laws requiring them to happen — and history shows they’ve done so before, even under immense pressure. The greater danger isn’t no election, but one that’s chaotic, unfairly challenged, or deliberately cast as illegitimate after the fact.
Watch the event recording below:
Got more questions about the midterms? Submit them to Votebeat reporters with your RSVP on Eventbrite, and they’ll give you the long answer live on July 13 at 5 p.m EDT.
Votebeat is a nonprofit newsroom specialized in explaining how elections work. Each of our reporters and editors spend every day covering voting rules, election administration, misinformation, election lawsuits, local officials, and the systems that determine how ballots are cast and counted. Ask them anything!
Live event: Will the midterms happen? Your election questions, answered
- Virtual webinar event
- July 13 at 5 p.m. ET
- RSVP for free on Eventbrite.
Jessica Huseman is Votebeat’s Editorial Director. She runs big initiatives for Votebeat, like our experts desk, and manages our investigations. She was previously the lead elections reporter for ProPublica, and helped manage the Electionland project for three federal election cycles, sharing information and tips with hundreds of newsrooms across the United States.
Dion Nissenbaum is a senior reporter for Votebeat National. He spent much of his career as a Wall Street Journal foreign and national security correspondent based in Afghanistan, Lebanon, Turkey, Belgium and Washington. He is a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist for international reporting. He is also a filmmaker, most recently of “Who Killed Shireen?” about the killing of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.
Natalia Contreras is a senior reporter for Votebeat Texas. She has covered a range of topics as a community journalist, including local government, public safety, immigration, and social issues. She previously worked at the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, the Indianapolis Star, and the Austin American-Statesman, where her reporting focused on the impacts of government policies on communities of color.
Carter Walker is a senior reporter for Votebeat Pennsylvania. He was previously a reporter at the LNP in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he covered political extremism, including election misinformation. After working at the Times West Virginian, he returned to Pennsylvania to cover government and politics with a focus on investigative work.
