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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>TIMEhttps://time.com/<!\[CDATA\[Breaking news and analysis from TIME.com. Politics, world news, photos, video, tech reviews, health, science and entertainment news.\]\]>Wed, 04 Nov 2026 10:35:07 +0000 en-US hourly 1<!\[CDATA\[Abdul El-Sayed Wins Michigan Senate Race, Making History as First Muslim Senator\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/abdul-el-sayed-michigan-senate-2026-midterm-elections-mike-rogers/<!\[CDATA\[Politics\]\]><!\[CDATA\[El-Sayed has defeated former Rep. Mike Rogers in Michigan’s open Senate race, making him the first Muslim elected to the United States Senate.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Progressive favorite Abdul El-Sayed has defeated Republican Mike Rogers in a bitter campaign for Michigan’s open Senate seat, giving the Democratic Party’s left wing a breakthrough victory in one of the nation’s most important swing states.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

Progressive favorite Abdul El-Sayed has defeated Republican Mike Rogers in a bitter campaign for Michigan’s open Senate seat, giving the Democratic Party’s left wing a breakthrough victory in one of the nation’s most important swing states.

Dr. [Abdul El-Sayed](https://time.com/article/2026/08/05/abdul-el-sayed-haley-stevens-michigan-democratic-senate-primary-election-result/), a progressive Democrat with a background in public health, has defeated former Representative [Mike Rogers](https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/midterm-elections-2026-key-races-live-results-polls-latest-news-updates/) in Michigan’s open Senate race on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press, making him the first Muslim elected to the United States Senate. 

His victory keeps the seat in Democratic hands, denying Republicans one of their best opportunities to blunt the Democratic wave that has defined this year’s midterm elections. The retirement of Senator Gary Peters, a Democrat, at the end of the current Congress had set up one of the country’s most competitive Senate contests in Michigan, a perennial battleground that President Trump carried by two percentage points in 2024.

**Read more:** [_10 Candidates Who Could Make History in the Midterms_](https://time.com/article/2026/10/30/midterms-senate-governor-elections-race-gender-religion-history-nationwide-firsts/)

The election of El-Sayed, 42, the son of Egyptian immigrants who was born and raised in suburban Detroit, represents a milestone in American politics and a potentially consequential shift within the Democratic Party. An outspoken critic of Israel who has championed an ambitious progressive agenda, he joins a growing [contingent of left-wing Democrats](https://time.com/article/2026/08/20/inside-dsa-reshape-democratic-party/) who have prevailed in elections this year. But unlike other prominent progressive victories in reliably Democratic districts, El-Sayed’s came in a closely divided statewide race where both parties have spent years competing for the support of working-class voters, suburban moderates, and an increasingly diverse electorate.

His win also offers Democrats a striking counterpoint to the argument, advanced by some of the party’s more moderate figures, that progressive candidates are too politically vulnerable to compete in battleground states. El-Sayed, who rejects the socialist label, prevailed despite a bruising campaign that exposed deep divisions among Democrats over Israel, drew millions of dollars in spending from pro-Israel groups, and culminated in an extraordinary rupture with his former primary opponent, Representative Haley Stevens, who endorsed Rogers just two days before the election.

**Read more:** [_Trump Invites Haley Stevens to Join GOP as Democrats Condemn Her ‘Betrayal’_](https://time.com/article/2026/11/02/haley-stevens-abdul-el-sayed-mike-rogers-endorsement-trump-republicans-democrats/)

## A campaign marked by personal attacks

The campaign had turned strikingly ugly in its closing weeks, with Trump and other prominent Republicans invoking Islamophobic stereotypes to portray El-Sayed as a threat to American security. He faced considerable heat for campaigning with Hasan Piker, the incendiary anti-Israel streamer who said that “America deserved 9/11” and that the U.S. was responsible for more terror than Al Qaeda. Some Jewish voters accused El-Sayed of trafficking in antisemitic rhetoric through criticism of Israel and his suggestion that American military assistance to the country had come at the expense of domestic priorities. (El-Sayed has rejected allegations of antisemitism, arguing that his criticism of the Israeli government should not be conflated with hostility to Jewish people). The accusations and counteraccusations reverberated across Michigan’s large Muslim and Jewish communities, turning an election already fraught with national implications into an unusually personal and painful contest. 

At a rally in Michigan nine days before the election, Trump baselessly described El-Sayed as a member of the Muslim Brotherhood—an Islamist political movement—and warned that his election would bring terrorists into the country. “If Abdul and the Democrats win, they will open the floodgates and invite hordes of jihadis to our shores, creating a nightmare of violence and terror until you cannot even have a Christmas,” Trump told thousands of supporters. The President also repeatedly called El-Sayed by his middle name—Mohamed, which critics described as a dog whistle—and told supporters that he wanted El-Sayed to go through a metal detector to enter the Capitol. The night before the election, Trump wrote on Truth Social: “Abdul El-Sayed Hates Jews and Hates Blacks. Don’t feel bad, he also Hates Whites.” The rhetoric underscored the extent to which El-Sayed had become a national target for Republicans this cycle.

Rogers, 63, a former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, also raised baseless allegations about El-Sayed’s family ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. El-Sayed has publicly disavowed the movement and denied allegations that he or his family has ties with itWhen Dave Portnoy, the founder of Barstool Sports, called El-Sayed a “terrorist,” Rogers responded on social media that Portnoy was “exactly right.” 

For El-Sayed, the attacks recalled doubts he had encountered long before entering politics. In [an interview with TIME](https://time.com/article/2026/07/08/democratic-senate-hopeful-abdul-el-sayed-is-running-against-two-parties/) in May, El-Sayed recounted a conversation with former President Bill Clinton after delivering a student commencement address at the University of Michigan in 2007\. Clinton, who had also spoken at the ceremony, suggested that the young graduate might consider running for public office one day. El-Sayed remembered laughing at the idea. “I don’t know if you saw my name,” he recalled telling Clinton. “It’s not going to work out for me.”

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt742c02dad379e9f5/6aea70c8b303e7d1ae40080d/GettyImages-2302741954.jpg?branch=main_v1)

Sen. Elizabeth Warren joins Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed at a campaign rally at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Mich., on Nov. 2, 2026\. Jeff Kowalsky—AFP/Getty Images

Nearly two decades later, El-Sayed has made history in a state where the political influence of Muslim Americans has grown considerably. His path to the Senate was hardly conventional. A graduate of the University of Michigan and a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford, El-Sayed earned his medical degree from Columbia University but did not practice medicine. Instead, he became an assistant professor of epidemiology at Columbia before taking leadership positions in public health in Detroit and Wayne County. In 2018, he mounted an unsuccessful campaign for governor of Michigan, drawing comparisons to former President Barack Obama with his charismatic public speaking.

El-Sayed sought to make his election for Senate a referendum on Trump, whose approval rating had fallen sharply in Michigan since his narrow victory there two years earlier. A [New York Times/Siena University poll](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/09/25/polls/times-siena-poll-mi-toplines.html) conducted in September found that just 34% of likely voters approved of the President’s performance. “Michigan knows Trump is on the ballot on Nov. 3,” El-Sayed said in the closing days of the campaign, arguing that voters would reject Rogers as a loyal supporter of the President.

Rogers had sought to establish some distance from the Trump Administration on issues that have proved unpopular in Michigan, including tariffs on Canadian goods and the ongoing war with Iran. In one campaign advertisement, the Republican declared that “Canada is not our enemy,” a notable departure from the President’s confrontational approach toward the neighboring country, whose economy is closely intertwined with Michigan’s automobile industry.

But Rogers struggled to escape the broader political environment confronting Republicans. His defeat suggested that the backlash against Trump had extended into a state that had helped return him to the White House, even as the President devoted considerable attention to the Senate contest.

## A progressive platform and divisions over Israel

El-Sayed campaigned on an expansive progressive platform that included Medicare for All, higher taxes on the wealthy, and a challenge to the influence of corporate money in American politics. His campaign cast the rising cost of living and the power of wealthy donors as interconnected problems, arguing that the political establishment had become more responsive to powerful financial interests than to the economic concerns of ordinary Americans. He will also arrive in Washington as one of the Senate’s most outspoken critics of Israel. 

The Detroit suburbs are home to some of the country’s most established Muslim and Jewish communities, whose members have long played important roles in Democratic politics. Those communities have experienced the past several years very differently, particularly since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel’s subsequent war in Gaza. In 2024, Arab and Muslim activists in Michigan helped organize the “Uncommitted” movement, encouraging Democratic primary voters to withhold their support from President Joe Biden in protest of his Administration’s backing of Israel. The campaign exposed tensions within the Democratic coalition that continued into the general election, when Trump carried Michigan. Two years later, El-Sayed’s candidacy gave many of those same voters a chance to elect a senator who shared their opposition to American support for Israel’s military operations.

El-Sayed has described the war in Gaza as a genocide and argued that American assistance to Israel should instead be directed toward domestic needs, including schools and health care. His positions placed him at odds with much of the Democratic establishment and made him a principal target of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the influential pro-Israel lobbying organization that spent tens of millions of dollars opposing him during the Democratic primary and continued its efforts in the general election.

El-Sayed told TIME in May that Israel has evolved into a kind of moral Rorschach test for American politicians. “If you can’t call it what it is,” he said, “which is a genocide, then how are you going to stand up to Donald Trump? How are you going to stand up to pharma CEOs?”

The same campaign that energized Muslim voters also unsettled many Jewish Democrats, some of whom believed El-Sayed’s rhetoric had contributed to an increasingly hostile atmosphere for their community. Those concerns were especially acute after a violent attack in March at Temple Israel, a synagogue in West Bloomfield, where a man drove a truck into the building, narrowly missing classrooms occupied by young children. El-Sayed condemned the attack but sparked outrage when he suggested in a social media video that “hurt people hurt people,” referring to the attacker’s loss of relatives in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon. He later apologized for the comments, but the episode remained a source of anger among Jewish voters who believed his remarks had appeared to rationalize an act of antisemitic violence.

## A Democratic rift over Israel

Lingering tensions complicated El-Sayed’s efforts to consolidate Democratic support after his narrow primary victory over Stevens, a more moderate Democrat who had received substantial backing from pro-Israel donors and party establishment figures. The two appeared together at a unity breakfast shortly after the August primary, but their relationship deteriorated over the following months. Stevens accused El-Sayed of failing to adequately confront antisemitism among his supporters and demanded that he condemn an advertisement produced by an allied political action committee that linked American support for Israel to rising grocery prices. El-Sayed eventually denounced the advertisement, but he also accused Stevens of trying to reopen their primary fight

As the dispute intensified, he publicly made clear that he did not want her joining him at a planned church appearance in Detroit on the final Sunday before the election. The next morning, Stevens stunned Democrats by arriving at the church alongside Rogers and announcing that she would vote for the Republican. “I’m here with the person who I am voting for for United States Senate and that is Mike Rogers,” she told reporters after the service.

The endorsement was an extraordinary act of defection by a sitting Democratic congresswoman, particularly in a race that both parties regarded as potentially decisive to control of the Senate.

El-Sayed sought to minimize the controversy, telling reporters that “none of this matters.” But the episode revealed the difficulty he faced in bringing together a coalition whose members held profoundly different views about Israel and the direction of the Democratic Party.

His election now raises questions about how the Democratic Party will accommodate a growing progressive faction whose positions on foreign policy, economic inequality, and the influence of wealthy donors increasingly challenge those of its traditional leadership.

For a Democratic Party still debating how to rebuild its coalition and confront Trump, El-Sayed’s victory is likely to become a touchstone in the argument over what kind of party Democrats want to become.

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=blt7c9fea3132e5d6db Wed, 04 Nov 2026 07:30:00 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Nik Popli\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Democrat Brian Poindexter Defeats Rep. Max Miller, Who Faces Domestic Abuse Allegations\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/democrat-brian-poindexter-defeats-rep-max-miller-who-faces-domestic-abuse-allegations/<!\[CDATA\[Politics\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Democrat Brian Poindexter, a union worker and local councilman, has beaten out Miller in the race for Ohio’s seventh congressional district.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Dustin Franz—Bloomberg/Getty Images\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Brian Poindexter, Democratic congressional candidate for Ohio, during a campaign event at UAW 1250 in Brook Park, Ohio, on Nov. 1, 2026.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b2be5cb7fa87953/6aea3e77222a3292e5657d1c/brian-poindexter-ohio-midterm-elections.jpg?branch=production)

Brian Poindexter, Democratic congressional candidate for Ohio, during a campaign event at UAW 1250 in Brook Park, Ohio, on Nov. 1, 2026\. —Dustin Franz—Bloomberg/Getty Images

Democrat Brian Poindexter, a union worker and local councilman, has beaten out Republican Rep. [Max Miller](https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/us-election-midterms-forecasters-analysis-house-race-ratings/) in the race for Ohio’s seventh congressional district in a race that became dominated by [domestic abuse allegations](https://time.com/article/2026/08/03/bernie-moreno-max-miller-ohio-abuse-allegations-congress/) against the incumbent. 

The AP called the race shortly before 1:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday.

Miller’s defeat comes after domestic abuse allegations, which he denies, shook his campaign, spurring Democrats to invest more in Poindexter’s bid despite President Donald Trump winning the district by 11 points in 2024.

Poindexter, 46, is an iron worker and member of the Brook Park City Council. He centered his campaign around targeting the kind of working-class voters he grew up around in a suburb near Cleveland’s airport. Much of his campaign platform centered around lowering the minimum age to qualify for Medicare, regulating data centers, and limiting funding for the war in Iran.

“I’m not in this to carry the flag for the Democratic Party,” he said in August. “I’m in this to flip a seat for working families.”

The tight House race received national attention over the controversy surrounding allegations against Miller. 

Miller’s ex-wife, Emily Moreno, had accused Miller of domestic violence, including throwing hot water on her, holding a gun to her head, and an allegation involving their daughter’s fractured collarbone. Miller, who denied all of the allegations, sued Moreno for defamation. Ultimately, a county prosecutor’s office found that, in the case of their daughter’s injury, there was “insufficient admissible evidence” to bring a case to a grand jury. 

Former White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham had also accused Miller of domestic abuse and misconduct during a romantic relationship during Trump’s first term and previously filed a temporary restraining order against Miller. Miller also denied those allegations. No criminal charges have been filed against Miller.

Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio, Miller’s former father-in-law, [said](https://time.com/article/2026/08/03/bernie-moreno-max-miller-ohio-abuse-allegations-congress/) that Miller should “seek public help” over the summer and joined Ohio’s other Senator, Republican Jon Husted, in calling for Miller to exit the race. 

**Read More**: [_Sen. Bernie Moreno Says Former Son-in-Law Max Miller Shouldn’t Serve in Congress_](https://time.com/article/2026/08/03/bernie-moreno-max-miller-ohio-abuse-allegations-congress/)

When asked over the summer whether his accusers were lying, Miller compared his situation to allegations that Trump faced during his 2016 presidential run. 

“He stayed in and was resilient,” Miller said of Trump, in a [CNN](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-aJoM74xH0) interview. “That is a quality that the American people cherish, and so for no second am I going to sit here and continue to be debased by false and baseless allegations.”

The House Ethics Committee announced in August it was actively [reviewing](https://ethics.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Press-Release-Rep.-Miller-8.4.26.pdf) allegations against Miller.

Miller, a former Marine, has served in the House since 2023\. He previously worked as a White House aide during Trump’s first presidential term. 

Ohio’s seventh district is located in the northeastern pocket of the state and stretches from the suburbs of Cleveland to Lake Erie and encompasses all of Medina, Wayne, and Ashland counties. 

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=blt133966b48bf38140 Wed, 04 Nov 2026 06:25:54 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Connor Greene\]\]><!\[CDATA\[What Just Happened in Texas Changes Everything\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/what-just-happened-in-texas-changes-everything/<!\[CDATA\[Politics\]\]><!\[CDATA\[The road to 2028 looks very different if Republicans can't count on Texas' 40 electoral votes.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[James Talarico just accomplished what no other Democrat in Texas has done in three decades: winning a statewide race.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

James Talarico just accomplished what no other Democrat in Texas has done in three decades: winning a statewide race.

On an Election Day when national Democrats had monumental momentum, the results in Texas were a breed apart and could reshape the road to the White House in 2028.

 Both [James Talarico](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/talarico-wins-texas-senate-race-first-democrat-to-win-statewide-in-more-than-30-years/) and [Gina Hinojosa](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/texas-governor-hinojosa-abbott-2026-midterm-elections/) broke the Republican Party’s hold in deep-red Texas. But the losses didn’t stop there. When all the ballots are counted, Texas Republicans may be on the receiving end of something approaching a wipeout. It’s a stunning turn that proves in one fell swoop that years of Democrats’ optimism in someday flipping Texas were not foolhardy. Even Texas Republicans gifted [last-minute gerrymandered districts](https://time.com/7307431/texas-democrats-flee-redistricting-trump/) in U.S. House races were not immune to the national mood. 

 For Democrats, it was a dividend long invested. Year after year, Democrats kept insisting that this would be the cycle that would break the Republican fever in the state. And year after year, they woke up the day after Election Day feeling like Charlie Brown trying to kick Lucy’s football.

Eight years ago, Democrats went all-in on Beto O’Rourke’s bid for Senate against incumbent Ted Cruz. O’Rourke came within three points of prevailing. Six years later, Cruz won another term by more than eight points.

Still, Democrats have long insisted that Texas is not a state of Republican voters. It’s a state of non-voters. Tuesday’s results finally proved that thesis.

 The shift could have seismic consequences for the 2028 presidential map. Texas has 40 votes in the Electoral College, or roughly 15% of the haul needed to win the White House. If Democrats can sustain their success in Texas, that suddenly means other traditional swing states could prove optional. And both parties may find themselves having to invest heavily in the massive and pricey state to pin down Texas’ electoral votes every four years. 

 Talarico’s win caps an intense Senate [race](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/talarico-wins-texas-senate-race-first-democrat-to-win-statewide-in-more-than-30-years/) that broke the nation’s longest statewide dryspell for Democrats, who last won statewide in Texas in 1994\. Talarico is also the first Democrat to be elected Senator by Texans since 1988\. Hinojosa is the first Democrat to win the Governor’s Office since 1990\. That was when the governorship was won by Democrat Ann Richards, who then lost it to George W. Bush, beginning a Republican hold on the state's executive seat that would last for three decades.

 Gov. Greg Abbott, a fixture in Texas politics dating to the 1990s who had amassed a massive warchest, lost. [Dan Patrick](https://www.texastribune.org/2026/11/03/texas-dan-patrick-vikki-goodwin-lt-governor-election-2026/), long seen as an invincible figure in Republican circles, was positioned to lose the powerful office of Lieutenant Governor. The state Attorney General could also end up going to a Democrat by the time all the votes are counted. Even seats on the Texas Supreme Court were positioned to flip blue, a first since 1994.

 It was a very good night for Democrats from coast to coast as voters resoundingly rejected Republicans’ embrace of President Donald Trump, whose polling on Election Day was at record lows. But it was particularly potent in Texas, thanks in no small measure to Trump’s intervention in the GOP primary to nominate the scandal-plagued Ken Paxton, the state’s outgoing attorney general. Even in Texas, 77% of voters said they were not adherents of MAGA, according to [exit polls](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-elections/texas-governor-results). The same surveys found more than half—54%—said Trump did not have the mental capacity to effectively do his job.

The night was also a massive defeat of billionaire Elon Musk, who spent $224 million on Texas races. That proved completely ineffective to keep his state tilted solidly Republican.

 Now, Republicans in Texas—and Washington—face the unenviable task of trying to consider how they could get to 270 electoral **votes** if Texas’ 40 aren’t a lock.

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=bltc2a6dbcaacd88512 Wed, 04 Nov 2026 06:21:39 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Philip Elliott\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Troy Jackson Defeats Susan Collins in Maine Senate Race\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/maine-democrat-troy-jackson-defeats-republican-senator-susan-collins/<!\[CDATA\[Politics\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Collins' loss delivers Democrats one of their most sought-after wins of the midterms\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Joe Raedle—Getty Images\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Troy Jackson greets people after being selected by the Maine Democratic Party to be their choice as the U.S. Senate nominee in Bangor, Maine, on July 25, 2026.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf3a4f4402d8c3886/6ae910ce222a32ca0e65766a/GettyImages-2287609957.jpg?branch=production)

Troy Jackson greets people after being selected by the Maine Democratic Party to be their choice as the U.S. Senate nominee in Bangor, Maine, on July 25, 2026\. —Joe Raedle—Getty Images

Troy Jackson, a logger and former president of the Maine Senate, defeated[ Republican Sen. Susan Collins](https://time.com/article/2026/10/26/in-maine-a-toss-up-senate-race-is-about-the-incumbent-and-not-much-else/), ending her three-decade tenure and delivering Democrats one of their most sought-after victories of the midterm elections.

Collins conceded to Jackson before the Associated Press called the race, the news agency reported.

“Maine, I owe you everything,” Jackson said. “I’m ready to get to work for Mainers in the U.S. Senate, and I promise you this: I’ll never forget where I came from or who I’m fighting for. Thank you. Let’s go build a government that works for all of us.”

Jackson, 58, became the Democratic nominee after oysterman Graham Platner dropped out in midsummer amid allegations of sexual assault, which Platner dismissed as [“categorically untrue.”](https://time.com/article/2026/07/08/graham-platner-drops-out-of-maine-senate-race-after-series-of-allegations/) While Platner briefly drew national attention for his charisma and grassroots following, Jackson cast himself as a working-class advocate from rural northern Maine, blaming Republican policies for a[ ](https://time.com/article/2026/09/11/us-diesel-prices-record-high-impact-groceries-american-consumers/)[lagging economy.](https://time.com/article/2026/09/11/us-diesel-prices-record-high-impact-groceries-american-consumers/)

In his abbreviated campaign, Jackson tied Collins to President Donald Trump and their party’s economic record, promising to make life more affordable. He also leaned on his own story of growing up poor in Allagash, a town of about 230 people, and rising to lead the state Senate. It proved to be a winning recipe.

“The throughline with Troy has always been fighting for the working class,” says Toby McGrath, a Democratic consultant who ran Barack Obama’s two statewide campaigns in Maine. “He’s always been a labor guy and he understands the shift in all those parts of Maine where the mills are gone, the unions are gone, people are moving out.”

While Collins tried to remind voters of the money and projects she’d delivered to the state as chair of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, Jackson argued such benefits didn’t outweigh the economic strain caused by Republican policies that Collins had supported.

The race got fiery in its final weeks as polls showed a neck-and-neck contest. Jackson became the subject of some criticism after [telling Collins to “shut up”](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/hsp6jpZXT5E) at a debate after she accused a protester of being a supporter of his campaign. And a super PAC aligned with Senate Republicans released a radio ad calling Jackson a “freak” and a “creep” over his relationship with his second cousin, with whom he has two sons. Collins distanced herself from the ad and called for its removal. 

Jackson comes from three generations of lumberjacks and started logging when he was 19 years old. He got his start in politics when Canadian loggers started crossing into Maine and picking up work ordinarily done by locals. He helped lead a blockade at the border to halt temporary workers from coming into the state and then, a few years later, decided to run for office. He was elected to the state Legislature in 2002, eventually becoming Senate president. Since the logging blockade, he’s been a fierce advocate for workers unions.

On other issues, like abortion and LGBTQ rights, his opinions have evolved. In his bid for the U.S. Senate, he embraced progressive ideas like abolishing ICE and supporting Medicare for All, [though he struggled in an interview with CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/18/politics/video/troy-jackson-maine-senate-sotu) to articulate how the government would pay for a universal plan.

Collins, the longest-serving female Republican Senator and the longest-serving member of Congress from Maine, had defied political headwinds before this year. She was re-elected by nine percentage points in 2020, even as former President Joe Biden carried the state by the same margin. Many prognosticators on both sides of the aisle thought the independent-minded electorate would give her another term.

But voters who had backed her in the past said they felt she’d become less independent than when she started in office and that the desire to shift control of Congress away from Republicans outweighed their goodwill toward her for the things she’s brought back home.

Mike Staggs, a 55-year-old museum worker from Mount Desert Island, says that when he first moved to Maine 37 years ago, Collins “was a lot more moderate.”

“In the last couple Administrations, she’s seemed less interested in Maine and more about moving up the ladder,” he tells TIME.

Marla O’Byrne, 70, an independent voter from Southwest Harbor who retired from working with nonprofits last year, also voted for Jackson. O’Byrne was CEO of Friends of Acadia, which raised funds for Acadia National Park. She calls Collins, whom she had voted for in the past, an engaged supporter of the organization but says that ultimately didn’t outweigh her desire for Democrats to take control of Congress.

“There are times where being middle of the road, being a moderate may be the best way to go but I don't think that’s where we are,” O’Byrne says. 

“I think we’re looking at more than what Maine needs,” she adds. “We’re facing an existential crisis as a democracy.”

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=blt398bf4d207642206 Wed, 04 Nov 2026 05:41:52 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Julia Terruso\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Democrat Gina Hinojosa Ousts Gov. Greg Abbott in Texas, Ending Decades of Republican Leadership\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/texas-governor-hinojosa-abbott-2026-midterm-elections/<!\[CDATA\[Politics\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Hinojosa will become the first Democrat to lead the state in decades, and Texas' first-ever Hispanic governor.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Brandon Bell—Getty Images\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate, State Rep. Gina Hinojosa waits to speak during a Block Walk midterm campaign rally in San Antonio, Texas, on November 1, 2026.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcfd426432eafe72e/6aeaad6122fa53f4d6676d3b/texas-governor-hinojosa-abbott.jpg?branch=production)

Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate, State Rep. Gina Hinojosa waits to speak during a Block Walk midterm campaign rally in San Antonio, Texas, on November 1, 2026\. —Brandon Bell—Getty Images

Republican Texas [Gov. Greg Abbott](https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2024/6965199/greg-abbott/) has been defeated by Democratic gubernatorial candidate and state Gina Hinojosa, a [stunning loss](https://time.com/article/2026/10/06/texas-governor-race-polls-abbott-hinojosa/) that marks the end of a long streak of [GOP leadership ](https://time.com/article/2026/09/17/trump-paxton-talarico-texas-senate/)in the state.

Texas has been led by Republican governors since 1995, when George W. Bush defeated then incumbent Democratic [Gov. Ann Richards](https://time.com/archive/6717599/ann-richards-winds-of-change-sweep-the-lone-star-state/). Richards was the last Democrat to win a governor’s race in the state, in 1990.

Hinojosa will also become the first Hispanic governor to lead Texas, which hosts the largest Latino population in the United States.

The AP called the race for Hinojosa Tuesday night.

During a concession speech Tuesday night, Abbott said that he had congratulated Hinojosa and thanked his staff and family for allowing him to become governor for 12 years.

“I love our state. It has been an honor to serve it,” Abbott said.

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt712fa84872f9ed84/6aeaae696b75ed66284ef461/texas-governor-hinojosa-abbott-midterm-elections.jpg?branch=production)

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks to the media after casting his ballot in the midterm elections outside Travis County Community Center in Del Valle, Texas, on October 19, 2026\. —Sergio Flores—Getty Images

The projected victory comes despite Republicans’ significant spending edge in the race. The Texas Tribune[ reported](https://www.texastribune.org/2026/10/27/texas-governor-election-abbott-hinojosa-campaign-finance-fundraising/) that Abbott has outspent Hinojosa nearly eight-to-one: According to campaign finance filings, his campaign dispensed $281 million to Hinojosa’s $36.8 million over the past year, from Hinojosa’s campaign launch on Oct. 15, 2025, to the end of this most recent reporting period. Abbott’s spending this cycle also more than doubles his $131 million outlay over the course his 2022 bid.

**Read More:** [_Talarico Wins Texas Senate Race, First Democrat to Win Statewide in More than 30 Years_](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/talarico-wins-texas-senate-race-first-democrat-to-win-statewide-in-more-than-30-years/)

Abbott, who has been governor of Texas for three terms, previously spent more than a decade on the bench in Texas’ judicial system. In 1995, then-Gov. Bush appointed Abbott to the Texas Supreme Court. He was then re-elected twice in the late ’90s.

He later served as the state’s attorney general for over a decade beginning in 20022, before running for Texas governor in 2014\. He won the seat that year by over 20 points against state Sen. Wendy Davis.

“​​If Greg Abbott, the Governor of Texas, hadn’t become a RINO in the last six months of his Political Life, he wouldn’t have lost,” President Donald Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social following news of Abbott’s loss. “He went back to his original formula, and it wasn’t pretty!”

Abbott is just one of a number of Republicans who have suffered defeats on Tuesday amid a wave of Democratic victories in long-red Texas that are sending shockwaves through the political world.

In another major upset called not long before Hinojosa’s win, [Democrat James Talarico](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/talarico-wins-texas-senate-race-first-democrat-to-win-statewide-in-more-than-30-years/) has defeated Trump-endorsed Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton in the state’s closely watched Senate race, becoming the first Democrat to win a statewide race in Texas in more than 30 years.

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=blt6eb7b318776c36b3 Wed, 04 Nov 2026 05:13:04 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Philip Wang\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Democrats Win Control of Both House and Senate in Huge Blow to Trump\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/democrats-win-control-of-senate-in-blue-wave-election/<!\[CDATA\[Politics\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Democrats won control of Congress in a midterm wave, gaining the power to block Trump’s nominees and derail his agenda.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

In a resounding rebuke of President Donald Trump and his Republican Party, Democrats will control both the House and Senate for the last two years of Trump’s presidency, cementing one of the strongest midterm showings for either party in decades.   
 The Associated Press called the upper chamber for Democrats late on Tuesday, after the party’s candidates secured victories in battleground races across the map. The outlet later called control of the lower chamber in the early hours of Wednesday morning as Democrats picked up more than two dozen seats.

 The milestone potentially sets up a new political dynamic in Washington. A President has not had to deal with a Congress completely controlled by the opposition party since the last two years of Barack Obama’s presidency. Congress now stands to be a true counterweight to the White House and its agenda. 

 Democrats needed to net four seats to claim the Senate majority—a tough task given the map this cycle clearly favored Republicans. But with wins in Texas**,** Ohio, North Carolina, Iowa, and Maine, Democrats achieved what most handicappers had treated as a long shot until just weeks before Election Day. Democrats in multiple toss-up Senate races managed to effectively harness a national mood against Trump, the economy and the Iran War to win in places initially deemed out of reach for the party. Outstanding Senate races in states like Michigan could potentially pad Democrats’ majority. 

**Read more**:[_How Trump’s Approval Compares to Other Presidents Just Before the Midterms_](https://time.com/article/2026/10/29/trump-approval-rating-midterm-elections-republicans/)

The new Senate is likely to be led by Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, who will regain his title of Senate Majority Leader from Republican Senator John Thune of South Dakota. While some Democrats have criticized Schumer’s leadership as minority leader over the past two years, it’s not clear if any Senators are prepared to challenge his leadership before the next Congress convenes in January.

The size of a possible Democratic majority in the House is still unclear as votes in many states were still being tallied, but signs of a significant Trump-centered backlash were popping up all over the country Tuesday night, potentially setting up the party to come away with a double-digit majority. Strategists with both parties had predicted for months that Republicans were unlikely to hold onto the House, where they could only afford to lose three seats.

House Democrats have vowed to use a House majority to aggressively investigate Trump, his Administration, and his allies, as well as push policy proposals they campaigned on, including ending the Iran War, undoing Trump’s tariffs and lowering the cost of living.

Likely Democratic control of the House would also mean the end of Mike Johnson’s speakership, with Democrats likely set to rally behind their leader in the House, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, to replace him. Jeffries would be the [first Black speaker](https://time.com/article/2026/10/30/midterms-senate-governor-elections-race-gender-religion-history-nationwide-firsts/) in U.S. history.  
  
**Read more:** [_10 Candidates Who Could Make History in the Midterms_](https://time.com/article/2026/10/30/midterms-senate-governor-elections-race-gender-religion-history-nationwide-firsts/)

Polls had been consistently pointing for months to the House flipping to Democrats. For well over a year, [nearly every poll](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/polls/congressional-vote-2026.html) from a reputable pollster asking voters which party’s candidate they intended to support showed Democrats with a clear advantage. But Republicans managed to hold their own or do better in fundraising, especially in pivotal battlegrounds for control of the Senate. And some Democrats as recently as this past weekend were worried that they may somehow still come up short.

Republicans spent much of the year trying to make the best of a bad environment. They constantly [claimed](https://time.com/article/2026/10/27/republicans-say-the-polls-are-wrong-could-that-be-true-/) the polls were all off, that Trump could still turn out his coalition that remade the modern GOP, and that Democrats’ overconfidence could depress their own turnout.

As Election Day neared, Republicans moved into triage mode. While they initially had planned to go on the offense against incumbent Democrats, those ambitions quickly evaporated as they shifted funding [away](https://www.politico.com/states/florida/whiteboard/2018/10/19/nrcc-pulls-money-out-of-co-06-puts-money-into-fl-27-657618) from flipping Democratic seats and toward shoring up Republicans in a wider array of districts. 

By late Tuesday, as exit polls started to paint a picture of the national mood, there were signs that many polls had likely under-estimated Democrats’ strength heading into Election Day. 

The new Democratic caucus in both chambers are poised to include many new faces, from those who ran as moderates to self-avowed [democratic socialists](https://time.com/article/2026/08/20/inside-dsa-reshape-democratic-party/) who ran as much against centrist leaders like Jeffries than Trump. Now starts the messy business of this new majority figuring out what they plan to do with their power. Trump will certainly be watching closely.

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=blt73e82cd06fd2fbc6 Wed, 04 Nov 2026 04:57:38 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Philip Elliott\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Talarico Wins Texas Senate Race, First Democrat to Win Statewide in More than 30 Years\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/talarico-wins-texas-senate-race-first-democrat-to-win-statewide-in-more-than-30-years/<!\[CDATA\[Politics\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Talarico is the first Democrat to win a statewide race in Texas since 1994.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[James Talarico just accomplished what no other Democrat in Texas has done in three decades: winning a statewide race.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

James Talarico just accomplished what no other Democrat in Texas has done in three decades: winning a statewide race.

James [Talarico](https://time.com/article/2026/09/30/can-james-talarico-make-texas-competitive-again/?utm%5Fsource=beehiiv&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fcampaign=newsletter-the-dc-brief) just accomplished what no other Democrat in Texas has done in three decades: winning a statewide race.

 Talarico cruised to victory against Ken Paxton, with the Associated Press calling the race late Tuesday. The outcome ends what had become one of the longest winning streaks in U.S. politics. Talarico is the first Democrat to [win a statewide race in Texas since 1994](https://time.com/7373241/james-talarico-jasmine-crockett-ken-paxton-john-cornyn-texas-senate-polls/). He is also the first Democrat to be elected Senator by Texans since 1988.

 Most polling heading into Election Day showed Talarico, a state legislator and seminarian, running ahead of Paxton, the scandal-plagued state Attorney General who has faced criminal inquiries and narrowly dodged an impeachment conviction by his fellow Republicans in Austin. Both in Texas and around the country, interest in the race was sky high. More than 7.7 million votes were cast ahead of Election Day

For many Texas Democrats, Talarico’s win is vindication in a longheld belief that demographics in that state were destiny. Democrats have argued for years that Texas wasn’t as Republican as election results suggested, but rather a state with so many non-voters that a Democrat could win with the right candidate and message. This cycle proved them correct, as [early vote numbers](https://time.com/article/2026/10/27/midterm-elections-early-voting-data-democrats-republicans-hispanic-voters/) matched the numbers during 2024’s presidential election and ran well ahead of the 5.1 million who voted early in 2022\. 

But Talarico certainly played a central piece in this history-making moment. A plain-spoken former Teach For America alumnus, his message was a blend of progressive optimism and faith-tinged evangelizing. Talarico worked to build an unlikely coalition that included plenty of folks who had been reliably Republican votes in the recent past. As clips of his speeches and interviews went viral he quickly became a political star with a national following, one who also became one of the cycle’s best fundraisers. 

**Read more**: [_How James Talarico Made Texas Competitive Again_](https://time.com/article/2026/09/30/can-james-talarico-make-texas-competitive-again/)

Both Paxton and Talarico fought for their party’s nominations in expensive primaries. The price tag for just ads in the race approached three-quarters-of-a-billion dollars. Outside spending brought $534 million in advertising, with Paxton enjoying a roughly 2-to-1 advantage. The bulk of that came courtesy of Elon Musk, the world’s richest person and a Texas resident. The ally of Trump flooded the state with $224 million of support for Paxton. The eye-popping outlay proved for naught.

Republicans never quite figured out how to campaign against Talarico. Trump gave him the nickname “Talafreako”—which Talarico’s campaign embraced and turned into campaign merch. The persistent rumor that he was a vegan in meat-loving Texas ricocheted in the MAGAverse but photos of Talarico eating barbecue quickly dispelled that. In the **race’s** final days, no less than Vice President J.D. Vance offered a crude joke that Talarico is gay. (He is not.)

While Talarico sought to expand Democrats’ tent, Paxton seemed to focus almost entirely on turning out his base with the help of Trump, who broke with party leaders in Texas and Washington and endorsed Paxton over incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn.

Republican strategists insisted that Cornyn would be in a far stronger position to hold the seat, particularly among fears of a blue-wave midterms. There were also concerns that Paxton would have trouble fundraising enough to match Talarico. 

As one GOP strategist bemoaned, every dollar spent holding the seat in Texas was a dollar that was not being used to flip seats in Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, or Georgia. Some estimates pegged a GOP rescue mission at [$250 million](https://time.com/article/2026/05/26/paxton-defeats-cornyn-trump-texas-talarico/). Even that whopping figure under-estimated the ultimate cost in a state bigger than most countries in size and population. 

Trump at first refused to endorse either Cornyn or Paxton in the race. Once the primary went to a May runoff, he formally backed Paxton, all but ending Cornyn’s political career. So worried were Republicans about holding the Texas seat that they scheduled the highly unusual midterm political convention in the state to try to gas their base. 

Even after endorsing Paxton, Trump’s support for the nominee was uneven. In speeches, he would waver between championing Paxton and making digs at his likeability and appearance.

 Paxton struggled with a clear message in the race. His tenure as the state’s Attorney General—once seen as a strength among a base that loved his fights against Democratic Administrations—became a liability as his accumulation of wealth during his years in public office drew allegations of cronyism. And he refused to debate Talarico, who pushed for such an event, even offering to let Fox News moderate it. 

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=blt94e304144bc02f3b Wed, 04 Nov 2026 04:04:17 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Philip Elliott\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Democrat Amy Acton Defeats Vivek Ramaswamy in Ohio Governor’s Race\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/amy-acton-ohio-governor-ramaswamy-midterm-election-bitter-race-against/<!\[CDATA\[Politics\]\]><!\[CDATA\[A divisive attack ad drew bipartisan condemnation before Acton’s victory delivered a significant blow to Republicans in Ohio.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Michael M. Santiago—Getty Images\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Dr. Amy Acton speaks at a campaign rally in Toledo, Ohio, on Oct. 29, 2026.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3a3907c3a1383fb5/6aeaad7b376c3657400d292f/GettyImages-2302608123.jpg?branch=production)

Dr. Amy Acton speaks at a campaign rally in Toledo, Ohio, on Oct. 29, 2026\. —Michael M. Santiago—Getty Images

[Dr. Amy Acton](https://time.com/collections/coronavirus-heroes/5816890/amy-acton-ohio-coronavirus/) will be Ohio’s next governor, defeating her Republican opponent [Vivek Ramaswamy](https://time.com/6305440/vivek-ramaswamy-interview-republican-primary/) in a heated race that has [gained national attention](https://abcnews.com/Politics/wireStory/democrat-ohio-governors-race-pushes-back-unattributed-ad-137424257) in recent weeks over a controversial attack-ad against the Democrat.

On Tuesday evening, AP called the race for Acton, who previously served as the director of the state’s health department during the COVID-19 pandemic, reporting that she won 50.8% of the vote with 86% of votes counted.Ramaswamy, who was backed by President Donald Trump, earned 45.9% of the vote, according to AP.

Acton’s victory marks the first time in two decades that Ohioans have elected a Democrat to the governorship. It represents a significant blow to Republicans, who initially liked their chances in a state that the President won by double digits in the 2024 election.

## Ramaswamy attack ad sparks widespread controversy

The race, which was an open battle since current Republican Gov. Mike DeWine was restricted from running again because of term limits, took a striking turn in the lead-up to Election Day. The [Cook Political Report](https://www.cookpolitical.com/governor/race/479566) had previously rated the race as “Lean Republican,” but later adjusted its analysis and marked it a “Toss Up.” On Oct. 23, though, the Cook Political Report shifted the race slightly in Democrats’ favor to “Lean Democrat.”

The election forecaster [attributed](https://www.cookpolitical.com/analysis/governors/ohio-governor/ohio-gov-race-toss-lean-democrat) its latest assessment in part to an attack ad released by Ramaswamy’s campaign in October. The ad featured Acton’s estranged mother, who lost custody of Acton and her brother in 1978,the same year that their stepfather was indicted on charges of raping Acton when she was a child.

It sparked backlash across the political aisle. Acton’s brother, Philip Stearns, described the ad as “a despicable low.”

“It’s not surprising that Vivek Ramaswamy has stooped to such a despicable low as to attempt to turn the sexual abuse Amy endured at twelve years old from our birth mother’s husband into a political talking point,” Stearns said in a [statement](https://actonforgovernor.com/dr-amy-actons-brothers-statement-on-ramaswamy-platforming-their-estranged-and-abusive-mother/). “This desperate, disgusting attack reveals exactly who Vivek Ramaswamy is at his core—a pathetic excuse for a man who is willing to hurt anyone as long as it gets him what he wants.”

The state’s current Republican governor said that the ad was “deeply, deeply troubling” and “just plain wrong,” calling for Ramaswamy’s campaign to rescind it. DeWine maintained, nonetheless, that he still endorsed Ramaswamy and “the whole \[Republican\] ticket.”

But Ramaswamy, who launched an unsuccessful bid for the Republican nomination in the 2024 election, doubled down on the ad. Both Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance [defended him](https://time.com/article/2026/10/21/ramaswamy-s-ad-of-acton-s-estranged-mom-jolts-ohio-races-across-the-ballot/) in the wake of the outrage.

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=blt9282ecd082e2bcec Wed, 04 Nov 2026 04:02:54 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Chantelle Lee\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Annie Andrews Flips South Carolina Senate Seat in Stunning Upset\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/south-carolina-senate-results-darline-graham-democrat-annie-andrews-republican/<!\[CDATA\[Politics\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Democrat Annie Andrews defeated Darline Graham in South Carolina’s Senate race, flipping the late Lindsey Graham’s seat.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Democrat Annie Andrews has defeated GOP Sen. Darline Graham in the race for the Senate seat long held by the late Lindsey Graham.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

Democrat Annie Andrews has defeated GOP Sen. Darline Graham in the race for the Senate seat long held by the late Lindsey Graham.

Democrat [Annie Andrews](https://time.com/article/2026/09/30/your-questions-about-voting-in-the-2026-midterm-elections-answered/) has defeated GOP Sen. [Darline Graham](https://time.com/article/2026/07/13/darline-nordone-lindsey-graham-sister-south-carolina-senate-trump-mcmaster/) in the race for the Senate seat long held by the [late Lindsey Graham](https://time.com/article/2026/11/02/south-carolina-senate-midterm-elections-lindsey-graham-darline-annie-andrews/).

Andrews’ victory was a stunning result in a deeply red state that has not elected a Democratic senator this century. In the weeks leading up to Election Day, polling indicated that the battle, which months ago was expected to be a win for Republicans, had become a toss-up.

AP called the race after Andrews won 50.6% of the vote with 93% of the vote counted by Tuesday evening. Darline Graham, meanwhile, earned 47.2% of the vote.

"South Carolina, you have shown the nation — in an era of partisan divides, of vitriol and namecalling, in a politics dominated by billionaires, special interests, and insiders in Washington — that we will not bow down," Andrews said [in a statement](https://x.com/AnnieAndrewsMD/status/2117825007342793075) after AP called the race. "We will not back down. And we will chart our own course." 

Political experts [previously told TIME](https://time.com/article/2026/11/02/south-carolina-senate-midterm-elections-lindsey-graham-darline-annie-andrews/) that the stakes of the South Carolina race changed significantly after former Sen. Lindsey Graham [died](https://time.com/article/2026/07/12/the-world-pays-tribute-to-sen-lindsey-graham/) in July. A month before his death, the longtime Republican Senator clinched the party’s nomination by double digits and was widely expected to win re-election in November.

After his death, his sister, Darline Graham, was [appointed](https://time.com/article/2026/07/13/darline-nordone-lindsey-graham-sister-south-carolina-senate-trump-mcmaster/) by South Carolina’s governor to take over the rest of his term. President Donald Trump repeatedly [urged](https://time.com/article/2026/07/18/graham-nordone/) her to run for a full term, and she later [announced](https://time.com/article/2026/07/20/darline-graham-nordone-lindsey-graham-senate-south-carolina-republican-primary/) that she would run for the seat in this midterm election.

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt549c797942586409/6aeaa030c44d5d76c90cc929/GettyImages-2302753811.jpg?branch=main_v1)

Darline Graham speaks at a campaign event at the Beacon Drive-In in Spartanburg, S.C., on Nov. 2, 2026\. Allison Joyce—Getty Images

But the field to replace Lindsey Graham as the GOP nominee was crowded, and no candidate in the special Republican primary in August earned enough of the vote. The two candidates who received the greatest portion of the vote—Darline Graham and Rep. Ralph Norman—advanced to a runoff election later in August, which Darline Graham [won](https://time.com/article/2026/08/26/darline-graham-nordone-runoff-south-carolina-special-gop-senate-primary/) by less than 5 points. 

Experts [told TIME](https://time.com/article/2026/11/02/south-carolina-senate-midterm-elections-lindsey-graham-darline-annie-andrews/) that the primary divided the Republican party, with some of Norman’s supporters expressing their displeasure with Darline Graham and indicating that they may not vote for her in the general election. Norman himself said that, while he planned to vote for Darline Graham, he had no intention of joining her on the campaign trail.

## Darline Graham criticized over lack of political experience

Darline Graham, who had never held an elected office prior to taking over her late brother’s seat, has also been criticized for her minimal political background, particularly after what many described as a poor debate performance against Norman ahead of the runoff over the summer. When she was asked a question about Taiwan and the South China Sea, Darline Graham replied by saying “I’m not that informed on national security,” sparking backlash from members of her own party.

Adding to the pressure on Darline Graham’s campaign is the fact that the political environment for Republicans across the country has been challenging in this election cycle. Typically, the party in the White House loses seats in midterms, and Republicans were also dealing with a historically unpopular President, with Trump’s approval rating falling to 30% last month, according to the Pew Research Center.

Andrews, a pediatrician, secured the Democratic nomination in June, winning the primary by double digits. She secured bipartisan endorsements leading up to Election Day, including from two former governors in the state, one of whom is a Democrat and the other a Republican, who were featured in a campaign video for Andrews.

Scott Huffmon, a professor of political science at Winthrop University and director of the Center for Public Opinion & Policy Research, [previously told TIME](https://time.com/article/2026/11/02/south-carolina-senate-midterm-elections-lindsey-graham-darline-annie-andrews/) that Andrews was running a strong campaign, saying that she “gins up excitement wherever she goes.”

Political experts have also pointed to Andrews’ fundraising success, while Darline Graham’s campaign faced fundraising challenges. 

This was Andrews’ first Senate campaign, but she previously launched an unsuccessful bid for the House, when she ran against Rep. Nancy Mace in 2022.

The Senator-elect also makes history as the first woman from South Carolina to be elected to the upper chamber. While Darline Graham is currently serving in the Senate, she wasn’t elected to the role, but rather was appointed by the state’s governor.

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=blt1a87699b88138cc1 Wed, 04 Nov 2026 03:44:02 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Chantelle Lee\]\]><!\[CDATA\[When Will We Know the Results of the Midterm Elections?\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/2026-midterm-elections-polls-close-results-when/<!\[CDATA\[Politics\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Election Day is underway, but it could be days, or even weeks, before it becomes clear which party will control Congress.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

[Election Day](https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/midterm-elections-2026-key-races-live-results-polls-latest-news-updates/) has nearly come to an end, with tens of millions of voters having flocked to the polls around the U.S. Through a series of stunning victories, Democrats have been projected to take back control of both chambers of [Congress](https://time.com/article/2026/10/30/the-key-congressional-races-to-watch-on-election-night/). 

Many key races that fell in favor of Democrats were called on Tuesday night, including wins in [Texas](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/talarico-wins-texas-senate-race-first-democrat-to-win-statewide-in-more-than-30-years/), [Kansas](https://time.com/article/2026/11/02/kansas-senate-2026-midterm-elections-adam-hamilton-roger-mashall/), [South Carolina](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/south-carolina-senate-results-darline-graham-democrat-annie-andrews-republican/), [Iowa](https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/midterm-elections-2026-key-races-live-results-polls-latest-news-updates/), and more. Other, tighter contests could take multiple days—if not longer—to determine a winner. It all boils down to the states, which the U.S. Constitution empowers to establish the times, places, and manners of holding elections and counting ballots.

Certain states are known for having shorter count times, such as Florida. Others typically take longer, like California, due to its size, and Alaska, where ranked-choice voting can make the process of certifying votes more complicated.

“There are all these differences, both in process and deadlines, and geography, and who the voters are, and who the candidates are, that make a difference in what this looks like,” Mitchell Brown, a professor of political science at Auburn University and the author of “How We Vote: Innovations in American Elections,” tells TIME.

**Read more:** [_The Key Congressional Races to Watch on Election Night_](https://time.com/article/2026/10/30/the-key-congressional-races-to-watch-on-election-night/)

Mitchell says that it could take up to 30 days before all the states certify their results. She stresses that official midterm results released by the states themselves are different from projections from media outlets, which will call races sooner.

“It's really important for everyone to understand that what happens on election night when we're watching TV or looking online, and we're seeing races called, those are predictions by media outlets. They're not the official results,” adds Chris Mann, the research director at The Center for Election Innovation & Research. “With close elections, we may end up not knowing who the winner is until we get to those official certifications that every vote has been counted.”

Here’s what to know about how the midterm votes will be tabulated, and when we are likely to know the results. 

## When do the polls close?

Polls open and close at varying times in different states around the country, with most closing their polls around 7 p.m. or 8 p.m. local time. Because the U.S. is divided across several time zones, however, those closures are spread over several hours on Election Day. And in some cases closing times vary even between different parts of the same state.

Here is when the latest polls close in each of the 50 states and Washington, D.C., in Eastern Standard Time.

_7 p.m._ _EST_: Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vermont, and Virginia.

_7:30 p.m. EST_: Ohio and West Virginia. 

North Carolina also typically closes its final polls at this time, but due to minor technical issues reported in some localities on Tuesday—which have since been resolved—the state’s board of elections has [extended voting hours](https://www.ncsbe.gov/news/press-releases/2026/11/03/state-board-extends-voting-5-precincts-4-counties) in some precincts.

_8 p.m. EST_: Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Washington, D.C. 

In Pennsylvania, most polling sites will close at 8 p.m., but in [three precincts](https://www.chesco.org/156/Voter-Services?os=ioxa42gdub5U1ENqic) they will stay open for an additional half hour “due to machine set-up issues” that delayed the opening of those polls this morning, according to Chester County officials. 

**Read more:** [_The 7 Key Governor Races to Watch in the Midterm Elections_](https://time.com/article/2026/10/21/governor-races-to-watch-in-the-midterms/)

_8:30 p.m. EST:_ Arkansas.

_9 p.m. EST_: Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

_10 p.m. EST_: Montana, Nevada, and Utah.

_11 p.m. EST_: California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington state.

_Midnight_ _EST_: Hawaii.

_1 a.m. EST_: Alaska

## How are ballots counted?

After their respective polls close, states must verify and count ballots that were cast in various ways, including those made in person during the early voting period and on Election Day, mail-in ballots, and provisional ballots. 

Depending on the state, ballots are either counted right at voting locations, or transported back to county counting facilities. Mann says these facilities are like warehouses containing machines that can quickly and accurately count votes. 

**Read more:**[_8 Senate Races the Forecasters Can’t Agree On_](https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/us-election-midterms-forecasters-analysis-senate-race-ratings/)

Provisional ballots allow people to vote who fail to meet certain eligibility requirements that can later be verified. If, for example, someone arrives at a polling site and does not have their ID, they may be able to vote through a provisional ballot that can then be counted if and when they have verified their identity.

Brown says the process of confirming provisional ballots is called “curing” and can add additional time to the tallying process. 

Fourteen states and Washington D.C. also allow ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted if they are received during a set post-election window, which can also add delays to final vote counts.

## Why does it take longer to get results from some states than others?

It will take significantly longer for the results of the election to be officially tabulated—or even projected by media outlets—in some states than in others. 

When it comes to the media calling races, projections may take longer to come in cases when races are tight, and the winner does not become clear until nearly all the votes are counted.

“If there is a high margin of victory, they can make that projection sooner,” Wren Orey, who runs the Elections Project at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a policy think tank, tells TIME. “Whenever there's a very narrow margin of victory, that means that election officials need to process and report more results before a media outlet can be confident projecting a winner.”

In terms of the actual process of states counting votes, meanwhile, differences in speed can boil down to physical factors, such as the distance ballots must be transported before being counted. In states such as Alaska, for instance, vast and rural territories create delays for counting ballots. “There are sometimes ballots being flown back to Anchorage in order to be processed,” says Orey. They add that some states may also simply have more infrastructure to count ballots, including more machines, employees, and counting locations. 

State laws governing how votes are cast and counted can also play a role in the timeline of election results. Alaska and Maine, for example, use ranked-choice voting, a process in which voters rank their top candidates instead of choosing one person for a position. Mann describes this method as a “more complicated process” in tight races, where ballots may need to be recounted due to one candidate not receiving an outright majority in the first or even subsequent rounds of counting. 

“If no candidate has a majority on that first count, then they drop the candidate with the lowest number of votes, and they go through it again,” Mann explains. 

**Read more:** [_12 House Races That Forecasters See Going Different Ways_](https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/us-election-midterms-forecasters-analysis-house-race-ratings/)

Other states, like Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, prohibit preparing mailed ballots for scanning until Election Day.

“Those are two of several states that don't start this process until the morning of Election Day, and they will have hundreds of thousands of ballots,” to prepare to be counted while running the polls at the same time, Mann says.

## Fraud is extremely rare

The process of confirming election results taking days or weeks, Mitchell says, is completely standard, and is not an indication of election fraud, which research and state audits have consistently shown to be extraordinarily rare. 

“The thing that I would hammer home is not knowing an official result the day of the election, the day after the election, even a week after the election, is not evidence of fraud,” says Mitchell. “And to say so is to misconstrue and manipulate people.”

**Read More**: [_Trump Claims Mail-In Voting Is ‘Corrupt.’ But Research Indicates Fraud Is Very, Very Rare_](https://time.com/article/2026/03/20/mail-voting-absentee-voter-fraud-trump-claims-research/?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com)

“\[Fraud\] is extremely rare … Elections are more secure, more accurate than they have ever been,” adds Mann. “Election officials and your friends and neighbors who are out working the polls are working incredibly hard. They are very dedicated to make sure the election is safe, secure, accurate.”

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=blt8bebec012003267a Tue, 03 Nov 2026 22:09:50 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Connor Greene\]\]><!\[CDATA\[How Astronauts Are Casting Their Midterm Votes From Space\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/how-astronauts-are-casting-their-midterm-votes-from-space/<!\[CDATA\[Politics\]\]><!\[CDATA\[For some Americans, the process of casting their ballot is a little more complex than heading to the local school or library.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

Millions of voters across the country are [heading to the polls Tuesday](https://time.com/live/2026/11/03/midterm-elections-2026-key-races-live-results-latest-news-updates/) to cast their ballots in the crucial midterms, which will define the final two years of President Donald Trump’s presidency.

But for some Americans, the process of casting their ballot is a little more complex than heading to the local school or library. What happens if you’re further afield—say, in space?

That’s the case for Anil Menon, an American astronaut currently based at the International Space Station (ISS). Sharing his experience in a [video](https://x.com/astro%5Fanil/status/2117625618200219782) for social media, Menon said he had “the privilege of being able to vote here as well, just like you on the ground.”

Menon, who launched aboard the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft in July, pointed out his room, which “doubles as a voting booth,” for all intents and purposes. 

“Inside is my computer, where I was able to fill out an electronic form, and send it to Harris County,” he said, while floating inside the laboratory. (Harris County is home to NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center.)

Menon’s fellow U.S. crewmembers—Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, who [launched](https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasas-spacex-crew-13-launches-to-international-space-station/) to the ISS via a SpaceX rocket last month—were also able to vote.

Like any other Americans who will be away from home, astronauts are able to fill out a Federal Post Card Application to request an absentee ballot. 

Once an astronaut fills out an electronic ballot aboard the ISS, the document “flows through NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System to a ground antenna” at a test facility, according to a [NASA](https://www.nasa.gov/general/how-nasa-astronauts-vote-from-space-aboard-international-space-station/) description shared in 2024.

From there, the votes are then sent to Mission Control Center in Houston, Texas, and then on to the relevant county clerk responsible for handling the individual ballot. To ensure privacy, the ballot is encrypted and can only be accessed by the astronaut and county clerk.

American astronauts have been voting from space since 1997, when the Texas Legislature passed [a bill ](https://hro.house.texas.gov/pdf/ba75r/hb0841.pdf)that allowed NASA astronauts to cast ballots from orbit.

David Wolf is credited as [the first American astronaut to vote from space.](https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/11/voting-from-space/506960/) He did so while aboard the Mir Space Station.

“I voted alone up in space, very alone, the only English speaker up there, and it was nice to have an English ballot, something from America,” Wolf told _The Atlantic_ in 2016\. “It made me feel closer to the Earth and like the people of Earth actually cared about me up there.”

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=blt28a370730ff8f0ce Tue, 03 Nov 2026 19:46:54 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Callum Sutherland\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Democrats Win House and Senate: Live Election Updates\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/midterm-elections-2026-key-races-live-results-polls-latest-news-updates/<!\[CDATA\[U.S.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Trump has congratulated Democrats while insisting the results are not a rebuke of his presidency.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said his party had retaken control of Congress as election results favored them across the US.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said his party had retaken control of Congress as election results favored them across the US.

## Here’s what to know

* Democrats won the House and Senate, including by flipping key Senate seats in Iowa, [Kansas](https://time.com/article/2026/11/02/kansas-senate-2026-midterm-elections-adam-hamilton-roger-mashall/), [Maine](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/maine-democrat-troy-jackson-defeats-republican-senator-susan-collins/), Ohio, North Carolina, [South Carolina](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/south-carolina-senate-results-darline-graham-democrat-annie-andrews-republican/), and [Texas](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/talarico-wins-texas-senate-race-first-democrat-to-win-statewide-in-more-than-30-years/).
* A number of candidates have [made history](https://time.com/article/2026/10/30/midterms-senate-governor-elections-race-gender-religion-history-nationwide-firsts/) with their election victories, including the first Black female governor, first Muslim Senator, and more.

---

## The midterm historymakers

###### Nov 4, 4:30 AM

Several election-winners on Tuesday have broken historic identity barriers for the U.S.

New Hampshire Democrat Chris Pappas will be the first openly gay male Senator. Michigan Democrat Abdul El-Sayed will be the first Muslim U.S. Senator. Minnesota Democrat Peggy Flanagan will be the first Native American female Senator. Georgia Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms will be the first Black female governor. New Mexico Democrat Deb Haaland will be the first Native American female governor. And Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, after Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress, could become the first Black Speaker of the House.

Read the full story [here](https://time.com/article/2026/10/30/midterms-senate-governor-elections-race-gender-religion-history-nationwide-firsts/). — _Chad de Guzman_

## Progressive Democrat Abdul El-Sayed wins battleground Michigan Senate race

###### Nov 4, 2:40 AM

Dr.[ Abdul El-Sayed](https://time.com/article/2026/08/05/abdul-el-sayed-haley-stevens-michigan-democratic-senate-primary-election-result/), a progressive Democrat with a background in public health, has defeated Republican former Rep.[ Mike Rogers](https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/midterm-elections-2026-key-races-live-results-polls-latest-news-updates/) in Michigan’s open Senate race on Tuesday, according to the Associated Press, making him the [first Muslim](https://time.com/article/2026/10/30/midterms-senate-governor-elections-race-gender-religion-history-nationwide-firsts/) elected to the United States Senate.

The election of El-Sayed, 42, the son of Egyptian immigrants who was born and raised in suburban Detroit, represents a milestone in American politics and a potentially consequential shift within the Democratic Party. An outspoken critic of Israel who has championed an ambitious progressive agenda, he joins a growing[ contingent of left-wing Democrats](https://time.com/article/2026/08/20/inside-dsa-reshape-democratic-party/) who have prevailed in elections this year.

Read the full story [here](https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/abdul-el-sayed-michigan-senate-2026-midterm-elections-mike-rogers/). — _Nik Popli_

## Elon Musk reacts to midterm election results

###### Nov 4, 2:25 AM

"Guess my election-interfering space lasers didn’t work this time," Elon Musk, the world's richest man, [posted](https://x.com/elonmusk/status/2117862767831159287) on his platform X early Wednesday.

The on-and-off ally of President Donald Trump poured a tremendous amount of money into the Republican effort to retain their congressional majorities: The New York _Times_ previously [reported](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/11/02/us/politics/elon-musk-midterm-spending.html) that Musk contributed some $474 million into the midterms, making him the single largest disclosed donor in modern American politics.

In a [separate post](https://x.com/elonmusk/status/2117862462976594112), Musk, who is the CEO and part-owner of companies Tesla and SpaceX, wrote: "Data centers in space looking pretty appealing right now." Democrats, who will take control of both chambers of Congress, have made the AI boom and data centers a [key campaign issue](https://time.com/article/2026/10/29/ohio-data-center-revolt-upending-midterms/). — _Chad de Guzman_

## Trump on blue wave: 'I don't view it as a hit on me'

###### Nov 4, 1:25 AM

The AP has called the House majority for Democrats, having already called the Senate majority for the same party. Moments earlier, President Trump congratulated Democrats on their Election Day success in a phone interview with Fox News, but he went on to say that he didn't think the blue wave was a rebuke of his presidency.

"They did a good job. They’ve been looking for this one for 11 years, and they finally got it," Trump [said](https://x.com/FoxNews/status/2117853402096963771) about Democrats. "But I don’t view it as a hit on me. I think we’ve done ... We’ve had the greatest two years in the history of the presidency.”

This year's midterm election has been described by many politicians and political experts as a referendum on the Trump Administration. About a month before Election Day, Trump's approval rating [fell to a historic low](https://time.com/article/2026/10/29/trump-approval-rating-midterm-elections-republicans/) of 30%, according to the Pew Research Center. — _Chantelle Lee_

## Incumbent GOP Rep. Max Miller loses amid domestic violence allegations

###### Nov 4, 1:25 AM

Democrat Brian Poindexter has defeated two-term incumbent Republican Rep. Max Miller, whose campaign was roiled by domestic violence allegations from his ex-wife and former White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham, whom he worked and shared a romantic relationship with during Trump's first term. Miller has denied all wrongdoing.

Both Ohio Senators, including Miller's former father-in-law, urged Miller to exit the race. The House Ethics Committee announced in August it was actively [reviewing](https://ethics.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Press-Release-Rep.-Miller-8.4.26.pdf) allegations against Miller.

Poindexter, a union worker and local councilman, appealed to working-class voters and centered his campaign around lowering the minimum age to qualify for Medicare, regulating data centers, and limiting funding for the war in Iran. — _Connor Greene_

## GOP Sen. Susan Collins concedes to Democratic challenger

###### Nov 4, 1:10 AM

Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who has represented Maine in the U.S. Senate for nearly three decades, lost her re-election bid to her Democratic challenger Troy Jackson, the AP has called—the latest stunning result in a midterm election that has become a blue wave.

AP reported that Collins conceded the race to Jackson before the news outlet had officially called it. Jackson, a logger and former president of the Maine Senate, posted a victory statement on[ social media](https://x.com/TroyJackson207/status/2117851473346253044) early Wednesday morning, before the race was officially called by AP.

"Maine, I owe you everything," he said. "I’m ready to get to work for Mainers in the U.S. Senate, and I promise you this: I’ll never forget where I came from or who I’m fighting for. Thank you. Let’s go build a government that works for all of us."

A victory by Jackson would not just be remarkable because he's unseating a five-term Senator but also because he entered the race relatively late, after Graham Platner, who won the Democratic primary, [withdrew](https://time.com/article/2026/07/08/graham-platner-drops-out-of-maine-senate-race-after-series-of-allegations/) from the race in July amid allegations of sexual assault, which he denied. — _Chantelle Lee_

Read the full story of Jackson's victory [here](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/maine-democrat-troy-jackson-defeats-republican-senator-susan-collins/).

## All polls have closed

###### Nov 4, 1:00 AM

All polls in the U.S. have closed. Polls in Alaska and Hawaii were the last to close, at 1 a.m. and midnight EST, respectively. — _Connor Greene_

## Trump rages against blue wave

###### Nov 4, 12:15 AM

The President railed against Democrats' victories in the midterms on Tuesday evening in a series of Truth Social posts.

Shortly before midnight, Trump [posted](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117556328694376584) a photo of a red hat reminiscent of the ones often worn by MAGA supporters and by the President himself—but this one had the word "Veto" printed on it. The image appears to be a threat that the President will use his veto power against the House and the Senate, the latter of which AP called for Democrats on Tuesday evening. AP has not yet called control of the House, but other news outlets have projected that Democrats will win the majority in the lower chamber as well.

In another social media post, Trump levied an attack against Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who lost his re-election bid to Democratic candidate Gina Hinojosa on Tuesday evening—a stunning result in a state that has not elected a Democrat governor since 1990.

Trump had endorsed Abbott in the race. But after Abbott's loss on Tuesday, the President accused the Texas governor of being a "RINO," which stands for "Republican In Name Only."

"If Greg Abbott, the Governor of Texas, hadn’t become a RINO in the last six months of his Political Life, he wouldn’t have lost," Trump said in a [Truth Social post](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117556309377726931). "He went back to his original formula, and it wasn’t pretty!"

A few minutes later, the President posted again, saying, "I’m going to become a Political Pundit, both good and bad, on the reasons these Candidates won and lost!" — _Chantelle Lee_

## Democrats have won the Senate, AP calls

###### Nov 4, 12:00 AM

AP called the Senate for Democrats shortly before midnight, in a stunning rebuke of the Trump Administration and the Republican Party.

As of Tuesday evening, AP has called 51 seats in the upper chamber for Democrats and 39 for Republicans. AP has yet to call 10 races for the upper chamber. The news outlet hasn’t yet called the House majority for Democrats, but others, including CNN, have projected that Democrats will win control of the lower chamber. Democrats capturing both chambers of Congress would mark only the fifth time since World War II that a political party was able to flip both the Senate and the House in a midterm election. — _Chantelle Lee_

Read the full story [here](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/democrats-win-control-of-senate-in-blue-wave-election/).

## House Democrats celebrate election gains

###### Nov 3, 11:50 PM

House Democrats are rejoicing over their election victories, including projections from CNN and NBC that they have regained control of the chamber. The AP has not yet called the majority.

In Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ election-night headquarters just south of the Capitol, a crowd of roughly 100 people erupted in cheers when CNN announced the projection. Supporters broke into chants of “Jeffries! Jeffries! Jeffries!”

Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington state, who chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said in the headquarters: “The American people have spoken decisively all across the country. They have had enough of the broken promises from house Republicans, and they are ready for new leadership in Congress, and they're going to get it.” — _Chad de Guzman with reporting contributed by Nik Popli_

## Democrat Josh Turek wins key Senate pick-up in Iowa

###### Nov 3, 11:45 PM

Democratic state representative Josh Turek has been elected as U.S. Senator for Iowa, the AP called, beating Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson to take the seat to be vacated by GOP Sen. Joni Ernst, who is retiring after two terms.

Turek, a paralympian gold medalist, is the first Democrat Iowa has sent to the Senate since Tom Harkin was re-elected in 2008\. — _Chad de Guzman_

## House Democratic Leader hails ‘great American comeback’

###### Nov 3, 11:40 PM

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries hailed a "great American comeback" in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday night after several outlets projected that Democrats had won back the lower chamber.

"America is back...I learned very early on that a setback was nothing more than a setup for a comeback. Today begins the great American comeback," he said. "This is not a partisan moment. This is a patriotic one. This is not a blue moment or a red moment. It's a red, white, and blue moment because America has won tonight." — _Connor Greene_

## Adam Hamilton becomes first Kansas Democrat elected to Senate in nearly a century

###### Nov 3, 11:35 PM

For the first time since 1932, voters in Kansas have elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate.

Democrat Adam Hamilton, a United Methodist pastor, has won the Senate race, AP called on Tuesday evening, defeating the Republican incumbent Sen. Roger Marshall. Marshall, who had been seeking a second term, had been backed by the President. He is among several GOP Senate candidates, including Sen. Darline Graham, who received Trump's endorsement in this midterm cycle—but were still toppled by their Democratic opponents on Tuesday evening.

Read the full story [here](https://time.com/article/2026/11/02/kansas-senate-2026-midterm-elections-adam-hamilton-roger-mashall/). — _Chantelle Lee_

## Texas Governor Greg Abbott loses to Democrat Gina Hinojosa

###### Nov 3, 11:25 PM

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has been defeated by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa, the AP has called.

Abbott’s stunning defeat marks the end of a long streak of Republican governorship since 1995, including George W. Bush who governed Texas from 1995 to 2000 before becoming President.

Abbott, who has been governor of Texas for three terms, previously spent more than two decades in the Texas judicial system. In 1995, then-Governor Bush appointed Abbott to the Texas Supreme Court. He was then re-elected twice in the late 90s. In 2014, he ran for Texas governor and won by more than 20 points against state senator Wendy Davis. — _Philip Wang_

## Democrat James Talarico flips Texas Senate seat

###### Nov 3, 11:10 PM

John Cornyn, the outgoing Republican senior Senator for Texas, congratulated Democratic candidate [James Talarico](https://time.com/article/2026/09/30/can-james-talarico-make-texas-competitive-again/), the state representative who defeated GOP nominee Ken Paxton for Cornyn’s seat.

“The voters have spoken, and I want to extend my congratulations to James Talarico on his election to the U.S. Senate,” Cornyn [posted](https://x.com/JohnCornyn/status/2117823831515504793) on X, before the AP had called the race, though it did less than an hour later. “I look forward to meeting him and offering my assistance with his transition as he prepares to serve Texans in the U.S. Senate.”

Talarico is the first Democrat to win a statewide race in Texas since 1994 and is also the first Democrat to be elected Senator by Texans since 1988\. — _Chad de Guzman_

Read the full story [here](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/talarico-wins-texas-senate-race-first-democrat-to-win-statewide-in-more-than-30-years/).

## Trump tells _Times_ that he will accept election results

###### Nov 3, 11:05 PM

The President told the [New York _Times_](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/11/03/us/politics/trump-midterm-election-results.html)on Election Night that he will accept the results of the midterms.  
"I am absolutely willing to accept those results," he told the news outlet. "We’ll work with the Democrats, and we’ll, you know, look forward to working with them. We’ll probably work something out." — _Chantelle Lee_

## All 48 states in the contiguous U.S. close, leaving Alaska and Hawaii polls still open

###### Nov 3, 11:00 PM

Polls in California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington have closed, leaving only those outside of the contiguous U.S. in Alaska and Hawaii.

California’s 22nd district, a toss up race between incumbent Republican Rep. David Valadao and Democrat Randy Villegas, presents a pick-up opportunity for Democrats. The state’s 48 district is also leaning towards Democrats flipping an open Republican-held seat.

Oregon’s gubernatorial race, where Tina Kotek seeks reelection, is also a competitive race, and leans Democratic. — _Connor Greene_

## Democrat Amy Acton wins Ohio governor’s race

###### Nov 3, 10:55 PM

Democratic candidate Dr. Amy Acton will be Ohio’s next governor, the AP called, defeating the Trump-backed Republican Vivek Ramaswamy in a heated race.

The race entered the national spotlight in the lead-up to Election Day after Ramaswamy’s campaign released a controversial attack ad against Acton that featured her estranged mother. While the President and Vice President defended Ramaswamy amid backlash generated by the ad, other members of the Republican Party slammed the campaign for the move.

Acton’s win is a stunning result in a state that has not elected a Democrat to the governor’s residence in 20 years.

Read the full story [here](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/amy-acton-ohio-governor-ramaswamy-midterm-election-bitter-race-against/). — _Chantelle Lee_

## Trump rails against election results

###### Nov 3, 10:50 PM

The President seemed to express his frustration with the results coming in on Election Night.

"I wasn't on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!" he said in a [Truth Social post](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117556082339815131).

The midterms have largely been viewed as a referendum on Trump’s presidency, which faces record-low approval ratings. — _Chantelle Lee_

## Democrat Annie Andrews flips South Carolina Senate seat in stunning upset

###### Nov 3, 10:45 PM

In South Carolina, Democratic Dr. Annie Andrews will defeat Republican Sen. Darline Graham for a seat in the U.S. Senate race, the AP has called—a stunning upset in a staunchly red state that has not elected a Democrat to the upper chamber this century.

The race for the seat, was upended after longtime Sen. Lindsey Graham died unexpectedly in July. His sister, Darline Graham, was appointed by the South Carolina governor to finish out the rest of her brother's term. At the urging of the President, Darline Graham later announced her intention to run for a full term in the midterms.

But polls leading up to Election Day showed that the race was a much closer fight than it was before Lindsey Graham's death, when he was running for re-election. Andrews, a pediatrician, received widespread support from the Democratic party and even secured bipartisan endorsements, while Darline Graham faced criticisms from within her own party over her minimal political background.

Read the full story [here](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/south-carolina-senate-results-darline-graham-democrat-annie-andrews-republican/). — _Chantelle Lee_

## Voters in Virginia pass abortion rights amendment

###### Nov 3, 10:15 PM

Voters in Virginia passed an [amendment](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1224850.PDF) to the state’s constitution that creates multiple protections for reproductive health.

The amendment constitutionally protects abortions taking place during the first two trimesters of pregnancy and provides protections for pregnant women’s health later in their pregnancies, among other rights regarding fertility health.

“Every individual has the fundamental right to reproductive freedom,” the amendment says, including decisions related to “prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, contraception, abortion care, miscarriage management, and fertility care.”

Two other abortion rights protection measures are on the ballots in Idaho and Nevada, while another measure in Missouri would repeal abortion rights protections voted for in 2024\. — _Connor Greene_

## Polls begin to close in the West

###### Nov 3, 10:00 PM

Polls have closed in Montana, Nevada, and Utah, with some but not yet all in Idaho and Oregon.

Montana and Nevada are home to closely watched House races. Republican Aaron Flint is facing off against Democrat Sam Forstag in Montana’s first district, where Democrats have a chance to flip a seat being vacated by Republican Ryan Zinke in a race deemed a toss up. In Nevada’s second district, Republican David Flippo and Democrat Teresa Benitez-Thompson are competing for retiring Republican Rep. Mark Amodei’s position in a race favoring Republicans.

Also in Nevada, Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo faces Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford in a toss up. Lombardo had come under fire during his campaign after video showed him using his name in a traffic stop before being let go without a ticket. — _Connor Greene_

## New polls show major shift to Democrats among young voters, Latinos

###### Nov 3, 9:45 PM

New polls conducted in all 50 states show that the Democratic Party is expanding its lead among young voters and Latino voters.

The polls, [conducted](https://ssrs.com/ssrs-solutions/voter-poll/#:~:text=2026%20Methodology%20Statement) by SSRS in partnership with a consortium of media outlets, [show](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-elections/exit-polls) a sharp Democratic shift among young voters: 71% of those ages 18 to 29 identify as Democrats, compared with 25% as Republicans. In 2024, Democrats led Republicans among that age group by 54% to 43%.

Latino voters have also shifted toward Democrats, with 60% identifying as Democrats and 35% as Republicans. That 25-point advantage is up from a [five-point lead in 2024](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-elections/exit-polls), when the split was 51% to 46%.

The poll surveyed more than 100,000 at voting locations, online, and by telephone. — _Philip Wang_

## Keisha Lance Bottoms elected governor of Georgia

###### Nov 3, 9:30 PM

Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms has won the Georgia gubernatorial race, beating Republican billionaire Rick Jackson to replace the term-limited GOP Gov. Brian Kemp.

The Associated Press called the race at 9:24 p.m. ET. Bottoms’ victory also flips the state, marking the first time Georgia has had a Democratic governor since 2003.

A former mayor of Atlanta and a former Biden Administration official, Bottoms’ election [makes](https://time.com/article/2026/10/30/midterms-senate-governor-elections-race-gender-religion-history-nationwide-firsts/) her the state’s first Black and first female governor, as well as the U.S.’s first Black female governor. — _Chad de Guzman_

## Several more polls close in the final hours of Election Day

###### Nov 3, 9:00 PM

The latest polls have now closed in Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Iowa marks another key Senate race to replace outgoing Republican Sen. Joni Ernst. In one of the tightest races this midterm cycle, Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson, a former broadcast journalist, is facing off against Democratic state Rep. Josh Turek, a paralympic gold medalist.

Trump won Iowa by 13 points in 2024, but the race is considered a toss up.

Other key Senate races are taking place in Nebraska, which leans Republican, and in Minnesota, which leans Democratic. — _Connor Greene_

## Republican Ashley Moody secures full Senate term in Florida, defeating state Rep. Angie Nixon

###### Nov 3, 8:58 PM

Incumbent Republican Sen. Ashley Moody has defeated democratic socialist state Rep. Angie Nixon in Florida’s special Senate election.

The Associated Press called the race for Moody, who entered the Senate last year after being appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to replace Secretary of State Marco Rubio when he left the position to join the Trump Administration in Washington.

Moody was forecasted to win by the Cook Political Report, which categorized the race as “likely Republican.” 

Nixon had called for Moody to be arrested during the campaign over accusations that she mishandled taxpayer funds as the state’s attorney general. Moody has denied wrongdoing. — _Connor Green_

## Florida Democrats win in two House districts redrawn in Republicans’ favor

###### Nov 3, 8:43 PM

Two Florida Democrats have won in House districts that were recently redrawn in Republicans’ favor, The Associated Press has called.

Rep. Kathy Castor has won more than 51% of the vote, with 97% of votes counted by Tuesday evening,[ AP reported](https://apnews.com/projects/elections-2026/florida-us-house-results/#14), successfully securing an 11th term in Florida’s 14th District. Republican Mike Beltran, who was previously a state legislator and attorney, has earned less than 46% of the vote.

Rep. Jared Moskowitz has won more than 51% of the vote in Florida’s 25th District, defeating his Republican opponent Scott Singer, a previous mayor of Boca Raton who earned less than 47% of the vote,[ AP reported](https://apnews.com/projects/elections-2026/florida-us-house-results/#25), with 96% of the vote counted. Moskowitz currently represents the 23rd Congressional District in the House. —   _Chantelle Lee_

## Democrat Roy Cooper flips Senate seat in North Carolina

###### Nov 3, 8:37 PM

Democrat Roy Cooper has flipped a key Senate seat in North Carolina, defeating Republican Michael Whatley to claim the open seat being vacated by Republican Sen. Thom Tillis. 

Cooper's win marks a key pick up for his party in its fight to wrest back control of the upper chamber from Republicans.

Cooper, a former governor and state attorney general, will succeed Tillis, who decided not to seek reelection.

The Associated Press called the race just after 8:20 p.m. EST. — _Connor Greene_

## Polls close in Arkansas

###### Nov 3, 8:30 PM

Polls have closed in Arkansas, with more—but not yet all—also now closed in Kansas, Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Texas.

In Arkansas, a solid red state, Republicans are favored in every congressional and gubernatorial race. The Cook Political Report ranks all races across the Senate and House, as well as the contest for Governor, as “solid Republican,” among the seats it deems least likely to flip, with the exception of one ranked as “likely Republican” in the state’s second district. — _Connor Greene_

## Chris Pappas wins in New Hampshire, becomes first openly gay man elected to the U.S. Senate

###### Nov 3, 8:29 PM

Four-term Rep. Chris Pappas has become the first openly gay man to be elected in to the U.S. Senate after defeating former Sen. John Sununu in New Hampshire.

The Associated Press called the race for Pappas, whose opponent is a well-known name in the state. Sununu’s brother served as governor until last year and his father was also governor.

New Hampshire marked another possible opportunity for Republicans to pick up an open seat, that of long-time Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen. — _Connor Greene_

## Voting is still underway, with sporadic technical glitches

###### Nov 3, 8:10 PM

Most polls on the East Coast have closed. Throughout the day, there have been sporadic reports of technical difficulties, but the Election Day vote has been running smoothly by and large.

Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin[ told](https://x.com/ElizLanders/status/2117734436372615230) reporters on Tuesday that ICE has not been deployed to the polls today. Earlier in the day, ICE[ posted](https://x.com/ICEgov/status/2117658716833194202) on X that it would “track down” any illegal voting.

Election officials in Fulton County, Georgia, said that more than 1,000 ballots cast in Fulton County may need to be rescanned as a result of two ballot scanners malfunctioning. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said that the scanner issues would not delay election results.

Polls will close at 9 p.m. as scheduled in Westchester County, New York, where a technical failure has led to polling stations across the county to switch to emergency ballots. The tabulation will be delayed because of this failure, which will affect a close-fought House race. _— Philip Wang_

## Democrat Jon Ossoff wins re-election in Georgia

###### Nov 3, 8:02 PM

Democratic Sen.[ Jon Ossoff](https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2021/5937693/jon-ossoff/) has won reelection in Georgia against Republican Rep. Mike Collins, in another victory for Democrats in their effort to win back control the upper chamber.

The Associated Press called the race less than an hour after polls closed in the state on Tuesday.

Georgia marked a potential opportunity for Republicans to pick up a Senate seat in a state that Trump won by a slim margin in 2024\. Ossoff consistently led in polling leading up to Election Day, however, and also had a serious cash advantage over his opponent throughout the campaign. — _Connor Greene_

## Polls close in several key toss-up races

###### Nov 3, 8:00 PM

Polls have closed in several more pivotal battleground races, including in Maine, Kansas, Texas, Michigan, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and more.

In perhaps the most closely watched midterm contest, James Talarico, who is vying to become Texas’ first Democratic Senator since 1993, is facing off against Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton in a toss-up race. 

Another tight race in the state’s fifteenth district is testing the GOP’s support among Hispanic voters, with whom Trump made gains in the 2024 presidential election. Republican Monica De La Cruz, who flipped the district in 2022, is seeking to keep her seat against Democrat Bobby Pulido, a popular Latin Grammy-winning Tejano musician.

Other toss-up races are playing out in Kansas, where incumbent Sen. Roger Marshall is defending his seat against Democrat Adam Hamilton, and Maine, where Republican Sen. Susan Collins is seeking her sixth term. Collin’s opponent, Democrat Troy Jackson, became the party’s nominee after Graham Platner, who won the primary, dropped out of the race amid sexual assault allegations, which he has denied.

Michigan’s Senate race is also closely watched, with the Cook Political Report rating it as “lean Democratic” in favor of progressive Abdul El-Sayed, who is facing off against Republican Mike Rogers. 

In Michigan’s seventh district, meanwhile, Republican Rep. Tom Barrett is facing off against progressive William Lawrence in a toss-up race that ranks as one of the most expensive House races in the country.

Another toss-up is taking place in Pennsylvania’s first district, where incumbent Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick is going head-to-head with Democrat Bob Harvie. — _Connor Greene_

## Democrats notch the night's first Senate win

###### Nov 3, 7:42 PM

Democratic Virginia Sen. Mark Warner has been reelected to a fourth term, defeating Republican challenger Bert Mizusawa.

The AP called the race for Warner, whose seat was considered among the safest in the country this midterm cycle, just minutes after polls closed in Virginia at 7 p.m. EST. It marked the first call of the night in the closely watched battle for control of the Senate.

Votes are now being counted in multiple states with more tightly contested Senate races where polls have closed, including Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, and South Carolina. — _Annika Neklason_

## Polls close in Ohio and North Carolina, home to multiple closely watched congressional races

###### Nov 3, 7:30 PM

Polls have closed in Ohio and West Virginia. Most polls have also closed in North Carolina, where some precincts received an extension due to minor technical issues at certain localities.

Ohio and North Carolina are home to a handful of closely watched Senate and House races.

In an Ohio toss-up, former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown is seeking to unseat Republican Sen. Jon Husted, who was appointed by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine to replace Vice President JD Vance when Vance went to the White House in 2025\. North Carolina is now ranked “likely Democrat” by the Cook Political Report in what was considered a much[ more competitive race](https://apnews.com/article/senate-republicans-campaign-spending-kansas-north-carolina-72a0a3ff32c3626396f72ba77dc0264f) before Republicans pulled out to focus on other contests.

In Ohio’s seventh district, meanwhile, Democrat Brian Poindexter could have a chance to flip incumbent Republican Rep. Max Miller’s seat. The race has received outsized national attention amid domestic abuse allegations against Miller, who has denied all wrongdoing.

A House toss-up is also playing out in North Carolina’s first district, where incumbent Democratic Rep. Don Davis is being challenged by Laurie Buckhout, who he beat by only a slim margin in 2024\. — _Connor Greene_

## More polls close across the country, including in battleground states

###### Nov 3, 7:00 PM

All polls have now closed in Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vermont, and Virginia, while some have closed in Florida and New Hampshire. In some of those states, key races could help determine which party will control the House and the Senate.

In deep-red South Carolina, Darline Graham, the sister of late Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, is running against Annie Andrews in a Senate race The Cook Political Report ranks as “lean Republican,” just one step removed from a toss-up. In another closely watched Senate race, incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff is facing Republican Mike Collins in Georgia, which has been rated “likely Democratic.”

A handful of toss-up House races are also playing out in some of those states, including in Virginia and South Carolina’s first districts and Florida’s fourteenth.

In Virginia’s first district, Democrat Shannon Taylor has the chance to oust a longtime Republican incumbent, Rep. Rob Wittman. An open Republican-held seat is meanwhile up for grabs in South Carolina’s first district, which is being vacated by Rep. Nancy Mace. Republican Jenny Costa Honeycutt and Democrat Nancy Lacore are vying for the spot. And in Florida’s fourteenth district, incumbent Democrat Rep. Kathy Castor is fighting to retain her seat against Republican Mike Beltran after new electoral maps[ changed](https://www.tampabay28.com/news/local-news/tampa-metro-west-hillsborough-county/new-congressional-map-reshapes-tampa-bay-race-as-kathy-castor-seeks-11th-term) the district’s composition.

More polls are expected to close every half hour until 9 p.m. EST, and then every hour until 1 a.m. — _Connor Greene_

## FBI debunks claims of “fraudulent ballot seizure” in Houston

###### Nov 3, 6:21 PM

The FBI on Tuesday debunked a claim that it has uncovered more than 20,000 fraudulent ballots in favor of Democratic candidates at a warehouse in Houston, Texas, on Monday night.

In a statement, the FBI said no election-related operation occurred in Houston and that information is false.

The unproven claim of an raid first began to surface on Tuesday afternoon and was quickly shared among conservative online users. The post also features three photos purported to show the scene of raid. Fact-checking outlet PolitiFact [reported](https://politifact.com/factchecks/2026/nov/03/social-media/houston-fbi-raid-fraudulent-ballots-warehouse-false/) that the three images were taken in three different states and none of them were related to a FBI raid in Houston. _— Philip Wang_

## Heading into the midterms, Trump's approval rating dropped to a historic low

###### Nov 3, 6:17 PM

President Donald Trump’s approval rating [reached a historic low](https://time.com/article/2026/10/29/trump-approval-rating-midterm-elections-republicans/) in the weeks leading up to Election Day: According to the [Pew Research Center](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2026/10/08/with-americans-in-a-sour-mood-democratic-voters-are-more-engaged-in-midterms/), his approval rating dropped to 30% at the beginning of October. The last time a sitting President’s approval rating fell to a comparable level that close to a midterm election was when Harry Truman was in the Oval Office in 1946.

Surveys show that the public’s dissatisfaction with the President stems largely from the economy; about 26% of adults in the country approve of how Trump has been dealing with the issue, according to polling from [The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research](https://apnews.com/article/trump-economy-approval-trump-midterms-8d5809758a31b29c73f4351a8008147c) last month. And the Pew Research Center’s survey revealed that 84% of registered voters felt that the economy was a “very important issue” for them in this election.

Midterms already tend to be difficult for the party in control of the White House, which historically loses seats in these elections. But political experts have [told TIME](https://time.com/article/2026/10/29/trump-approval-rating-midterm-elections-republicans/) that this year’s midterms are an especially challenging environment for Republicans. Many [generic ballot polls](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/polls/congressional-vote-2026.html) have indicated that voters backed Democrats over Republicans heading into Tuesday's elections, and even polling in deep red states has suggested that GOP candidates have experienced trouble keeping leads over their Democratic opponents.

“I think we can expect Republicans to be facing an uphill battle at the polls,” Costas Panagopoulos, a professor of political science at Northeastern University, [previously told TIME](https://time.com/article/2026/10/29/trump-approval-rating-midterm-elections-republicans/). “We can expect that they will likely lose seats in the House and also the Senate. And the question is will they lose enough seats to lose the majority in either or both those chambers. That is entirely within the realm of possibility. And that has to do both with Trump’s relatively low approval rating, historically speaking, but also the constellation of candidates in the mix.”

Read the full story [here](https://time.com/article/2026/10/29/trump-approval-rating-midterm-elections-republicans/). — _Chantelle Lee_

## First polls close in parts of Kentucky and Indiana

###### Nov 3, 6:00 PM

The first polls of the 2026 midterm elections have closed in parts of Kentucky and Indiana.

In a couple districts in those areas, tight House races could provide initial glimpses into how Democrats and Republicans are faring in the fight for Congress. The [Cook Political Report](https://www.cookpolitical.com/races?check%5Flogged%5Fin=1&order=State&page=13&sort=desc) rates Kentucky’s sixth district, where Republican Ralph Alvarado faces off against Democrat Zach Dembo, a toss-up. And in a race considered slightly less close, it ranks Indiana’s fifth district, where Democrat JD Ford is challenging incumbent Republican Rep. Victoria Spartz, lean Republican.

Polls across the rest of the country will close in the coming hours. At 7 p.m., polls will close in Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, Florida, and New Hampshire. — _Connor Greene_

## What time do the polls close—and when will we know the election results?

###### Nov 3, 5:27 PM

Most polls around the country close around 7 p.m. or 8 p.m. local time. Because the U.S. is divided across several time zones, however, those closures are spread over several hours on Election Day.

Here is when the latest polls close in each of the 50 states and Washington, D.C., in Eastern Standard Time.

* _7 p.m._ _EST_: Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vermont, and Virginia.
* _7:30 p.m. EST_: Ohio and West Virginia. North Carolina also typically closes its final polls at this time, but due to minor technical issues reported in some localities on Tuesday—which have since been resolved—the state’s board of elections has [extended voting hours](https://www.ncsbe.gov/news/press-releases/2026/11/03/state-board-extends-voting-5-precincts-4-counties) in some precincts.
* _8 p.m. EST_: Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Washington, D.C. In Pennsylvania, most polling sites will close at 8 p.m., but in [three precincts](https://www.chesco.org/156/Voter-Services?os=ioxa42gdub5U1ENqic) they will stay open for an additional half hour “due to machine set-up issues” that delayed the opening of those polls this morning, according to Chester County officials.
* _8:30 p.m. EST:_ Arkansas.
* _9 p.m. EST_: Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
* _10 p.m. EST_: Montana, Nevada, and Utah.
* _11 p.m. EST_: California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington state.
* _Midnight_ _EST_: Hawaii.
* _1 a.m. EST_: Alaska

Some races are likely to be called on Tuesday night, while in other, tighter contests it could take multiple days—if not longer—to determine a winner. It all comes down to the states, which the U.S. Constitution empowers to establish the times, places, and manners of holding elections and counting ballots.

“There are all these differences, both in process and deadlines, and geography, and who the voters are, and who the candidates are, that make a difference in what this looks like,” Mitchell Brown, a professor of political science at Auburn University and the author of “How We Vote: Innovations in American Elections,” tells TIME.

Read the full story [here](https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/2026-midterm-elections-polls-close-results-when/). — _Connor Greene_

## Candidates in toss-up House race urge calm after ballot scanner failures in Westchester County, New York

###### Nov 3, 5:24 PM

Republican Rep. Mike Lawler of New York and Democrat Cait Conley, who are facing off in a close-fought House race, have both called on Tuesday for voters to stay in line after ballot scanners failed at polling locations in Westchester County, New York.

During a press conference, Lawler[ said](https://x.com/lawler4ny/status/2117694116603785605) both parties are working with the county and New York State board of elections to come to a solution.

“Do not leave the polling place without voting,” Lawler added. “Every vote is going to be counted, and is going to be counted tonight.”

Conley also addressed the technical issues at polling locations in a social media post and said, “don't be dissuaded and have your voice heard.”

According to New York State Board of Elections, because the ballot scanners across Westchester County are unable to scan ballots immediately, the ballots need to be temporarily placed in orange bags which will be transported by local police to a secure location. The ballots will then be scanned under supervision of attorneys from both sides and it will take several hours to scan them all in, which could delay the results of a competitive congressional district. County Executive Ken Jenkins said the machines were not hacked and there was nothing of that nature wrong with the voting process. _— Philip Wang_

## ICE threatens arrests over illegal voting, drawing rebuke from Newsom

###### Nov 3, 4:45 PM

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Tuesday threatened to arrest people who vote illegally in the midterms.

“If you vote illegally, we will find you. We will track you down, arrest you, and prosecute you,” the agency[ wrote](https://x.com/ICEgov/status/2117658716833194202) on X. “There will be no escape.”

The post quickly drew a rebuke from California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who[ threw the same threats back](https://x.com/GavinNewsom/status/2117684391883550813) at the agency, echoing the agency’s language: “If YOU show up to the polls illegally, we will find you. We will track you down, arrest you, and prosecute you. There will be no escape.”

Newsom in a later post issued[ another warning](https://x.com/GavinNewsom/status/2117708391036469397) to “DONALD TRUMP’S THUGS: If you violate California’s laws, if you interfere with the vote, you will be prosecuted.” 

Trump last month [threatened](https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/they-will-all-go-to-jail-trump-threatens-california-officials-amid-push-to-reject-20000-ballots/) California election officials with jail time amid his administration’s push to set aside ballots from voters it identified as possible noncitizens.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin also [said](https://x.com/SecMullinDHS/status/2117640965041389959) Tuesday that “only American citizens should be deciding American elections.” The Department of Justice and Homeland Security Investigations added to the chorus,[ touting](https://x.com/TheJusticeDept/status/2117651411307499849)[ ](https://x.com/HSI%5FHQ/status/2117719647692964264)arrests of people accused of voting illegally.

The comments fall in line with Trump’s repeated claims of widespread noncitizen voting, though research has found it to be [exceedingly rare](https://time.com/7381495/trump-non-citizen-voter-fraud-claims-research-immigration/). _— Connor Greene_

## DOJ can continue asking states to set aside mail-in ballots, appeals court rules

###### Nov 3, 4:14 PM

A federal appeals court on Tuesday made a stunning reversal and allowed the Department of Justice to continue its pressure campaign telling state governments to not count mail-in ballots from noncitizens.

In a 6-5 [decision](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ca9.34809698-a4bb-456f-906e-40cfcf74ab7a/gov.uscourts.ca9.34809698-a4bb-456f-906e-40cfcf74ab7a.32.0.pdf), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Trump Administration can continue asking state election officials to set aside from voters it identified as possible noncitizens. It also said the DOJ can continue warning state election officials that knowingly counting unlawful ballots could result in federal prosecution. 

On Monday, the same appeals court blocked the move.

The court's decision, which is separate from the legal [saga](https://apnews.com/article/midterm-elections-immigration-voter-fraud-trump-48998968a23a4af2f59eaea3dba4d2f3) between the DOJ and the state of California, will not affect states’ tabulation and certification processes, given that states are not legally required to comply with the department’s request, according to Jonathan Diaz, the Director of Voting Advocacy and Partnershipsat Campaign Legal Center. _— Philip Wang_

## Oklahoma man charged with mailing white powder to public officials

###### Nov 3, 4:14 PM

An Oklahoma City resident faces charges of conveying false or misleading information and hoaxes and mailing threatening communications, according to [court documents](https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/75063557/1/united-states-v-martin/) unsealed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma.

The unsealed records show that Robin Martin was arrested Monday for allegedly sending threatening letters containing white powder ahead of the 2024 and 2026 elections, with investigators linking more than 700 mailings to him this fall alone.

According to the court filings, the white powder that has been tested so far was determined to be nonhazardous—likely either yeast or flour—but the accompanying messages included references to treason. One envelope back in 2024 had the return address of “U.S.T.E.A., United States Traitor Elimination Army, Takoma Park, MD.”

The affidavit alleges that in 2024, Martin “described perceived issues with the 2020 election” in his letters, claiming “that President Donald Trump won the 2020 election, and voiced concerns regarding some of the same issues recurring in the then-upcoming 2024 election.”

The letters also threatened election officials, including one that told the Oklahoma State Election Board to “stay on the right side of history your life might depend on it!”

The arrest comes less than a month after the FBI[ announced](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/authorities-investigate-suspicious-mailings-congressional-offices-rcna603712) its investigation into letters with “suspicious substances” that had been mailed to congressional and election offices. In October, NBC News [reported](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/suspicious-white-powder-sent-election-offices-3-states-rcna603621) state election offices in Louisiana, Ohio, and Oklahoma were sent packages containing mysterious powders.

Martin was expected to make an appearance in the U.S. District Court in Oklahoma City on Tuesday. _— Rebecca Schneid_

## Political heavyweights make final push to turn out voters

###### Nov 3, 4:02 PM

Major political figures ranging from President Donald Trump to former President Bill Clinton appealed to Americans on Tuesday: Go vote.

Trump posted frequently to Truth Social throughout Election Day, urging voters to cast their ballots for GOP candidates in a number of states, including[ Alaska](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117552843109770094),[ Arizona](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117552838497287142),[ Arkansas](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117552836387969672), and[ California](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117552833526822724). 

The day before, Trump[ said](https://time.com/article/2026/11/02/trump-2026-midterm-elections/) that if his base voted on Election Day, Republicans “will win in a landslide.” He went on to say: “Now, that doesn’t happen because usually, whoever the sitting President is, Republican or Democrat, good or bad, good President, great President, bad, for some reason, the sitting President doesn’t win the midterms. But we gave this a very strong shot.”

Vice President JD Vance also [posted](https://x.com/JDVance/status/2117666720391262663) encouragement to the Republican Party on X on Tuesday.

“Today’s the day America. Get out there and send a message to the radical left that we don’t want their bulls—,” he wrote, adding: “We have an amazing slate of Republican candidates nationwide, it’s your job now to make sure they get elected.”

Former Presidents also urged voters to turn up to the polls on Tuesday.

“You deserve a government that works as hard for you as you do for your family,” Clinton said in a[ social media post](https://x.com/BillClinton/status/2117647872409686111). “Democrats will lower costs, protect health care, end senseless wars, and stop tariffs that make life more expensive. If you haven’t already, I hope you vote today. It’s high time we put people first again!”

Former President Barack Obama, who has endorsed several Democratic candidates in this midterm election cycle, encouraged people to look up their polling place at[ IWillVote.com](http://iwillvote.com).

“This Election Day, you have the power to change the direction of this country, but only if you vote,” he said in a[ post on X](https://x.com/BarackObama/status/2117657040592007437). “Reach out to your family and friends to make sure they vote today, too.” _— Chantelle Lee_

## Gas prices remain above $4 on Election Day—a historic high

###### Nov 3, 3:06 PM

According to[ AAA](https://gasprices.aaa.com/) tracking, the national average for regular unleaded gasoline stood at $4.15 per gallon on Nov. 3—the highest ever on an Election Day.

Prices for unleaded gas are up 46% since the start of the year, and up almost 40% since the start of the war in Iran. Soon after the U.S. and Israel first launched an aerial attack on Iran on Feb. 28, Iran’s leadership restricted access to the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil once passed.

Americans saw a similar spike when Russia invaded Ukraine and sent gas prices soaring to $5.02 per gallon in June 2022\. By Election Day that year, however, gas had dropped down to an average of around $3.80 per gallon.

Republicans worry that high prices at the pump could translate to voter[ frustration](https://time.com/article/2026/05/18/trump-approval-rating-iran-war-economy/). A[ Pew Research Center](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2026/10/08/cost-concerns-dominate-as-publics-economic-ratings-turn-more-negative/) study released in early October found that 74% of U.S. adults were very concerned about gasoline and energy prices, up more than 30% from January.

Lowering costs was one of Trump’s major campaign promises when he ran for a second term in 2024\. In the weeks leading up to the midterms, he has homed in on fuel prices. In early October, he pushed for the Group of Seven countries to release 100 million barrels of oil and fuel products in the coming months; he[ signed an executive order](https://www.whitehouse.gov/releases/2026/10/president-trump-takes-decisive-action-to-lower-diesel-costs-for-american-truckers-farmers/) on Oct. 5 to temporarily permit highway use of red-dyed diesel; and on Oct. 13, he announced a surprise[ agreement](https://time.com/article/2026/10/13/lawmakers-argue-trump-russia-diesel-deal-violates-law-legal-experts/) with Russian President Vladimir Putin to supply millions of tons of Russian diesel to U.S. and global markets.

For Republicans, the question is whether those efforts will be enough—or whether higher prices at the pump will cost the party at the polls. _— Rebecca Schneid_

## California deploys its own election observers after DOJ sends monitors

###### Nov 3, 2:59 PM

California is sending its own election observers to polling locations across the state as the Department of Justice deploys election monitors to all 50 states.

In a [post on X](https://x.com/AGRobBonta/status/2117683087102582882), state Attorney General Rob Bonta says that state election observers are being sent to key polling locations to ensure that “no one was discouraged from casting a ballot.”

Earlier on Tuesday, the DOJ announced in a [press release](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/doj-monitor-elections-all-50-states-first-time) that it is sending election monitors to all 50 states for the first time. In California, the department is monitoring voting in Los Angeles, Alameda, Sacramento, and San Diego. Federal law [prohibits](https://www.justice.gov/jmd/political-activities) DOJ employees from engaging in partisan political activity while on duty or using their official authority to influence an election’s outcome.

The Trump Administration sought to require California to set aside ballots from roughly 20,000 registered voters it identified as possible noncitizens until their citizenship could be verified, despite concerns from state officials about errors in the list. On Monday, the Supreme Court rejected the DOJ’s emergency request, leaving lower-court decisions denying the requested intervention in place. _— Philip Wang_

## Acton says Ramaswamy ad featuring her estranged mother 'crossed the line'

###### Nov 3, 12:39 PM

Democratic candidate for Ohio governor Amy Acton[ told](https://www.cnn.com/2026/11/03/politics/video/amy-acton-vivek-ramaswamy-ad-crossed-line-vrtc) reporters that an ad released by her Republican rival[ Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign](https://time.com/article/2026/10/21/ramaswamy-s-ad-of-acton-s-estranged-mom-jolts-ohio-races-across-the-ballot/) "crossed a line."

“I have felt all along that there's no low he won't go to. I think he is out of touch. He's out for himself,” she said, after casting her ballot at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio.

The ad featured Acton’s mother, who has not spoken to her daughter since 1978 when she defended Acton’s stepfather who was indicted for raping Acton as a child.

The campaigning move sparked controversy and condemnation across both sides of the political aisle.

Ramaswamy has doubled down on the ad, receiving the[ support](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/117486013862752010) of President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance. However, other Republicans, including Ohio Sen. Jon Husted, who is facing a[ tight re-election bid](https://time.com/article/2026/04/20/when-no-one-was-looking-ohio-became-a-swing-state-again/) against Democrat Sherrod Brown, said they [would not have run the ad.](https://x.com/CBSNews/status/2115846454824575092)

The race to succeed Gov. Mike DeWine, who is barred from seeking another term, has become unexpectedly competitive in Ohio, a state Trump won by double digits in 2024.

Polling ahead of the midterms suggested a[ tight race](https://time.com/article/2026/10/19/ramaswamy-struggles-in-ohio-race-once-seen-as-a-sure-thing/), with Acton holding a[ slight lead](https://www.270towin.com/2026-governor-polls/ohio). If she wins, it would be the first time in 20 years that Ohio voters had elected a Democrat as governor. — _Tiago Ventura_ 

## What early voting data can show about the midterms

###### Nov 3, 12:30 PM 

As [Election Day](https://time.com/article/2026/10/21/governor-races-to-watch-in-the-midterms/) unfolds, Americans are beginning to wait in line at their polling centers. But tens of millions already cast their [ballots](https://time.com/article/2026/10/27/ice-does-not-belong-at-the-polls/) during their states' early voting periods, and those responses offer a preview into how the [midterm elections](https://time.com/article/2026/10/21/trump-cash-campaign-promises-history-midterm-elections-republicans/) may play out.

Nearly 60 million people have [voted](https://time.com/article/2026/10/27/republicans-say-the-polls-are-wrong-could-that-be-true-/) since early voting windows opened in some states over a month ago, according to [tracking](https://election.lab.ufl.edu/early-vote/2026-early-voting) by the University of Florida’s Election Lab. Around half of those votes have been cast in person, while the other half were submitted by mail. 

That figure already represents close to half of the roughly 122 million Americans who voted in the 2022 midterms.

Michael McDonald, a political science professor at the University of Florida who runs the Election Lab, stresses to TIME that early voting data cannot in and of itself be relied on to predict the outcome of the elections. But he says it can reveal other informative aspects of voting behavior.

“Once you start seeing consistency across multiple days of voting and across multiple states, it starts giving us more confidence that whatever we're seeing in terms of relative engagement, that's likely going to carry through to election day,” McDonald says.

Read the full story [here](https://time.com/article/2026/10/27/midterm-elections-early-voting-data-democrats-republicans-hispanic-voters/). — _Connor Greene_

## Haley Stevens doubles down on split from Abdul El-Sayed

###### Nov 3, 11:50 AM 

Rep. Haley Stevens is standing by her last-minute move to endorse Republican candidate Mike Rogers instead of Abdul El-Sayed, whom she lost the Michigan Democrats' Senate primary to in August.

When asked if her decision was worth all of the backlash she has received, Stephens [told](https://x.com/NewsNation/status/2117605070724325521) NewsNation: “Absolutely, voting is always worth it.”

“It’s the people’s day, I’ve told this to our next Speaker of the House Hakeem Jeffries, its ‘majority maker’s’ day,” she said, pointing to her confidence that the Democrats can flip the House.

Stevens has been widely criticised by fellow Democrats since she announced her shock endorsement over the weekend. House Minority Leader Jeffries [led the](https://x.com/hakeemjeffries/status/2116965830365786499) support for El-Sayed, championing the candidate as someone who “will always put the American people first and fight hard to lower the high cost of living.”

Jeffries went on to describe Rogers as “a partisan hack who represents more of the same MAGA extremism.”

The final set of New York _Times_/Siena polls released on Nov. 1 showed El-Sayed leading 53% to Rogers’ 42% among likely voters. 

While Democrats have labeled Stevens’ move a “[betrayal](https://x.com/chuckschumer/status/2116969707425468536),” Republicans have celebrated it, with President [Donald Trump](https://time.com/article/2026/10/01/donald-trump-2026-interview/) even inviting the Congresswoman to join the GOP. — _Callum Sutherland_

## Trump says U.S. will stop $4 billion in aid to Israel by year-end

###### Nov 3, 11:20 AM 

President Donald Trump said the U.S. is cutting off aid to Israel, citing a deal he reached “months ago” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Dialling into Fox News Tuesday morning, as voters across America headed to the polls, Trump [said](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7oEGGCbn1s&t=454s): “We've already agreed that by the end of this year, we ⁠won't be paying Israel. Now we'll help Israel ‌if they need it."

It was not immediately clear which funding Trump was referring to or how the Administration planned to halt it, given that the existing[ Memorandum of Understanding](https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/09/14/fact-sheet-memorandum-understanding-reached-israel) provides for $3.8 billion in annual U.S. military aid to Israel through 2028\. Netanyahu earlier in the year [said](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/netanyahu-us-israel-iran-60-minutes-transcript/) he was eager to "draw down" U.S. financial support for Israel "to zero.”

U.S. aid to Israel and Washington's conflict in the Middle East have been among the most contentious issues leading up to the midterms. Trump's announcement on election day comes amid continued debate over the country's support for Israel.

The Iran war—which started on Feb. 28 when the U.S. and Israel launched strikes against Iranian targets—is currently in its ninth month and remains[ deeply unpopular with Americans](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/10/08/iran-conflict-remains-deeply-unpopular-as-many-americans-expect-it-to-go-on-for-months/).

The conflict is[ estimated to have cost](https://apnews.com/article/iran-war-costs-trump-congress-81d781a54149709d1ca6754d2aab78bc) American taxpayers around $47.1 billion so far. Furthermore, Americans have had to shoulder the gasoline prices ⁠that have soared as a result of the unrest—a point many Democratic candidates mentioned in their campaigns leading up to the midterms.

Asked for his final message to voters heading to the polls, Trump touted his record on immigration and crime while insisting that Americans “have to keep America great.” — _Tiago Ventura_

## Democrats “nauseously optimistic” about retaking Senate, says Schumer

###### Nov 3, 10:50 AM 

After casting his vote in Brooklyn, New York, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer [told](https://www.facebook.com/reel/2369327050522663) reporters he was "optimistic that when the polls close tonight, there will be a new Democratic majority in the United States Senate."

Emphasizing a need for caution, Schumer said he would characterize the party's mood as “nauseously optimistic” and noted that a year ago, “no one thought we’d be even close to taking the Senate back."

Democrats are in a strong position to secure a majority in the House and the Senate is also up for grabs. Although polls point to a blue wave, Republicans say they’re wrong. [Here's why](https://time.com/article/2026/10/27/republicans-say-the-polls-are-wrong-could-that-be-true-/). — _Olivia-Anne Clearly_ 

## How Trump could interfere with the midterms after Election Day

###### Nov 3, 10:15 AM 

As polling stations close Tuesday evening, local election officials and voting rights groups are bracing for the prospect of federal officials possibly seizing election materials and voting machines.

In January, the FBI raided the Fulton County election office in Georgia and seized election materials in connection with the 2020 election. In May, a federal judge ruled that the federal government could continue to [retain](https://apnews.com/article/trump-2020-election-fulton-county-fbi-ballots-1c425a1d1d04bf4ea2178c2a5443f2e9) the ballots. The FBI has not announced any wrongdoing stemming from the investigation.

“The lesson of Fulton County was that you have to be ready to be in court literally in minutes,” Norm Eisen, co-founder and executive chair of Democracy Defenders Action, tells TIME. Eisen has been working closely with voting rights groups as well as local and state election officials in multiple states to prepare for any federal interference in next week’s elections. That includes being ready to immediately file lawsuits as soon as any federal officials try to seize any ballots or voting machines.

Other legal scholars are also encouraging judges to consider alternative solutions if federal authorities seek to retain election materials. Rick Hasen, a law professor and director of UCLA’s Safeguarding Democracy Project, published a [white paper](https://law.ucla.edu/sites/default/files/PDFs/Safeguarding%5FDemocracy/Judicial%5FGuide%5Fto%5FSearch%5FWarrants.pdf) urging judges who might see warrant applications for ballot seizure to consider ordering copies of the ballot to allow the election certification process to continue. 

Read the full story [here](https://time.com/article/2026/10/28/Trump-voting-election-interference-ballots-DOJ-fraud-investigation/). — _Philip Wang_

## New York Attorney General’s office "monitoring" issues with ballot scanners in New York county

###### Nov 3, 9:43 AM 

New York’s Attorney General Letitia James [said](https://x.com/NewYorkStateAG/status/2117597208971296819?s=20) her office is monitoring an "issue with scanners in Westchester \[County\] and is in touch with the state and local Boards of Elections as they work on a solution."

She noted that Westchester voters can still safely fill out and turn in ballots at their polling locations, assuring locals: "Your votes will count."

The Westchester County Board of Elections[ said](https://www.westchestercountyny.gov/all-press-releases/statement-from-the-westchester-county-board-of-elections) it was aware of the “issue involving paper ballots that is preventing voting machines from accepting ballots at polling locations throughout the county.”

The technical issues come as voters are set to determine a competitive House race between Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, whose district includes part of Westchester County, and his Democratic challenger Cait Conley.

Lawler[ said](https://x.com/lawler4ny/status/2117593541102690781) on social media that “there is a problem with every ballot scanner” in Westchester County, but reiterated that “every ballot will be counted,” urging people to stay in line and vote. Conley similarly [acknowledged](https://x.com/CaitforNewYork/status/2117598639837036744) the matter and said the issue is being worked on in a "bipartisan manner." — _Tiago Ventura_

## As polling stations across the country fill up, what's the best time to vote to avoid long lines?

###### Nov 3, 9:13 AM 

Long lines can be a strong deterrent to voting, especially for Black and Latino voters, who on average have experienced longer waits than white voters,[ ](https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/waiting-vote)according to a June 2020 report by the [Brennan Center for Justice](https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/waiting-vote).

Since polling hours and conditions [vary by county](https://ballotpedia.org/State%5FPoll%5FOpening%5Fand%5FClosing%5FTimes%5F%282022%29), and even within a county, wait times can be unpredictable. But early mornings and after-work hours [tend to be the busiest times](http://web.mit.edu/vtp/Managing%20Polling%20Place%20Resources.pdf).

Additionally, lines tend to be longer on Election Day than they are during early voting periods, which do not demonstrate any consistent high-traffic time slots. 

However, there is no universally confirmed “least busy” time to vote.

## Justice Department sends 1,000 election monitors across all 50 states

###### Nov 3, 8:45 AM 

In what it described as its “largest monitoring effort in history,” the Department of Justice (DOJ) said Tuesday it would monitor voting across all 50 states for the first time, with approximately 1,000 election monitors and observers deployed.

The effort will draw personnel from the Civil Rights Division, U.S. attorneys' offices, and federal observers from the Office of Personnel Management, the department said in a [press release.](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/doj-monitor-elections-all-50-states-first-time)

While the department has deployed election monitors under the Voting Rights Act since 1965, the nationwide scope and number of personnel involved mark an unprecedented expansion of its monitoring efforts.

The announcement comes amid the Trump Administration’s forceful approach to election oversight.

The DOJ filed [a complaint ](https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1466286/dl)against California last month, seeking to block the counting of mail ballots registered to voters it alleges are suspected noncitizens. The department also sought to have ballots from those voters set aside, pending confirmation of citizenship, but the Supreme Court [rejected](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.297656/gov.uscourts.dcd.297656.30.0.pdf) the emergency request on Monday.

In Alaska, the department[ filed a lawsuit seeking to block certification of the Senate race](https://time.com/article/2026/10/24/trump-thinks-alaskans-could-vote-for-the-wrong-sullivan-what-can-the-doj-do-/) if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan narrowly lost, amid concerns about confusion with another candidate sharing his name.

A federal judge dismissed that lawsuit, although the DOJ has since appealed.

## Judge blocks Trump Administration from sending states lists of alleged noncitizen voters

###### Nov 3, 8:15 AM 

A federal district judge temporarily halted efforts by the Justice and Homeland Security departments to send election officials lists of alleged noncitizen voters. The order also bars the departments from asking state election officials to separate those voters’ ballots or leave them uncounted until citizenship has been proven.

In the [ruling](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.297656/gov.uscourts.dcd.297656.30.0.pdf) issued late Monday, D.C. judge Tanya S. Chutkan, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, prohibited the departments from “further disclosing, transmitting, or releasing data purporting to constitute lists of individual potential or actual non-citizen voters or registered voters” in any state or county.

The ruling comes amid the Trump Administration’s attempt to assert federal control over administration of the midterm elections.

In recent weeks, the Justice Department has mounted a legal challenge against the State of California. On Oct. 15, it filed [a complaint ](https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1466286/dl)against the state, seeking to block the counting of mail ballots said to be completed by alleged noncitizens. The complaint has been rejected in a number of courts, and on Monday, the Supreme Court also [threw out](https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/110226zr%5F3eb4.pdf) an appeal from the Trump Administration regarding the legal challenge.

California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom celebrated the Supreme Court's decision, [saying](https://x.com/GavinNewsom/status/2117408964820488549): “Democracy won.”

Trump has repeatedly questioned the integrity of U.S. elections while [pushing for passage](https://time.com/article/2026/07/10/housing-bill-trump/) of the SAVE Act, legislation that would require proof of citizenship for voter registration and impose other election-related restrictions.

While the President has claimed mail-in voting is corrupt and noncitizen voting is rampant—research indicates both are [incredibly rare](https://time.com/article/2026/08/26/the-false-fear-of-noncitizen-voting/).

## Could a Democrat win the race for the late Lindsey Graham's seat in deep-red South Carolina?

###### Nov 3, 7:45 AM 

Polling by the [New York _Times_/Siena](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/10/28/polls/times-siena-sc-poll-crosstabs.html), released last week, found that likely voters in South Carolina are essentially evenly split over whether they would vote for the [Republican nominee](https://time.com/article/2026/08/26/darline-graham-nordone-runoff-south-carolina-special-gop-senate-primary/), who was [appointed](https://time.com/article/2026/07/13/darline-nordone-lindsey-graham-sister-south-carolina-senate-trump-mcmaster/) by the state governor to finish the remainder of her late brother’s term after he [died](https://time.com/article/2026/07/12/the-world-pays-tribute-to-sen-lindsey-graham/) in July and later [announced](https://time.com/article/2026/07/20/darline-graham-nordone-lindsey-graham-senate-south-carolina-republican-primary/) that she would run for the seat in the midterms, and Dr. Annie Andrews, a pediatrician who won the Democratic primary in June.

In August, the Cook Political Report rated the South Carolina race as “Solid Republican,” indicating that the GOP was widely expected to retain control of the Senate seat. But the election forecaster later shifted the race slightly in Democrats’ favor to “Likely Republican;” then, on Oct. 20, it [changed](https://www.cookpolitical.com/senate/race/488671) its rating again to “Lean Republican.”

The race is just one example of how Republicans are apparently struggling to maintain voter support in this election cycle. Most [generic ballot polls](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/polls/congressional-vote-2026.html) show that voters are more likely to back Democrats than Republicans in this midterm election. Other polling suggests that GOP candidates are even having trouble keeping leads in states that are typically considered strongholds for the party, such as in [Texas](https://time.com/article/2026/10/06/texas-governor-race-polls-abbott-hinojosa/), where most surveys have found that the Democratic candidate [James Talarico](https://time.com/article/2026/09/30/can-james-talarico-make-texas-competitive-again/) is ahead—by a narrow margin—of Republican [Ken Paxton](https://time.com/article/2026/10/09/angela-paxton-texas-senate-race-midterm-elections-republicans/) in a [heated](https://time.com/article/2026/09/17/trump-paxton-talarico-texas-senate/) and [expensive](https://time.com/article/2026/10/19/midterm-ad-spending-has-surpassed-10b-where-is-the-money-coming-from-/) Senate race heading into Election Day on Tuesday.

Read the full story [here](https://time.com/article/2026/11/02/south-carolina-senate-midterm-elections-lindsey-graham-darline-annie-andrews/). — _Chantelle Lee_

## 19 Florida polling places moved due to heavy rain and flooding

###### Nov 3, 7:15 AM 

Florida officials were forced to find alternative polling stations after heavy rainfall triggered dangerous flash flooding along the midsection of Florida.

Polls in the state opened at 7 a.m. ET Tuesday morning, and as of 7\. 15 a.m., at least 19 polling stations have been moved, according to the [secretary of state’s office](https://dos.fl.gov/elections/for-voters/emergency-and-disaster-election-resources/).

Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an [executive order](https://files.floridados.gov/media/711490/eo-26-227.pdf) on Monday declaring a state of emergency in Brevard, DeSoto, Hardee, Highlands, Indian River, Martin, and St. Lucie counties.

Included in the order was a provision allowing supervisors of elections in impacted areas to designate new polling places at sites that are deemed unsafe or where voters can't reach them due to flooding.

In some instances, precincts are being merged into other poll locations which have been able to remain open.

Among other races, Floridians are set to cast their ballots to determine a[ tight gubernatorial](https://www.270towin.com/2026-governor-polls/florida) showdown between Trump-backed Republican[ Byron Donalds](https://time.com/article/2026/08/18/byron-donalds-congressman-trump-republican-governor-florida/) and Democrat David Jolly, as Democrats seek to challenge the Republican stronghold in Florida.

## How Trump is spending Election Day

###### Nov 3, 6:50 AM 

After weeks of [rallies](https://time.com/article/2026/11/02/haley-stevens-abdul-el-sayed-mike-rogers-endorsement-trump-republicans-democrats/) across the country, President Trump is set to spend Election Day at the White House, as polls suggest his party may be in for a [tough night](https://time.com/article/2026/11/02/south-carolina-senate-midterm-elections-lindsey-graham-darline-annie-andrews/).

Trump gave a final speech ahead of Election Day on Monday afternoon at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, the source of a recent [troubled renovation,](https://time.com/article/2026/06/22/lincoln-memorial-reflecting-pool-vandalism-algae-paint-trump-admin/) in which his Administration’s achievements while calling Democrats “extreme and dangerous.”

“For whatever reason, the sitting President doesn’t win the midterms, and we gave this a very strong shot,” he said.

The President’s schedule on Monday also had him attending at least nine virtual tele-rallies to stump for Republican candidates across the country. It was the capstone to weeks of campaigning by Trump. Just in October, he attended and spoke at 27 campaign rallies.

On Tuesday, the President is set to remain at the White House into the evening as states from coast to coast tabulate the election results, according to a White House official. Election night is expected to to stretch into the early hours, with the first polls closing at 6 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday and the last in Alaska at 1 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday.

The President, along with First Lady Melania Trump, [cast their ballots](https://www.c-span.org/program/white-house-event/president-trump-speaks-to-reporters-after-voting-early/686943) early in person in West Palm Beach, Florida, two weeks ago.

Read the full story [here](https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/what-is-trump-planning-to-do-on-election-day-midterm/). — _Philip Wang_

## Polls open across the East Coast for pivotal midterm elections

###### Nov 3, 6:15 AM 

Polls have now officially opened in states including New York, New Jersey, Maine, Connecticut, and Virginia. Polling stations opened as early as 5 a.m. ET in Vermont**,** with eager voters heading to cast their ballots.

As more polls continue to open across the country, voters will be deciding who will control Congress for the final two years of Donald Trump's presidency.

With more than [58 million early votes already cast,](https://election.lab.ufl.edu/early-vote/2026-early-voting/) the stakes are high. While the President himself is not on the ballot, many view the election as a referendum on Trump.

In closing remarks delivered at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in D.C. on Monday, Trump referred to the election as "the most important midterm, I believe, in our lifetime."

Trump urged his base to vote on Election Day, telling the crowd: “America is ready to go. They’re ready to vote. I hope they’re ready to do the right thing."

Although he acknowledged that the political party in control of the White House typically loses seats in Congress during the midterms, he insisted, "We gave this a very strong shot.” — _Olivia-Anne Cleary_

## J.D. Vance makes final pitch to voters ahead of "most important midterm election" of his lifetime

###### Nov 3, 5:55 AM 

Vice President [J.D. Vance](https://time.com/article/2026/10/20/vance-netanyahu-endorsement-trump-israeli-elections/) delivered his final remarks on the midterms in his home state of Ohio on Monday, where some of the most pivotal races are set to be decided.

Referring to it as the “most important midterm election” of his lifetime, the former Ohio Senator urged rally attendees to cast their votes for Republican Senate candidate Jon Husted and Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.

“I am closing out this midterm campaign right where it all started for me, the great state of Ohio, because I know you're going to choose right tomorrow,” said Vance. "The only game in town for low taxes, for common sense, and for patriotic American values, it’s Vivek’s party, it's Jon’'s party, it's the Republican party, and don't forget it tomorrow.”

Ohio’s gubernatorial election has been one of the most contentious races of the midterms. Ramaswamy faced bipartisan backlash over his decision to feature his Democratic opponent Amy Acton’s estranged mother in a campaign ad.

While some Republicans, including Vance, vehemently defended the ad, others [condemned it](https://time.com/article/2026/10/21/ramaswamy-s-ad-of-acton-s-estranged-mom-jolts-ohio-races-across-the-ballot/) and called for its removal.

The final set of [New York _Times/_Siena polls](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/11/01/us/politics/times-siena-poll-senate.html) before the midterm election showed Democrats with an edge in Ohio's races for Senator and governor. The polls released and partly conducted on Sunday showed Acton leading over Ramaswamy by 49% to 43% among likely voters. — _Callum Sutherland_

## How Pete Buttigieg and Rafael Warnock became Democrats' midterm MVPs

###### Nov 3, 5:15 AM 

One is a former mayor, [White House hopeful](https://time.com/5581289/pete-buttigieg-2020/), and Transportation Secretary. The other [preaches from the pulpit](https://time.com/collections/closers-2025/7210601/senator-raphael-warnock-equity-america/) once claimed by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. when he isn’t casting votes in the Senate.

Neither Pete Buttigieg nor Sen. Rafael Warnock of Georgia are on the ballot this year, but both have been all over the campaign trail, stumping for candidates across the country ahead of the [midterm elections](https://time.com/article/2026/09/30/your-questions-about-voting-in-the-2026-midterm-elections-answered/).

Democratic operatives say they are two of the most in-demand boosters this cycle. Admirers say their efficient and plain-spoken manner cuts across ideologies and generations.

It’s the kind of positive feedback that is sure to gain notice as handicapping for the 2028 presidential race begins in earnest after the midterms.

And, coincidentally, both men’s stump schedules have sent them to places that may prove crucial to anyone with White House ambitions.

Just last month, Warnock made stops in South Carolina, which is due to kick off the Democratic nominating calendar, as well as Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Michigan, and Wisconsin. He also dipped into Mississippi as Democrats are hopeful that a Blue Wave might just be big enough to flip a Senate seat there.

Meanwhile, Buttigieg has campaigned in 38 states this year—18 of them more than once. His final week of campaign travel alone had him in Michigan and Wisconsin—both recent swing states—as well as Colorado and Minnesota. All told, Buttigieg has campaigned for more than 70 candidates in person this cycle—including 24 House hopefuls in Republican districts marked by national Democrats as top contenders for flipping.

Read the full story [here](https://time.com/article/2026/11/02/how-pete-buttigieg-and-rafael-warnock-became-democrats-midterm-mvps/). — _Philip Elliott_

## Michigan Democrat defends GOP endorsement as Abdul El-Sayed ignores her

###### Nov 3, 4:45 AM 

Democratic congresswoman Haley Stevens of Michigan took to social media Monday night to defend her [shocking weekend endorsement](https://time.com/article/2026/11/02/haley-stevens-abdul-el-sayed-mike-rogers-endorsement-trump-republicans-democrats/) of the Republican candidate in her state’s tight U.S. Senate race.

In an 890-word [article on X](https://x.com/HaleyforMI/status/2117442023682945033) titled “The Decisions We Make,” Stevens described her controversial move, which has been widely condemned by fellow Democrats, as neither “impulsive” nor made for her by anyone else but a “decision of conscience.”

Stevens explained how she came to conclude that [Abdul El-Sayed](https://time.com/article/2026/07/08/democratic-senate-hopeful-abdul-el-sayed-is-running-against-two-parties/), her former primary opponent, “is not fit to serve in the United States Senate.” She acknowledged that endorsing a Republican “is no small thing,” but she said that she backed Mike Rogers, the GOP nominee, “with the hope that he can serve in the tradition of John McCain.”

She went on to criticize the Democratic Party’s response to her move. “We cannot preach inclusion while punishing dissent,” she said. “I respect Democrats who disagree with my decision and ask for the same respect in return.”

El-Sayed did not respond to Stevens’ post Monday, though he earlier told reporters that he does not think about her. In a closing message to voters [published on Fox News](https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/dr-abdul-el-sayed-why-want-michigans-vote-senate) on Monday afternoon, El-Sayed made no mention of Stevens, Jewish voters, or the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, though he referred to Rogers as someone who “took millions from Trump-aligned super PACs, then backed Trump’s dangerous war with Iran, even as gas and groceries spike for Michiganders.” — _Chad de Guzman_

## Newsom warns against helping Trump interfere with elections

###### Nov 3, 4:15 AM 

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat widely believed to be eyeing the future presidency, warned on the eve of the [2026 midterms](https://time.com/article/2026/09/30/your-questions-about-voting-in-the-2026-midterm-elections-answered/) that anyone who helps [President Donald Trump](https://time.com/article/2026/10/01/donald-trump-2026-interview/) interfere in the elections will face justice in the state.

“Let me speak clearly and directly to anyone thinking about helping him: If you interfere with our voters, you will be prosecuted with a felony,” Newsom said in a video [posted](https://x.com/CAgovernor/status/2117399110080991638) on his social media accounts on Monday. “If you tamper with our ballots, you will face justice. It doesn’t matter who gave the order. Meddle in California’s election, and California will come for you. And don’t count—don’t count on a pardon. The President can’t pardon you out of California justice.”

**Read more:** [_How Trump Could Interfere With the Midterms on Election Day, and the Days After_](https://time.com/article/2026/10/28/Trump-voting-election-interference-ballots-DOJ-fraud-investigation/)

The warning from Newsom, a vocal Trump critic who’s seen as a [presidential contender](https://time.com/article/2026/05/28/2028-election-president-contenders-who-running-polls/) in the 2028 elections, came as the Justice Department [filed an emergency request](https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/26/26A624/431463/20261102111302952%5FCalifornia%20Application.pdf) seeking the U.S. Supreme Court’s intervention in a case involving 20,000 people which the Administration has flagged as likely noncitizens on the blue state’s voter rolls. The filing was the [latest attempt](https://time.com/article/2026/09/29/trump-non-citizen-voting-voter-fraud-claims/) from the Trump Administration to combat alleged widespread voter fraud, [allegations that have been repeatedly debunked](https://time.com/article/2026/03/20/mail-voting-absentee-voter-fraud-trump-claims-research/).

But just hours after the filing, the top court [rejected](https://www.supremecourt.gov/docket/docketfiles/html/public/26a624.html) the Administration’s request. Newsom treated the court ruling as a victory. “Democracy won,” he [posted separately](https://x.com/GavinNewsom/status/2117408964820488549) on X.

The California governor nonetheless cautioned about potential interference in the midterms, saying that President Trump has been “setting us up for months and months” so that he could call the elections “stolen.” In the clip, Newsom cited how the Justice Department [subpoenaed](https://www.npr.org/2026/10/29/nx-s1-6022560/doj-subpoenas-california-election) local election workers as a form of intimidation, while in [a letter to California judges last week](https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Letter-to-Chief-District-Court-Judges-2026-10-31.pdf), Newsom raised “grave concerns \[that\] federal agents will seek search warrants to seize ballots and ballot materials before the election results are certified.”

## What time do polls open across the U.S.?

###### Nov 3, 3:45 AM 

Election Day is underway, and polling precincts are set to open nationwide for in-person voting to add to the more than [58 million early votes already cast](https://election.lab.ufl.edu/early-vote/2026-early-voting/) for the 2026 midterm elections that will decide the control of Congress for the final two years of Donald Trump’s presidency as well as numerous state and local contests.

Polling place hours vary by state, but commonly follow a 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time schedule. The opening schedules of the following states differ (indicated in local times):

* 6 a.m.:[ Arizona](https://www.azleg.gov/ars/16/00565.htm),[ Connecticut](https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/sots/early-voting/2026-voting-guide/2026%5Fvoter%5Fguide-2-final-combined.pdf#page=6),[ Illinois](https://www.ilga.gov/Documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/001000050K17-1.htm),[ Indiana](https://www.in.gov/sos/elections/files/2026-Calendar-Brochure.FINAL-VERSION.pdf),[ Kentucky](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/Law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=27563),[ Louisiana](https://www.sos.la.gov/elections-voting/election-dates), some parts of[ Maine](https://www.legislature.maine.gov/statutes/21-A/title21-Asec626.html),[ Missouri](https://www.sos.mo.gov/elections/goVoteMissouri/howtovote),[ New Jersey](https://nj.gov/state/elections/assets/pdf/flyer-how-to-vote/2026-11-how-to-vote-english.pdf),[ New York](https://elections.ny.gov/election-information), and[ Virginia](https://www.elections.virginia.gov/registration/election-voter-faq/).
* 6:30 a.m.:[ North Carolina](https://www.ncsbe.gov/voting/upcoming-election),[ Ohio](https://www.ohiosos.gov/elections/voting-schedule-text-only#voting-schedule-general-special-election), and[ West Virginia](https://sos.wv.gov/elections/voter-information/elections-frequently-asked-questions-faqs).
* 7:30 a.m.:[ Arkansas](https://sos.arkansas.gov/elections/voter-information/voter-registration-information/voting-in-arkansas)
* 8 a.m.:[ Idaho](https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/Title34/T34CH11/SECT34-1101/), though counties may open elections at 7 a.m. local time; parts of[ Nebraska](https://sos.nebraska.gov/elections/election-day-faq) that are under Central Time

There are also some in-state variations.

* In[ Kansas](https://sos.ks.gov/elections/voter-information.html), polling places must open by 7 a.m, but state law also allows counties to open polling locations as early as 6 a.m.
* In Maine, polls generally open between 6 and 8 a.m., but towns with fewer than 500 residents may open as late as 10 a.m.
* In[ Massachusetts](https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleVIII/Chapter54/Section64), polls may open as early as 5:45 a.m. and no later than 7 a.m.
* While[ Minnesota](https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/204C/full) polls open at 7 a.m., qualifying small towns may open as late as 10 a.m.
* In[ Montana](https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title%5F0130/chapter%5F0010/part%5F0010/section%5F0060/0130-0010-0010-0060.html), most polling places must open by 7 a.m., but towns with fewer than 400 electors may open as late as 12 p.m.
* In[ New Hampshire](https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LXIII/659/659-4.htm), municipalities decide on poll opening times, as long as it’s before 11 a.m.
* In[ North Dakota](https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t16-1c01.pdf#page=3), polling precincts must open by 9 a.m. and no earlier than 7 a.m.
* Polling centers across most of[ Rhode Island](https://vote.sos.ri.gov/Forms/Elections/Guides/2026ElecCal.pdf#page=4) open at 7 a.m., with the exception of New Shoreham Town Hall, where they open at 9 a.m.
* In[ Tennessee](https://sos-prod.tnsosgovfiles.com/s3fs-public/document/2026-11-03%20Poll%20Opening%20by%20County.pdf), counties decide what time—between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m.—the polls will open.
* And in[ Vermont](https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/17/051/02561), the polls may open as early as 5 a.m. and as late as 10 a.m.
* [Oregon](https://sos.oregon.gov/elections/pages/current-election.aspx) and[ Washington](https://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/law/RCWPDF/RCW%20%2029A%20TITLE/RCW%20%2029A.%2040%20%20CHAPTER/RCW%20%2029A.%2040%20.160.pdf) primarily vote by mail.

Voters may find their polling place by contacting their [state or local election office here](https://www.usa.gov/state-election-office) or [checking their voter registration here](https://www.nass.org/can-i-vote/find-your-polling-place).

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=blt5a017427a3140388 Tue, 03 Nov 2026 19:33:00 +0000<!\[CDATA\[TIME Staff\]\]><!\[CDATA\[This Simple Rule Can Keep AI From Doing All Your Thinking\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/brainstorm-ideas-before-asking-ai/<!\[CDATA\[Health\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Use your brain before you prompt.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Photo-Illustration by TIME (Source Images: Zamora Design via Canva; Iuliia Bondar via Canva)\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte846bf55bce2dac5/6ae9fc36807db149e4e3811b/OSC_AI_vs_Writing.png?branch=production)

 —Photo-Illustration by TIME (Source Images: Zamora Design via Canva; Iuliia Bondar via Canva)

Neuroscientist Adam Green still remembers a college student telling him about a new addition to the home she shared with her roommates: a basil plant. Naturally, it needed a name, and she thought coming up with one together would be part of the fun. One roommate, however, promptly recruited some outside help, pulling out her phone to ask ChatGPT for suggestions.

To Green, a professor of psychology at Georgetown University who studies creativity, the roommate had missed the point. “Who the hell cares what the name of the basil plant is?” he says. “We’re supposed to have fun together.” Coming up with something themselves would have given the roommates more than a name: They’d have a shared memory and a story to tell whenever they referred to their leafy housemate. Instead, he says, “we just lost this experience.”

You don’t have to be naming a houseplant to recognize the temptation. A birthday gift, a tricky email, a problem at work: Why wrestle with it yourself when a chatbot is happy to get you started? Yet before you hand over the task, experts suggest one small change: Write down three ideas of your own. They can be rough, impractical, or destined for the recycling bin. The point is to give yourself a chance to think before someone—or something—else supplies the answer.

## **Why you should brainstorm before asking AI**

AI platforms can be enticing; no one likes to stare into a void of ideas. “We’re all scared of the blank page,” Green says, “and AI is offering to fill that page for us and take that fear away.” Yet working through the discomfort of having to think for yourself offers rewards: figuring something out, expressing something meaningful, or realizing you’re capable of doing something difficult.

You get to tell yourself: “I’m actually proud of this because it was hard, because I failed and I didn’t give up, because I learned something in order to succeed,” he says. “And now I’ve got this new skill and this new capability.”

Ask AI to spare you that struggle, and you might find it starts to feel harder to come up with your own ideas afterward. AI offers “a narrow set of possibilities,” says Sabrina Habib, a creativity researcher at the University of South Carolina, which can lead to what researchers call anchoring or fixation. “You’re going to have a hard time thinking of ideas beyond that narrow set of possibilities that was given to you.”

Plus, rely on AI too much, and everything you produce might start to sound like everything else everyone else produces. [In research](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S294988212500091X) comparing human-written college admissions essays with those generated by ChatGPT, Green and his colleagues found that the human essays explored a wider range of ideas; the AI essays covered much of the same ground. “When we adopt AI’s ideas as our own, our own ideas become similar to each other,” he says. “We lose our unique voice.”

Your own ideas have the advantage of being squarely _yours_. Only you know the inside joke that belongs in your sister’s birthday card, or what would make an overworked colleague’s day easier. Taking a first pass lets those details shape your approach. “We’re bringing our own thoughts. We’re in charge. We have agency. We’re the authors,” Habib says. AI can help you build on what you’ve started, but “humans have to be in control of the vision, the direction.” 

## **How to get into the habit of writing down 3 ideas**

Before opening a chatbot, spend a moment figuring out what you actually need, Habib suggests. If you’re choosing a gift, what would make it a good one for this particular person? If you’re swamped at work, what would actually take something off your plate? Giving yourself some criteria helps you generate possibilities—and, later, judge whether AI’s suggestions are useful.

Then take your first pass. Write down three gifts your sister might like, three ways to adjust your workload, or three points you want to make in a difficult conversation. If you’re tempted to ask AI to write an email to your boss about that workload, try putting those points into your own words first—even if they come out clunky. Digital communication expert Erica Dhawan, author of the forthcoming book [_Use Your Brain_](https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250450548/useyourbrain/), calls this the “naked draft rule”: “Write your own raw draft before you ever use AI,” she says.

And remember: It doesn’t have to be perfect. Your birthday-card draft can have an awkward opening and a sentence you’ll eventually delete. Your gift list can include something too expensive. Getting those thoughts down gives you something to revise, build on, or cross off the list.

If three ideas come easily, keep going. Habib suggests trying five for an extra challenge. The precise number doesn’t matter as much as giving yourself a chance to think before turning to AI.

If nothing comes as you brainstorm, resist treating the blank page as evidence that you’ve forgotten how to think. “Give yourself permission to find the task difficult,” Habib says. Try setting a three-minute timer and writing everything that occurs to you, with one idea per sticky note. Or take a walk and return to the problem later. A change of scenery may help when staring at your screen clearly isn’t productive, she says.

Whether you come up with one idea or five, be patient with yourself. Habib likes to remind herself: “Even if it takes time, I’m capable. I can do this.”

## **How to use AI without losing your own ideas**

Once you have something on the page, you may decide you don’t need AI after all. If you do want to enlist a bot’s assistance, however, give it your ideas and the details that inspired them, says Aron Lindberg, a professor of information systems and analytics at Stevens Institute of Technology. Asking what to buy your sister, without telling it anything about her, will get you “the most generic answer possible,” he says. Explain that she loves dancing and horror movies, and “then you’ve got something to work on.”

Share the gift ideas you’ve already come up with, then ask for more along those lines, Lindberg suggests. Once you have a longer list, ask the chatbot to critique those ideas as well. That gives you a chance to weigh what might work and what might go wrong, rather than simply accepting a recommendation. “AI is giving me two perspectives on this thing,” he says. “What do I think?”

Sometimes, the most useful thing AI can offer is a question for you to answer. For a birthday card, Dhawan suggests asking the chatbot to pose five questions, one at a time, that would help make the message more personal. It might ask: “What’s a memory with this person that still makes you laugh?” “What’s something they did for you that you’ve never properly thanked them for?” You still have to supply the memories and feelings—but the questions might jog your recollection of the disastrous road trip you now laugh about, or the late-night phone call that helped you through a breakup.

If you’re trying to solve a problem at work, ask what you’ve overlooked. Habib suggests laying out the problem and your possible approaches, then asking whether there are other solutions you haven’t considered. Dhawan recommends questions such as: “What would have to be true for this to be wrong?” or “What are three ways someone would interpret this the wrong way?”

Then step back and evaluate the response yourself. Is it accurate? Does it fit the situation? Does that polished message sound like something you would say in real life? “First, we actually have to think, then we use it to challenge our thinking and make it better, and then we have to think again,” Dhawan says. “What’s missing from what I know? Only I know.”

You don’t have to settle on an answer just because the chatbot has supplied one. Keep thinking, toss around possibilities with a friend, and give yourself a chance to enjoy coming up with something—even if it’s only a name for a houseplant. “Thinking is hard,” Habib says. “But it’s also wonderful.”

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=blt0f78610ea9449787 Tue, 03 Nov 2026 18:07:43 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Angela Haupt\]\]><!\[CDATA\[E-Bike and E-Scooter Accidents Are Skyrocketing Among Children\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/e-bike-e-scooter-accidents-skyrocketing-among-children/<!\[CDATA\[Health\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Doctors are seeing an exponential rise in pediatric injuries from e-bikes and scooters.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Miguel Sotomayor—Getty Images\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9a269852ad987dee/6aea017b22fa53858d676aa1/GettyImages-1132130003.jpg?branch=production)

 —Miguel Sotomayor—Getty Images

Recently, Dr. Alan Schroeder was walking on the street in New York City when he felt a breeze out of nowhere. “I literally was about four inches away from someone on an [e-bike](https://time.com/5925286/e-bikes-parking-lanes/), probably going 30 miles an hour, that I didn't see,” he recalls.

If he’d been hit, the injuries could have been severe, as Schroeder, who is a pediatrician and research scientist at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, well knows. More children are getting hurt or even dying in crashes involving electric devices like e-bikes and e-scooters. 

On Nov. 2, Schroeder and his colleagues [published a paper](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/10.1001/jama.2026.20796?guestAccessKey=4565edfe-c75b-4819-9e77-8e79fee5dcd0) in _JAMA_ looking at kids who ended up in a subset of emergency rooms, hospitals, and urgent care centers across the U.S. after accidents on e-bikes, e-scooters, skateboards, and traditional, non-motorized bicycles and scooters. They drew on data from 2023 to 2026\. 

Injuries from e-bikes showed a roughly 400% relative increase during the study period, and e-scooter injuries rose almost 200%. The team also found that severe injuries—the kind that need surgery or time in the intensive care unit—were about twice as likely when a powered vehicle like an e-bike or e-scooter was involved, compared to regular bikes and scooters. 

The numbers are only growing. “This is just an exponential rise in the frequency of these injuries,” says Dr. Stephanie Chao, a pediatric trauma surgeon at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford and an author of the new paper, who says she’s worked on “some pretty devastating operations” in children after e-device accidents. The researchers hope their study can provide evidence for policies to rein in e-device usage by children—for instance, by making certain types illegal for kids to use, with charges to be filed against both children and their parents if kids are caught operating them. 

# What are e-scooters and e-bikes?

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Similar to a kick scooter, e-scooters are stand-up, two-wheeled devices that have a powered front wheel operated by a throttle. E-bikes in the U.S. are [classified as bicycles with working pedals](https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF12459) that have a battery-powered assist, enabling riders to go up hills and achieve greater speeds with less effort. Some have hand-operated throttles so that a rider doesn’t even need to use the pedals. [Laws about e-bikes vary by state](https://www.wired.com/story/guide-to-ebike-classes/), with some mandating that the fastest class of e-bikes, which top out at 28 m.p.h., can only be operated by those 16 years old and up, but you don’t need a license or training. In some states, [wearing a helmet is legally required](https://helmets.org/helmet-laws-for-ebikes/), but not in others. 

What many people don’t realize, however, is that [what people often call “e-bikes” are in fact e-motos](https://www.peopleforbikes.org/news/the-e-bike-problem-is-an-e-moto-problem), says Dr. Preeti Panda, a pediatric emergency room doctor at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford who was not involved in the study but has seen firsthand the rise in cases. She says she sees at least one e-device injury every shift she works. 

E-motos, also called electric motorcycles or electric dirt bikes, may be capable of speeds exceeding 60 m.p.h. Regulation is [patchy so far](https://bikeleague.org/webinar-recap-e-bikes-e-motos-oh-my-navigating-new-devices-and-laws-for-e-bikes/), but in California, if these are intended for use on public roads and not just private property, [these are classed as motorcycles](https://www.chp.ca.gov/programs-services/programs/california-motorcyclist-safety/motorcycles-and-similar-vehicles/)—meaning that they must be registered and equipped with a license plate, riders must be licensed to drive them and purchase motor vehicle insurance, and people under 16 are not able to get licenses. 

When Panda asks her young patients in the emergency room how fast their e-bikes go, though, she gets answers like 35-45 m.p.h., and even higher. “So—that's not an e-bike. In California and in many states now, e-motos are actually illegal to ride on the street” for children who don’t meet the above criteria, she says. “If a child injures someone else or destroys property accidentally on one of these devices that are illegal, both the child and the parents can be held liable and charged criminally. So it's a big deal.”

As part of her own research to understand exactly what electric devices kids are using these days, Panda tours local high school parking lots on what she calls “bicycle counts,” marking down what’s on the bike racks. E-motos tend to “have that banana seat that motorcycles have,” Panda says, while e-bikes usually do not. 

“I was out at a few bicycle counts last week,” she continues, “and 80-90% of the e-devices were all e-motos…I saw very few e-bikes.” Legislation and enforcement that takes these vehicles off public roads and out of the hands of younger children, she suggests, could be a substantial public-health boon.

## Why are e-bikes and e-scooters so dangerous for kids?

E-bikes and scooters are particularly dangerous for this age group because often, children lack the strength and coordination to pilot these vehicles safely, and sometimes they don’t wear helmets. And it’s not just teens who are using them. “A significant proportion of these injuries are actually in kids younger than the age of 12,” says Chao—a detail from the new study that surprised even the researchers. “A lot of times we think, ‘Oh, this is an older, teenage-type thing,’ but it's not. You're talking about really young middle-school children who really don't have frontal lobe development to be on these really fast motorized vehicles.”

The amount of time required to stop an e-bike, e-scooter, or e-moto is much longer than what’s required to bring a regular bike or scooter to a halt, so any experience children have on traditional devices—like regular bikes and scooters—is unlikely to translate to the electric versions. 

The [injuries doctors are seeing are largely a result of that speed](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022480426003537). “You're not just falling off a bike and maybe breaking an arm. What we're talking about is potentially serious life-threatening injuries now, serious brain injuries” says Chao. “We're talking about middle-school kids whose parents have bought them these bikes.”

## What should be done? 

Banning e-bikes and e-scooters outright is likely unrealistic, but there’s plenty of room for common-sense limits, the researchers say. 

First, consistent, well-enforced age limits might be an effective option. “I don't think that children under 12 should be riding electronic devices,” says Schroeder. “That to me is pretty low-hanging fruit from a policy perspective.” Wearing a helmet designed for high speeds—something more protective than a standard bike helmet—is also a good choice, says Schroeder. Motorbike helmets with facial protection are a better fit for the speeds of these devices. 

Schroeder and Chao both stress the importance of not giving children access to these devices without a serious conversation. Some health care groups have begun to release [guidance sheets to help steer these chats](https://www.ruhealth.org/media/10491). “Before we allow our children to be on these bikes or e-scooters, families really need to sit down together,” says Chao, and discuss safety and responsibility that need to come with using these devices. 

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=bltc1a0ad650bfb368c Tue, 03 Nov 2026 16:03:34 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Veronique Greenwood\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Why India Cannot Rise With Weak State Capacity\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/india-global-rise-problem-weak-state-capacity/<!\[CDATA\[Ideas\]\]><!\[CDATA\[India cannot tackle its challenges of education, health, manufacturing and jobs unless it fixes the quality, competence and integrity of the state.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Santosh Kumar-Hindustan Times-Getty Images\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Passengers and aspirants of Bihar Police Constable Exam gather for board a train at Patna Junction, on June 24, 2026 in Patna, India.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc513d5b38dc981c5/6ae9fcbb6b75ed60694ef1ea/GettyImages-2283057397.jpg?branch=production)

Passengers and aspirants of Bihar Police Constable Exam gather for board a train at Patna Junction, on June 24, 2026 in Patna, India. —Santosh Kumar-Hindustan Times-Getty Images

India faces a host of development challenges: [education](https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/news/story/only-50-class-5-students-can-read-class-2-text-learning-gap-by-class-3-report-2672907-2025-01-31) and health, manufacturing and [jobs](https://time.com/article/2026/08/01/cockroaches-protests-gen-z-india-delhi-narendra-modi-prime-minister/), urbanization and pollution. In the world’s most populous country, sheer scale makes addressing each of these daunting, and their convergence even more so. [Climate change](https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/climate-impacts-india/) and [artificial intelligence](https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/big-subsidies-for-google-limited-water-for-locals-the-dilemma-of-ai-in-india-105a770e) add more uncertainty, making many of these problems more acute in the next two decades. Yet none can be adequately addressed unless the principal actor shaping India’s development—the Indian state—becomes more competent. 

The meta development challenge for India will face over the next few decades is the [quality, competence and integrity](https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/student-protests-reveal-deep-failure-of-modi-government-to-strengthen-state-capacity-by-devesh-kapur-2026-07) of the state, without which progress elsewhere will remain elusive. Despite its multiple political and social divisions, India’s default ideology is statist: the governing Bharatiya Janata Party on the right, the communists on the left, and nearly everyone in between share a belief that the state should have [a central role](https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/india-administrative-reforms-3-credibility-gap-narendra-modi-government-10942537/) in controlling the economy and directing social change. 

Why, then, is there so little effort devoted to improving how the state functions, even as challenges mount?

### The trouble with an ineffectual state

In India’s vast federal system, responsibility for development is divided among different levels of government, each of which struggles to fulfil its obligations. Over the past decade, more than [1.5 million](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-67282165) people, mostly of working age, have been killed in road accidents in India, at a fatality rate much higher than the global average (per distance traveled). Roughly one-third of the victims have been pedestrians, often killed because Indian cities fail to construct and maintain something as elementary as sidewalks. 

The [decrepit state of sidewalks](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce3e4enkrqro) exemplifies the depressing state of urban India. It reveals the extreme weakness of urban governance and the determination of state governments to retain control over lucrative urban land. 

The private sector is the engine of economic development, but it runs on foundations supplied by the state ranging from law and order to health and education. While India has established a considerable degree of order, it flails on establishing the rule of law. 

Violence has declined, but the police remain as much predators as protectors. Tens of [millions of cases languish](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/13/world/asia/india-judicial-backlog.html) in overwhelmed courts, turning the legal process into principal punishment for all involved. If businesses cannot uphold contracts, women cannot walk safely after dark and minorities live with pernicious insecurity, the foundations of development will remain dangerously fragile. 

India may not possess vast natural riches, but it has a cornucopia of people. Turning their potential into human capital would be an invaluable national asset, but the failures of the Indian state, especially its state governments, are nowhere more evident. 

Indians live longer than they once did, but not necessarily healthier lives. High levels of malnutrition and [stunting](https://www.unicef.org/india/what-we-do/stop-stunting) diminish the prospects of tens of millions of children. More children attend school but learning outcomes in [public schools](https://www.economist.com/asia/2026/09/22/indias-education-system-is-failing-in-new-ways) remain disheartening. Children do not vote; teachers do, and hiring teachers is a lucrative source of rent and political patronage. 

The middle class, let alone the wealthy, would rarely consider sending its children to public schools, depriving the system of an influential constituency for reform. In higher education, where the federal government plays a larger role, ideological control and partisan appointments often take precedence over preparing young people for work, leaving millions with degrees that confer neither skills nor opportunity.

### A checkered development odyssey

India’s checkered development odyssey has much to do with the ailments of the Indian state. Contrary to its overbearing image, the [Indian state](https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.34.1.31) is relatively small when measured by the number of public employees per capita. And these public employees are frequently moved through the “[transfer raj](https://global.oup.com/academic/product/a-sixth-of-humanity-9780197837252?cc=us&lang=en&),” which has become another a source of rent for bureaucrats and politicians. Training is usually reserved for elite civil servants. In a generalist civil service overseen by politicians who prize loyalty over competence, expertise becomes an orphan. 

These pathologies of the Indian state—a dense thicket of rules and procedures, extreme centralization and rigid hierarchy—are rooted in mistrust and an intensely status-conscious society. The result is an Indian state with the [engine of a bullock cart](https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2005/07/indias-promise-html) and the brakes of a Rolls-Royce. In recent years, as India’s politics has grown more autocratic, centralization has become more acute within the federal government and in its relations with the states. Yet even as the federal government in New Delhi lords over the provinces, they do the same to local governments. 

Unlike China and the United States, which employ many more people at the federal and local levels and fewer at the province level, India concentrates public employment in its states. This concentration of public employment and administrative control in the hands of state governments rather than local governments and municipal bodies has deprived India’s cities and towns of authority and agency.

All of this is widely known. Official reports have documented these failings for six decades. These pathologies persist because while everyone believes in the state and blames it the country’s afflictions, there is no impetus to build a stronger, more competent state. 

The state provides immense rents to the political class and bureaucracy, while public employees form a powerful constituency against reform. Administrative reforms excite neither politicians nor intellectuals, and their rewards lie beyond the electoral cycle. A weak state is also easier to capture: politicians can use it to browbeat opponents and the ruling and business elites exploit it to extract rents. 

This central development problem of weak state capacity is very unlikely to disappear by 2050\. But India can augment capacity even without major administrative reforms. Technology offers the obvious opportunity. India has built a world class digital public infrastructure, which has improved taxation, public procurement and welfare payments. 

But the very strengths of that system have also made transferring money to voters remarkably easy, encouraging competitive populism, even as efforts to strengthen core public goods have faltered. To invert the familiar adage, the Indian state prefers to offer citizens fish rather than teach them to fish, preserving their dependence on its largesse and, with it, their pliability as voters. 

States can also improve their capabilities by drawing more effectively on civil society and business. Elinor Ostrom, the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in economics, observed that many public goods are “[co-produced](https://csgs.kcl.ac.uk/crises-of-the-commons-elinor-ostroms-legacy-of-self-governance/)” by state and society. But such cooperation requires the state to trust civil society instead of seeking to control and muzzle it for political reasons, as is the case in India now. Contracting infrastructure construction or sanitation services to private companies can also help, though its benefits are limited by the persistent danger of rent extraction.

The condition of the Indian State offers little confidence that it recognizes the magnitude of the coming challenges and is gearing itself up to meet them. From the bureaucracy’s ability to formulate and implement policy predictably to the ability of courts, regulators and the Election Commission to enforce rules impartially, the core institutions of the Indian state are weakening. 

This “strategic weakness” is not merely an accidental outcome of imperatives of electoral competition crowding out important long-term reforms. It is a deliberate choice by India's political class. Unless that choice changes, it is difficult to imagine India meeting its development goals in the next few decades. 

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=blte97bebfefe8c3d2b Tue, 03 Nov 2026 16:00:00 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Devesh Kapur\]\]><!\[CDATA\[How TIME and Statista Determined Asia-Pacific's Best Employers of 2027\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/asia-pacific-best-employers-2027-methodology/<!\[CDATA\[Photo-illustration by TIME; SOPA Images, Bloomberg, NurPhoto and UCG—Getty Images\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt89febbb106c9fcca/6ae8f4f7fd88e980d3bad85c/Asia-Pacific-Best-Employers-2027.jpg?branch=production)

 —Photo-illustration by TIME; SOPA Images, Bloomberg, NurPhoto and UCG—Getty Images

For the first time, TIME and data firm Statista have presented [Asia-Pacific's Best Employers 2027.](https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/asia-pacific-best-employers-2027/) In a region shaped by rapid economic transformation, evolving workforce expectations, and intensifying competition for talent, it is essential to recognize employers that create outstanding workplaces. By featuring these leading organizations, the ranking sets a benchmark for employers across APAC and encourages businesses to place employee wellbeing, development, and inclusion at the core of their people strategies.

## Methodology

The ranking drew from an initial pool of over 7,000 of the Asia-Pacific's largest and most influential companies. A rigorous three-step methodology was applied to identify the Top 500.

### **Eligibility criteria**

Companies were eligible for consideration if they had a significant operational presence in the Asia-Pacific region. Headquarters did not need to be located in APAC; however, companies were required to employ at least 1,000 people in the region and maintain operational sites in at least two of the following APAC markets: Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, China, Macau, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.

### **Data collection**

The survey was conducted using several online access panels to guarantee a representative sample of employees across the region. Participants were asked, through an open-ended question with an auto-complete function, to name their current employer. This method ensures neutrality and prevents companies from influencing the selection of respondents. The survey gathered a representative sample of over 80,000 employees, including both part-time and full-time employees in the region.

### **Scoring model**

The final score combines two types of evaluations: employees’ willingness to recommend their current employer and, where applicable, their previous employer (direct score), as well as their willingness to recommend other employers within the same industry (indirect perception score). The score is based on data collected in 2024, 2025, and 2026.

_Direct score:_ Respondents were asked to rate their willingness to recommend their current employer and, where applicable, their previous employer to friends and family. Responses were recorded on a scale from 0 to 10, where 0 means “I wouldn’t recommend my employer under any circumstances” and 10 means “I would definitely recommend my employer.”

_Indirect score:_ Employees were also asked about their willingness to recommend other employers within their industry. Respondents were shown a list of employers in their industry and asked to give an opinion on those that stood out, either positively or negatively (response options: "would recommend," "would not recommend," "no opinion"). Additionally, an open-ended question allowed respondents to name other employers they would recommend.

Greater weight was given to direct recommendations, as they provide the strongest reflection of employee satisfaction. 

An overall score was calculated for each company, with a maximum achievable score of 100\. 

### **Ranking** 

The top 500 companies with the highest scores were awarded the title of Asia-Pacific's Best Employers 2027\. 

This ranking reflects not only how employees view their own workplace but also how companies are perceived across their sector, creating a balanced and independent assessment of the region's top employers. The final list recognizes organizations that have demonstrated a genuine commitment to their people and serves as a trusted guide for job seekers and industry stakeholders across the Asia-Pacific.

See the full list [here](https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/asia-pacific-best-employers-2027/).

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=bltb224395012373a76 Tue, 03 Nov 2026 14:45:12 +0000<!\[CDATA\[TIME Staff\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Asia-Pacific's Best Employers of 2027\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/asia-pacific-best-employers-2027/<!\[CDATA\[

The Asia-Pacific region has been the world’s fastest-growing region in recent years, with banking and financial services, IT software and services, and the semiconductor industry driving the region’s economic growth. So it’s no surprise that these industries lead the Asia-Pacific Best Employers of 2027, a list curated by TIME and global data firm Statista that ranks the top 500 companies based on employee satisfaction surveys from 2024 to 2026\. 

American semiconductor-equipment company KLA tops this year’s list. Of its approximately 17,000 regular full-time employees across 18 regions, 50% are in Asia. Based on its Securities and Exchange Commission filing, KLA’s employee voluntary turnover rate was under 3.4%. In the past year, the company [reported](https://ir.kla.com/sec-filings/all-sec-filings/content/0001193125-26-397898/d83268ddef14a.htm) investing in manpower training and development: its full-time-equivalent employees took 38.3 hours of training on average in 2025, and its internal promotion rate at the vice-president level reached 78%.

**Methodology:** [**How TIME and Statista Determined Asia-Pacific's Best Employers of 2027**](https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/asia-pacific-best-employers-2027-methodology/)

Pei Ying Chua, LinkedIn’s head economist for Asia-Pacific, tells TIME that the booming semiconductor industry appeals to employees as “people working within that space will probably have more opportunities to advance,” adding that skills in that industry will remain in demand.

In second place is U.S. banking firm JPMorganChase, whose regional corporate banking revenue has grown well above 20% as of August. Its leaders told [Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/jpmorgan-keep-asia-hiring-pace-after-corporate-bank-growth-tops-20-2026-08-11/) that it is close to completing a 15% increase in regional staff this year, after a 20% expansion in 2025, and that it’s eyeing a similar manpower increase in the region for 2027\. Taking the third spot is Australian design startup Canva, which indicated a [hiring slowdown](https://www.afr.com/technology/canva-slows-hiring-pace-amid-ai-perfect-storm-20260604-p6041g), followed by Microsoft in fourth.

Conglomerates also had a strong showing in this year’s list: their 57 entries had an industry average score of 78.81 out of 100\. From Japan, Sony Corporation ranked fifth, and Toyota Group ranked 7th. Toymaker LEGO and video-game company Nintendo take the 6th and 8th spots respectively, while Google’s American parent company Alphabet ranked 9th. Estonian-British financial technology company Wise rounded out the top 10.

Of the top 50, 16 are Japanese brands, representing one of the largest contingents near the list’s high rankers, followed by American multinationals, who dominate the list of 500\. Trevor Yu, an associate professor at Nanyang Technological University’s Nanyang Business School, tells TIME these companies rely on decades of reputation-building, including on career opportunities, innovation, and competitive rewards for their workers.

But the region’s not insulated from global headwinds. While Asia’s export-led, manufacturing-based model has historically helped keep regional unemployment low, the rapid adoption of AI has changed the job landscape. An [October report](https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/reo/apd/2026/october/english/text.pdf#page=36) from the International Monetary Fund shows that, since the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, employer demand in the region fell nearly 10% in more exposed occupations, like coding, relative to less exposed jobs that require more human output.

“Employers increasingly need to renew their employment value proposition,” Yu says. “They need to communicate transparently about how work is changing, acknowledge employees' concerns about job transformation and retrenchment, and demonstrate that they will invest in helping people adapt.” Yu adds that employers who build trust by involving employees in the transformation will emerge the strongest. 

See the full list of Asia-Pacific’s Best Employers of 2027 below:

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=blt77598dc158b86b55 Tue, 03 Nov 2026 14:45:01 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Chad de Guzman\]\]><!\[CDATA\[12 House Races That Forecasters See Going Different Ways\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/us-election-midterms-forecasters-analysis-house-race-ratings/<!\[CDATA\[Politics\]\]><!\[CDATA\[An analysis of race ratings from 10 election forecasters found 12 contests where some favor the Democratic candidate while others favor the Republican.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Douglas Rissing—iStock/Getty Images\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5bb54ab002f3af47/6ae9dc7812e9c04a059f1b1a/GettyImages-2195461964.jpg?branch=production)

 —Douglas Rissing—iStock/Getty Images

Most election forecasters broadly agree on the direction of this year’s 435 U.S. House elections. But a TIME analysis of race ratings from 10 reputable forecasters found 12 contests where some favor the Democratic candidate while others favor the Republican.

Those 12 conflicting forecasts are in the races for Alabama’s 2nd congressional district, Colorado’s 5th, Kentucky’s 6th, Michigan’s 10th, New York’s 17th, Ohio’s 7th, Pennsylvania’s 1st, Texas’ 15th and 35th, Virginia’s 1st and 5th, and Wisconsin’s 1st.

The analysis examined ratings from Cook Political Report ([CPR](https://www.cookpolitical.com/ratings/house-race-ratings)), Decision Desk HQ ([DDHQ](https://votes.decisiondeskhq.com/forecast/2026/house)), FiftyPlusOne ([FPO](https://fiftyplusone.news/forecast/house)), Fox News Power Rankings ([FNPR](https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fox-news-power-rankings-kansas-moves-toss-up-nebraska-moves-lean-r)), Inside Elections ([IE](https://insideelections.com/ratings/house/)), Race to the WH ([RWH](https://www.racetothewh.com/house)), Sabato’s Crystal Ball ([SCB](https://centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/2026-house/)), Silver Bulletin’s FLIPR Deluxe model ([SB](https://www.natesilver.net/p/nate-silver-2026-midterm-election-house-model)), Split Ticket ([ST](https://www.theargumentmag.com/p/split-ticket-2026-midterms-model)), and _The Economist_ ([TE](https://www.economist.com/interactive/2026/us-midterms/prediction-model/house)).

**Read More:** [_8 Senate Races the Forecasters Can’t Agree On_](https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/us-election-midterms-forecasters-analysis-senate-race-ratings/)

In Alabama’s 2nd congressional district, SCB says the race leans toward Democratic incumbent Rep. Shomari Figures, ST calls it a toss-up, and all eight other forecasters favor Republican Rhett Marques.

In Colorado’s 5th district, SCB also says the race leans toward the Democratic candidate, Jessica Killin, while FNPR and ST say it leans toward Republican incumbent Rep. Jeff Crank, and DDHQ and TE rate the race as Likely Republican. The remaining five forecasters call the race a toss-up.

In Kentucky’s 6th district, FPO and SCB say the race leans toward Republican Ralph Alvarado, while ST says it leans toward Democrat Zach Dembo. The other seven forecasters call it a toss-up. (TE uses the term “uncertain,” which this analysis treats as the equivalent of a toss-up rating.)

In Michigan’s 10th district, IE says the race tilts toward Republican Michael Bouchard, whereas DDHQ, FPO, SCB, SB, and ST all say it leans toward Democrat Christina Hines. The remaining four forecasters call it a toss-up.

In New York’s 17th district, CPR and IE rate the race between Republican incumbent Rep. Mike Lawler and Democrat Cait Conley as a toss-up. SCB says the race leans toward Lawler, while the other seven forecasters all favor Conley.

In Ohio’s 7th district, RWH rates the contest between Republican incumbent Rep. Max Miller and Democrat Brian Poindexter as Tilt Republican. IE rates it as Tilt Democratic, SCB and ST as Lean Democratic, and SB as Likely Democratic. The other five forecasters call it a toss-up.

**Read More:** [_Ohio’s Data-Center Revolt Is Upending the Midterms_](https://time.com/article/2026/10/29/ohio-data-center-revolt-upending-midterms/)

In Pennsylvania’s 1st district, TE rates the race between Republican incumbent Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick and Democrat Bob Harvie as Likely Republican, while SCB and SB say it leans Democratic, and FPO rates it Likely Democratic. The other six forecasters call the race a toss-up.

In Texas’ 15th district, FPO says the race leans toward Republican incumbent Rep. Monica De La Cruz. IE says the race tilts toward Democrat Bobby Pulido, while SCB, SB, and ST say it leans Democratic. The remaining five forecasters call it a toss-up.

In Texas’ 35th district, SCB and ST say the race leans toward Democrat Johnny Garcia over Republican Carlos De La Cruz. TE rates the race as Likely Republican. All seven other forecasters call it a toss-up.

In Virginia’s 1st district, three forecasters—FPO, SCB, and SB—say the race leans toward Democrat Shannon Taylor over Republican incumbent Rep. Rob Wittman. IE, DDHQ, and TE rate the race as Tilt, Lean, and Likely Republican, respectively. And the other four forecasters call it a toss-up.

In Virginia’s 5th district, SCB says the race leans toward Democrat Tom Perriello. All nine other forecasters favor Republican incumbent Rep. John McGuire III—including SB and TE, which rate the race as Likely and Very Likely Republican, respectively, while the others say it leans Republican.

In Wisconsin’s 1st district, FPO says the race leans toward Democrat Mitchell Berman, while CPR, DDHQ, IE, RWH, and SCB say it leans toward Republican incumbent Rep. Bryan Steil, and TE rates it Likely Republican. The remaining three forecasters call it a toss-up.

**Read More:** [_Polls Point to a Blue Wave. Here’s Why Republicans Say They’re Wrong_](https://time.com/article/2026/10/27/republicans-say-the-polls-are-wrong-could-that-be-true-/)

Of the remaining 423 House races, 182 are unanimously rated Safe or Solid Democratic, and another 31 are unanimously rated in favor of Democrats, though not all as Safe or Solid. On the Republican side, 108 are unanimously rated Safe or Solid Republican, and another 72 are unanimously rated in favor of Republicans, though not all as Safe or Solid. Thirty races have at least one toss-up rating but no disagreement among forecasters who favor a party: 17 for Democrats and 13 for Republicans.

TIME’s analysis reflects the forecasters’ ratings as of 7 a.m. ET, Nov. 3\. Ratings describe the forecasters’ assessments of each race based on polling and fundamental assumptions, but they are not guaranteed outcomes.

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=blt777a9c4486e1b352 Tue, 03 Nov 2026 14:00:00 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Ruairí Arrieta-Kenna\]\]><!\[CDATA\[8 Senate Races the Forecasters Can’t Agree On\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/us-election-midterms-forecasters-analysis-senate-race-ratings/<!\[CDATA\[Politics\]\]><!\[CDATA\[An analysis of race ratings by 10 election forecasters found eight Senate races that are not rated unanimously in favor of one party.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

Amid projections of a [Democratic blue wave](https://time.com/article/2026/10/27/republicans-say-the-polls-are-wrong-could-that-be-true-/), as voters head to the polls, several pivotal races are too close for all the experts to comfortably predict.

A TIME analysis of race ratings by 10 reputable election forecasters found that of the 35 U.S. Senate seats up for election on Nov. 3, eight are not rated unanimously in favor of one party. Those eight races are in Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Ohio, South Carolina, and Texas. And Democrats would have to win at least four of them, assuming other results go as expected, to take control of the upper chamber of Congress.

The analysis examined ratings from Cook Political Report ([CPR](https://www.cookpolitical.com/ratings/senate-race-ratings)), Decision Desk HQ ([DDHQ](https://votes.decisiondeskhq.com/forecast/2026/senate)), FiftyPlusOne ([FPO](https://fiftyplusone.news/forecast/senate)), Fox News Power Rankings ([FNPR](https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fox-news-power-rankings-kansas-moves-toss-up-nebraska-moves-lean-r)), Inside Elections ([IE](https://insideelections.com/ratings/senate/)), Race to the WH ([RWH](https://www.racetothewh.com/senate/26)), Sabato’s Crystal Ball ([SCB](https://centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/2026-senate/)), Silver Bulletin’s FLIPR Deluxe model ([SB](https://www.natesilver.net/p/nate-silver-2026-midterm-election-senate-model)), Split Ticket ([ST](https://www.theargumentmag.com/p/split-ticket-2026-midterms-model)), and _The Economist_ ([TE](https://www.economist.com/interactive/2026/us-midterms/prediction-model/senate)).

**Read More:** [_12 House Races That Forecasters See Going Different Ways_](https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/us-election-midterms-forecasters-analysis-house-race-ratings/)

In Alaska, four forecasters—DDHQ, FPO, SCB, and ST—rate the race between [Democratic former Rep. Mary Peltola](https://time.com/article/2026/10/30/midterms-senate-governor-elections-race-gender-religion-history-nationwide-firsts/) and Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan as leaning Democratic, while the remaining six call it a toss-up. (TE uses the term “uncertain,” which this analysis treats as the equivalent of a toss-up rating.)

In [Iowa](https://time.com/7378634/democrats-senate-iowa-josh-turek-zach-wahls-nathan-sage/), different forecasters can see the race between Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson and Democrat Josh Turek going different directions. RWH rates it as Tilt Democratic, while SCB says it leans Republican, and TE rates it Likely Republican. The other seven forecasters call the race a toss-up.

In [Kansas](https://time.com/article/2026/10/07/why-kansas-has-emerged-as-a-new-battleground-state-and-why-it-matters/), where Democrat Adam Hamilton is challenging Republican incumbent Sen. Roger Marshall, four forecasters—FPO, SCB, SB, and ST, say the race leans Democratic. The other six forecasters call it a toss-up.

In Maine, seven forecasters favor Democrat Troy Jackson over [Republican incumbent Sen. Susan Collins](https://time.com/article/2026/10/26/in-maine-a-toss-up-senate-race-is-about-the-incumbent-and-not-much-else/), rating the race either Lean or Likely Democratic. CPR, IE, and FNPR call it a toss-up.

**Read More:** [_10 Candidates Who Could Make History in the Midterms_](https://time.com/article/2026/10/30/midterms-senate-governor-elections-race-gender-religion-history-nationwide-firsts/)

In Michigan, only FNPR rates the race between [Democrat Abdul El-Sayed](https://time.com/article/2026/07/08/democratic-senate-hopeful-abdul-el-sayed-is-running-against-two-parties/) and Republican Mike Rogers as a toss-up. IE says it tilts Democratic; CPR and SCB say it leans Democratic; and the rest all rate it Likely Democratic.

In [Ohio](https://time.com/article/2026/06/23/ohio-may-be-the-sleeper-senate-race-of-the-midterms/), where Democratic former Sen. Sherrod Brown is challenging Republican incumbent Sen. Jon Husted, seven forecasters favor Brown—rating the race either Tilt or Lean Democratic— while CPR, DDHQ, and TE call it a toss-up.

In South Carolina, FNPR and RWH say the race between [Republican Sen. Darline Graham](https://time.com/article/2026/08/26/darline-graham-nordone-runoff-south-carolina-special-gop-senate-primary/) and [Democrat Annie Andrews](https://time.com/article/2026/11/02/south-carolina-senate-midterm-elections-lindsey-graham-darline-annie-andrews/) is a toss-up, while eight forecasters favor Graham keeping the seat [she filled after her brother’s passing](https://time.com/article/2026/08/26/darline-graham-nordone-runoff-south-carolina-special-gop-senate-primary/). IE says it tilts Republican, TE rates the race Likely Republican, and the other six all say it leans Republican.

In Texas, seven forecasters favor [Democrat James Talarico](https://time.com/article/2026/09/30/can-james-talarico-make-texas-competitive-again/) over [Republican Ken Paxton](https://time.com/article/2026/09/17/trump-paxton-talarico-texas-senate/). IE rates the race as Tilt Democratic; DDHQ, FPO, RWH, and SCB say it leans Democratic; and SB and ST rate the race Likely Democratic. CPR, FNPR, and TE call it a toss-up.

**Read More:** [_The 7 Key Governor Races to Watch in the Midterm Elections_](https://time.com/article/2026/10/21/governor-races-to-watch-in-the-midterms/)

Of the remaining 27 Senate races, 13 are unanimously rated in favor of Democrats. Nine of those are rated safely or solidly Democratic by all 10 forecasters: John Hickenlooper in Colorado, Chris Coons in Delaware, Juliana Stratton in Illinois, Ed Markey in Massachusetts, Cory Booker in New Jersey, Ben Ray Luján in New Mexico, Jeff Merkley in Oregon, Jack Reed in Rhode Island, and Mark Warner in Virginia. Another four Democrats—Jon Ossoff in Georgia, Peggy Flanagan in Minnesota, Chris Pappas in New Hampshire, and Roy Cooper in North Carolina—are unanimously favored, although not every forecaster rates their races as safe or solid.

The other 14 races are unanimously rated in favor of Republicans. Seven are rated safely or solidly Republican by all 10 forecasters: Barry Moore in Alabama, Tom Cotton in Arkansas, Jim Risch in Idaho, Kevin Hern in Oklahoma, Bill Hagerty in Tennessee, Shelley Moore Capito in West Virginia, and Harriet Hageman in Wyoming. In seven more, all 10 forecasters favor the Republican candidate—Ashley Moody in Florida, Andy Barr in Kentucky, Julia Letlow in Louisiana, Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi, Kurt Alme in Montana, Pete Ricketts in Nebraska, and Mike Rounds in South Dakota—though not all rate the contests as safe or solid.

TIME’s analysis reflects the forecasters’ ratings as of 7 a.m. ET, Nov. 3\. Ratings describe the forecasters’ assessments of each race based on polling and fundamental assumptions, but they are not guaranteed outcomes.

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=bltcc10f370e1162975 Tue, 03 Nov 2026 14:00:00 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Ruairí Arrieta-Kenna\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Godzilla Minus Zero Director Made His Film as a Response to Oppenheimer\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/godzilla-minus-zero-Takashi-Yamazaki-interview/<!\[CDATA\[Entertainment\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Director Takashi Yamazaki explains the genesis of the idea of the new movie, which follows up his Oscar-winning 2023 'Godzilla Minus One.'\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Courtesy of GKids\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Godzilla Minus Zero follows the wildly successful Godzilla Minus One\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6a79f81097f43e39/6ae8dff5807db177bae37b35/GMZ_KV1-Still_Godzilla-clean_2026-07-07_copyright.jpg?branch=production)

Godzilla Minus Zero follows the wildly successful Godzilla Minus One —Courtesy of GKids

Shortly after they'd both won [Academy Awards](https://time.com/6898429/best-fashion-awards-season-2024/) at the 2024 Oscars, _Godzilla Minus One_ director Takashi Yamazaki got a chance to speak with [Christopher Nolan](https://time.com/article/2026/05/12/christopher-nolan-odyssey-interview/) when [_Oppenheimer_](https://time.com/6295742/oppenheimer-review/)premiered in Japan. "As part of our conversation I told him, 'One day I think I would like to make a response to your movie,'" Yamazaki recalls. "In my mind I was thinking I'd develop a film that looks directly at [Hiroshima](https://time.com/4440722/hiroshima-7-stories/). But then I began thinking, 'Wait—[Godzilla](https://time.com/5951237/godzilla-vs-kong-review/) is itself a metaphor for nuclear war. Maybe I can combine the two and make a Godzilla movie that is also an answer to _Oppenheimer_.'"

It wasn't a crazy idea; the King of the Monsters has indeed been a walking, building-smashing allegory for [the atomic bomb](https://time.com/3086966/hiroshima-nagasaki-anniversary/) ever since the very first film in 1954\. But audiences may be shocked by the degree to which _Godzilla Minus Zero_, the follow-up to 2023’s _Minus One_, is a full-throated response to _Oppenheimer_. No movie in this franchise that's three-quarters of a century old has ever been as explicit about the bomb as _Godzilla Minus Zero_—including the original. _Minus Zero_ is an intense, often gruesome film that tackles big themes, and it does this while also giving the big guy another kaiju to fight in an action-packed spectacle. 

Set in 1949, four years after the end of World War II and two years after Godzilla was seemingly vanquished in _Minus One_, the sequel has a new monster attack a still-rebuilding Japan. Ghidorah, a dragon who arrived from outer space, destroys a city in the opening set piece and only gets more dangerous from there. Yamazaki, who wrote _Minus Zero_ in addition to directing it and helming the visual effects, admits that the classic kaiju's alien background is a bit goofier than the more grounded world he'd created for _Minus One_. Ghidorah speaks to a challenge that all Godzilla sequels have faced: movies where Godzilla is the only monster can be serious metaphors, but as soon as you start adding other kaiju for him to fight, [the franchise seems doomed to turn dumb](https://time.com/6961543/godzilla-x-kong-franchise-history/). Yamazaki was mindful of avoiding this with _Minus Zero_. The entertainment spectacle would be there, of course, but especially considering the previous film reached a much wider audience than anyone expected—making north of $114 million globally against a budget between $10 million and $15 million—Yamazaki thought the sequel had an obligation to "really dig deeper and even explore some uncomfortable subjects."

As the characters, including Ryunosuke Kamiki's returning protagonist Kōichi Shikishima, try and fail to stop Ghidorah on their own, a professor, Murakami, unveils an invention that could lure Godzilla (who it turns out is still alive) to Ghidroah's location. The plan is for the two kaiju to fight so the humans might have an easier time doing a coup de grâce on the weakened victor. On paper, this is the sort of plot that you might expect from the sillier Showa era of the franchise, in the '60s and '70s. But Professor Murakami's past trauma and hidden agenda push _Minus Zero_ into more provocative territory. 

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa4b619901879b7c/6ae8e0476b75ed5c504eec51/GMZ_CharStills_Min-Tanaka-1112-175-copyright.jpg?branch=production)

Min Tanaka as Professor Murakami —Courtesy of GKids

Murakami survived the bombing of Hiroshima, but as the audience sees in a flashback to the immediate aftermath of the event, his daughter and grandson did not. While the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have been key parts of Godzilla's backstory and significance, they've never been part of the plot in the way they are in _Minus Zero_. Godzilla's atomic breath in _Minus One_ evoked a mushroom cloud and the resulting mass destruction, but in _Minus Zero_ we see what nuclear death actually does to humans. The charred bodies of Murakami's family are a much more graphic and human-scale sort of violence than is normal for the franchise. 

But _Minus Zero_ goes even further. In a sequence where Murakami imagines Godzilla getting revenge on the United States by attacking New York City, the monster unleashes atomic breath on Manhattan, and the action suddenly switches to slow motion. Unsuspecting Americans look up in shock and horror as a massive inferno erupts and engulfs them. We see the flesh peel off their faces. _Oppenheimer_ drew criticism for not showing the effects of the bomb its subject created. _Godzilla Minus Zero_ does so in horrifying detail, and Yamazaki says he was inspired by a different American blockbuster director in his depiction of nuclear death. 

"It was important to show as many people as possible what the effects of an atomic bomb would really look like. With the violence we see in New York City, I think back to _Terminator 2_, where [James Cameron](https://time.com/collections/time100-leadership-series/6255536/james-cameron-interview-avatar-the-way-of-water/) shows audiences what nuclear war does to us," Yamazaki explains. "I wanted to evoke something similar because it's very important for it to feel relatable—to jog our imaginations in a way that says, 'Wow. This is real. It is a very violent act.'"

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf02bdb324ca0692e/6ae8e4730fe27add9a82c01d/GMZ_CharStills_Sakura-Ando-1127-239_dc-copyright.jpg?branch=production)

Sakura Ando in Godzilla Minus Zero —Courtesy of GKids

While the Big Apple's destruction is only a terrifying dream sequence, the United States doesn't come off especially well in other parts of _Godzilla Minus Zero_. The American forces occupying postwar Japan have ulterior motives as they offer "help" in the fight against Ghidorah. They’re invested in controlling this Godzilla-luring device so they can add the kaiju to their nuclear arsenal, rendering the US of A as a secondary antagonist by the end of the film. 

Other movies, like 2016's _Shin Godzilla_ and 1991's _Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah_,have been critical of the United States. (The latter, which features flashbacks to a pre-mutated Godzilla stomping American GIs in WWII, is about an American who travels back in time to destroy Japan because it's _too_ economically successful in the future.) But _Minus Zero_'s unflattering depiction feels different—though considering that _Minus Zero_ had its world premiere in New York City, there doesn't appear to be any real animosity towards the U.S. Yamazaki says he intentionally avoided making the American military too prominent in _Minus One_, instead having the army be "an almost unseen threat" throughout the film, but the 1940s setting meant that it was inevitable that the Yankees would take on a more explicit role. "As time passes, it was important to really take a look at what that [relationship between the U.S. and Japan](https://time.com/5358113/hiroshima-nagasaki-history-reconciliation/) was," Yamazaki explains. "I went down the rabbit hole and did a lot of research about U.S. and Japan's military forces and tension, ultimately leading up to the story we see."

There's a lot going on in _Godzilla Minus Zero_, but Yamazaki thinks the monster is up to the task. "Godzilla was the only creature, kaiju, or entity that could handle all that weight on its shoulders," he says. Yamazaki found a way to make an exciting Godzilla sequel and respond to _Oppenheimer_. If he ever makes a third Godzilla movie, though, he'll face a different challenge: What to call it. 

"We've gone from _Minus One_ to _Minus Zero_ so we're now neutral," Yamazaki says somewhat sheepishly. "That might be the biggest problem we have to solve if there is a sequel." 

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=blt980cec932f3b2983 Tue, 03 Nov 2026 13:00:04 +0000<!\[CDATA\[James Grebey\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Trump Blames Republicans After Crushing Election Defeats\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/what-is-trump-planning-to-do-on-election-day-midterm/<!\[CDATA\[Politics\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Trump lashed out at fellow Republicans and Fox News as mounting losses raised questions about his grip on the party.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

President Donald Trump criticized fellow Republicans and Fox News’ election coverage in a series of Truth Social posts Tuesday night as his party suffered defeats up and down the ballot. Had he been on the ballot, he[ lamented](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117556082339815131), Republicans would have won “IN A LANDSLIDE.”

Trump singled out Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who lost his re-election bid to Democrat Gina Hinojosa, calling him a “RINO,” short for “Republican in name only.”

**Read more:** [_Democrat Gina Hinojosa Ousts Gov. Greg Abbott in Texas, Ending Decades of Republican Leadership_](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/texas-governor-hinojosa-abbott-2026-midterm-elections/)

“He went back to his original formula, and it wasn’t pretty,” said Trump, who had[ praised](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117552709457855737) Abbott as “strong and highly respected” a day earlier.

In a phone interview with Fox News, Trump said he was “a little surprised” by the results but rejected the suggestion that they amounted to a repudiation of his leadership.

“We’ve had the greatest two years in the history of the presidency,” he added.

## Trump final push falls short

Trump had packed his final days before the election with back-to-back virtual rallies. During remarks in front of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Monday, the source of a recent [troubled renovation,](https://time.com/article/2026/06/22/lincoln-memorial-reflecting-pool-vandalism-algae-paint-trump-admin/) Trump lauded his Administration’s achievements while calling Democrats “extreme and dangerous.”

“For whatever reason, the sitting president doesn’t win the midterms, and we gave this a very strong shot,” Trump said.

His Monday schedule included at least nine virtual rallies for Republican candidates across the country. In October alone, he spoke at 27 campaign rallies.

But the last-ditch effort did little to stem Republicans’ losses, with Democrats [taking control](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/democrats-win-control-of-senate-in-blue-wave-election/) of both the House and the Senate. Republicans suffered some of their most unexpected defeats in South Carolina and Texas, two longtime Republican strongholds. 

In Florida, Democrats overcame the GOP’s unusual mid-decade redistricting and were projected to win in redrawn districts where Republicans had hoped to gain an advantage.

“Democrats are showing up, they're energized. They hate, hate, hate Donald Trump,” Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, said Friday on his [podcast](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiFTI2%5FCGoc).

For months, Trump has appeared to lay the groundwork to claim that voter fraud took place if Republicans perform poorly in the midterms, despite the fact that instances of [voter fraud](https://time.com/article/2026/03/20/mail-voting-absentee-voter-fraud-trump-claims-research/) are exceedingly rare. 

Last week, he claimed in a [Truth Social post](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117509280703799414) that the federal government is closely watching for any sign of voter fraud in Minnesota, and that the only way that the Republican candidate for the Senate will lose is through “playing games with the \[B\]allots.” 

On Monday, the Supreme Court blocked the Department of Justice from setting aside 20,000 mail-in ballots that the administration claims have been provided to noncitizens. Federal judges in the lower courts have all rejected the DOJ’s request to do so. 

Asked if he will respect the midterm election results, Trump told reporters last Tuesday that he will “if they are honest elections.”

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=bltaae950eab1a817d1 Tue, 03 Nov 2026 12:00:00 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Philip Wang\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Why Almost Every Corporate AI Transformation Fails\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/why-almost-every-corporate-ai-transformation-fails/<!\[CDATA\[Ideas\]\]><!\[CDATA\[The most capable technology ever built is being aimed at the least important problems argues Kai-Fu Lee.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Just\_Super—Getty Images\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt524b4dd7e8e6ee61/6ae9584668c8142c38626068/corporate-ai-transformation-fails.jpg?branch=production)

 —Just\_Super—Getty Images

If you had to describe the result of your company’s AI program on your next earnings call—one sentence, of the kind a shareholder would care about—what would that sentence be?

Most chief executives I meet cannot name it. They can produce activity: pilots run, licenses purchased, employees trained, a partnership announced. None of that is a result. [Survey](https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2026-10-26-gartner-hr-research-finds-77-percent-of-board-members-expect-ai-to-deliver-productivity-and-cost-savings-yet-just-3-percent-of-organizations-exceed-cost-savings-goals-via-productivity) after [survey](https://executiveeducation.wharton.upenn.edu/thought-leadership/wharton-at-work/2026/05/why-your-ai-investment-isnt-paying-off/) finds that [most corporate AI programs](https://mlq.ai/media/quarterly%5Fdecks/v0.1%5FState%5Fof%5FAI%5Fin%5FBusiness%5F2025%5FReport.pdf) deliver [disappointing](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/13/business/ai-business-payoff-lags.html) measurable returns.

In my view, this is not because of the models, the data, or the talent. It is because of where companies are pointing the AI itself. Today’s systems can reason across an entire business, and we have assigned them to handling tickets and summarizing meetings. This is like hiring a business operations genius and putting him to work as an assistant. The place where AI can move the most money is not the call center. It is the corner office.

In fairness to CEOs, the cards are often [stacked against them](https://time.com/article/2026/07/01/can-corporations-survive-the-age-of-ai-/). A company is an information system, and the quality of information degrades at every level it passes through. Going up the chain, uncomfortable findings and early warning signs get discarded; what often arrives is a clean, but incomplete, summary. Going downwards, management directives are often diluted, re-interpreted, re-purposed, or quietly “pocket-vetoed”—nodded through in the meeting and left to die. The result? A company of 10,000 ends up knowing less than a company of 10.

A good chief of staff can help compensate for these challenges. But none can read every document the company produces, sit in every meeting, and hear every customer call.

Now, AI can expose and accelerate radical visibility in organizations at a depth and speed that far surpass any human capacity and any business intelligence system. Every company keeps two sets of records. One is official: quarterly reports, project updates, performance reviews, polished at each level until it is clean and coherent. The other is what actually happened: meeting transcripts, chat threads, edit trails, sales notes, code check-ins. Managers have always worked from the first, because the second was too numerous and scattered to read. No longer. Every company writes down the most critical issues, the hottest debates, and the truth about itself every day. Almost none of them read it. A CEO-level agentic system can wake up that “dormant data.” 

So at my company I asked my team to build management agents for me: to sit in meetings, track commitments, and read the data underneath what I was being told. The more I used them, the more we added. People called it “Kai-Fu’s Boss AI,” and the name stuck. We eventually turned it into a product.

What did my boss AI find in its first weeks? A priority project reported on track every week, with no code committed in five. A customer marked highly likely to renew, while the account manager had not called in two months. A draft contract nobody could have made profitable, as reading relevant sales notes, the signed terms, and product requirement documents together showed free customization promised in a room but never written down.

Those are not minor administrative matters. They are a delivery slip caught early, a renewal saved, a margin leak stopped before it had to be honored. That is the connection to the bottom line every AI pilot has missed: not a productivity percentage, but a number that moved because AI caught it in time. 

AI’s second contribution is to surface hidden good news that might have been under the radar. Chief among these is talent and identifying star performers.

Last year I ran our performance review differently: no resumes, no KPI decks, no department heads recommending their own. We agreed first on what “engineering excellence” means when a machine can now write most of the code, then scored a year of repository history against it. Several of the strongest names were people I could not have picked out of a meeting. One vice president wrote close to 300,000 lines with AI in a month, against his own ceiling of 30,000 20 years ago, when he was the most prolific coder I knew. He is not typing faster; he is directing AI. And the reverse: once the machine does the status-collecting and information-passing, the employees whose only output was status-collecting and information-passing are obsolete.

This is what an AI-native chief executive is: not someone who just signs off on an AI budget, but someone who puts his own meetings, calendar, and blind spots under the machine’s scrutiny first. I regularly ask my agent what I got wrong in a meeting, whether my time went where I said my priorities were, and what people are afraid to tell me. Subordinates answer those questions politely. The machine can tell me the blunt truth.

This is how a company can be truly transformed by AI. The chief executive asks sharper questions, and everyone in the room tends to follow. Often, middle managers resist AI because they fear it will put their teams at risk. In fact, I would argue that employees resist AI not because they doubt it works but because they suspect it does.

So: no more cosmetics. We should use AI to address businesses’ hardest problems in the building: the ones on the CEO’s desk. Then, the words the CEO proudly proclaims on the next earnings call will have three parts: a business number that moved, the person who moved it, and the compute that did the work.

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=bltfc6a2ef62fd2a17e Tue, 03 Nov 2026 11:00:04 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Kai-Fu Lee\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Adam Hamilton Becomes First Democrat Elected to the Senate in Kansas in Almost 100 Years\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/02/kansas-senate-2026-midterm-elections-adam-hamilton-roger-mashall/<!\[CDATA\[Politics\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Hamilton, a megachurch pastor who has positioned himself as a centrist, has defeated incumbent Republican Sen. Roger Marshall.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Jim Vondruska—Getty Images\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Kansas Democratic Senate candidate Adam Hamilton speaks to reporters during a campaign event at Coffee Daze in Wichita, Kansas, on November 2, 2026.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt36fb6d8a6d74dfe3/6ae920b3c44d5d1b790cc12d/kansas-senate-midterm-elections-adam-hamilton.jpg?branch=production)

Kansas Democratic Senate candidate Adam Hamilton speaks to reporters during a campaign event at Coffee Daze in Wichita, Kansas, on November 2, 2026\. —Jim Vondruska—Getty Images

Megachurch pastor Adam Hamilton has [defeated](https://time.com/article/2026/10/30/the-key-congressional-races-to-watch-on-election-night/) Republican incumbent Sen. Roger Marshall in [Kansas’ Senate](https://time.com/article/2026/10/07/why-kansas-has-emerged-as-a-new-battleground-state-and-why-it-matters/) race, becoming the first Democrat elected to the position in the state in almost 100 years. 

The Associated Press called the race on Tuesday evening for Hamilton, who earned 51.9% of the vote with 91% of votes counted. Marshall earned 45.2% of the vote, AP reported. The result delivers a major blow to the GOP as the party [seeks to maintain control of Congress](https://time.com/article/2026/09/24/republicans-midterm-election-blue-wave-polls/). 

The race emerged as a surprisingly close battle in the lead up to Election Day, despite the fact that President Donald Trump won the state by 16 points just two years earlier in his 2024 reelection bid. For months, the Cook Political Report had categorized the contest as “Likely Republican.” 

But in recent weeks the election forecaster twice shifted the race toward Democrats as polls showed Hamilton narrowing the gap with Marshall, moving it first to “Lean Republican” on [September 23](https://www.cookpolitical.com/senate/race/488581) and then to a true “Toss Up” on Oct. 6\. 

**Read more:** [_The Key Congressional Races to Watch on Election Night_](https://time.com/article/2026/10/30/the-key-congressional-races-to-watch-on-election-night/)

Republicans took notice in the past two months, diverting resources from swing-state Senate battles like that in [North Carolina](https://time.com/article/2026/10/28/Trump-voting-election-interference-ballots-DOJ-fraud-investigation/) to defend Marshall’s seat. According to AdImpact, the Republican Senate Leadership Fund reserved $8.2 million for Kansas, the kind of funds usually allocated for traditional battleground states. 

[AdImpact](https://adimpact.com/blogs/battleground-kansas-2026) found that overall, the Kansas Senate race saw a 3,332% increase in ad spending over the 2022 Kansas Senate general election.

Marshall, a former OB-GYN and military officer who represented Kansas in the House before being elected to the Senate in 2020, has been a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump and received Trump’s endorsement as one of the President’s “favorite senators.”

But while the President’s backing may once have served Marshall, experts told TIME leading up to the election that the senator’s closeness to Trump, whose [approval rating has dropped](https://time.com/article/2026/10/29/trump-approval-rating-midterm-elections-republicans/) to a new low, could pose a challenge for his reelection bid in the current political climate.

Voters have put blame on the Trump Administration for economic issues, experts said, including the war in Iran[ hiking up fuel prices](https://time.com/7383060/gas-prices-iran-war-oil/) and Trump’s tariff regime[ affecting the agriculture, aerospace, and other](https://www.farmprogress.com/farm-policy/trump-s-tariffs-deliver-mixed-results-as-farmers-face-rising-costs) industries. Agriculture is the [largest economic driver](https://www.agriculture.ks.gov/kansas-agriculture) in Kansas, contributing $62 billion and close to 150,000 jobs, so retaliatory tariffs impacting Kansas’ grown commodities have had a ballooning effect in recent months.

“The agricultural industry is suffering right now,” Alexandra Middlewood, an associate professor of political science at Wichita State University, told TIME in October. “At the same time, it is harvest season, and diesel prices have gone up, and so farmers and ranchers are really struggling in the state.”

Trump stopped in Salina, Kansas, on Sunday in an effort to boost Marshall's campaign in the final weekend before the midterms, telling supporters to “pretend I'm on the ballot.”

“I'm closing it down tonight. This is it. I had to come here to make sure that Roger got elected. I had to do it,” Trump said on Sunday.

Hamilton, the founding and senior pastor for one of the largest United Methodist churches in the U.S., meanwhile positioned himself during the campaign as a centrist, willing to work with Republican lawmakers and the President.

“I’m somebody who stands in the middle,” Hamilton [said](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/roger-marshall-adam-hamilton-face-fiery-final-kansas-senate-debate-rcna604592) in the race’s second debate in October. “I’m going to try to work for all Kansans, Republicans, independents and Democrats.”

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=blt27f6d2aecc404cfb Tue, 03 Nov 2026 00:00:00 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Rebecca Schneid\]\]><!\[CDATA\[‘We Gave This a Very Strong Shot’: Trump Delivers Closing Appeal Before the Midterms\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/02/trump-2026-midterm-elections/<!\[CDATA\[Politics\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Less than 24 hours before Election Day, Trump railed against Democrats and contended that if his supporters show up to the polls, Republicans “will win in a landslide.”\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

Less than 24 hours before [Election Day](https://time.com/article/2026/09/30/your-questions-about-voting-in-the-2026-midterm-elections-answered/), [President Donald Trump](https://time.com/article/2026/10/01/donald-trump-2026-interview/) railed against the Democratic Party and contended that if his supporters [show up to the polls](https://time.com/article/2026/10/27/midterm-elections-early-voting-data-democrats-republicans-hispanic-voters/), Republicans “will win in a landslide.”

Speaking in front of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Monday afternoon, Trump said that [this year’s midterm election](https://time.com/article/2026/10/28/Trump-voting-election-interference-ballots-DOJ-fraud-investigation/) is “the most important midterm, I believe, in our lifetime.” He levied a number of [attacks against Democrats](https://time.com/article/2026/07/13/as-trump-brands-them-godless-communists-democrats-divided-on-how-to-respond/), including claiming that the party has “nominated the most extreme and dangerous slate of candidates in American history.” He accused Democrats of having a “radical agenda” and criticized their stances on policies ranging from transgender rights to immigration.

“We have to keep our Congress strong, free, a little bit of apple pie,” he said.

Trump went on to say that he “won many states” in the 2024 election and urged his base to vote on Election Day. He said that “America is ready to go. They’re ready to vote. I hope they’re ready to do the right thing.”

“Because if the people that voted for me and voted in the last election, where we had such a great victory, if they go out and vote, just a good portion of them, we will win in a landslide,” the President said. “Now, that doesn’t happen because usually, whoever the sitting President is, Republican or Democrat, good or bad, good President, great President, bad, for some reason, the sitting President doesn’t win the midterms. But we gave this a very strong shot.”

It’s true that the political party in control of the White House typically loses seats in Congress in the midterms. In a [previous interview with TIME](https://time.com/article/2026/10/29/trump-approval-rating-midterm-elections-republicans/), Michele Swers, a professor of American government at Georgetown University, compared a midterm election to “a referendum on how things are going with the presidency,” saying that voters tend to take their dissatisfaction with the President out on his party during the midterms.

**Read More:** [_Trump’s Approval Is at a New Low. Here’s Where Other Presidents’ Stood Before the Midterms—and How Their Parties Fared_](https://time.com/article/2026/10/29/trump-approval-rating-midterm-elections-republicans/)

This year, Republicans are facing a particularly challenging political climate on that front. Trump’s approval rating has [fallen to a historic low](https://time.com/article/2026/10/29/trump-approval-rating-midterm-elections-republicans/) ahead of Election Day; the last time the leader in the Oval Office saw their approval rating drop to a comparable level ahead of a midterm election was in 1946, during Harry Truman’s first term.

Polling has also offered promising signs for Democrats as they seek to regain control of Congress in the midterms. Most [generic ballot polls](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/polls/congressional-vote-2026.html) show that the majority of voters plan to back Democrats over Republicans in the coming elections. Even in states long led by Republicans—such as in [Texas](https://time.com/article/2026/10/09/angela-paxton-texas-senate-race-midterm-elections-republicans/) and [South Carolina](https://time.com/article/2026/11/02/south-carolina-senate-midterm-elections-lindsey-graham-darline-annie-andrews/)—polls in recent weeks have indicated that GOP candidates are struggling to keep their usual edge.

The final set of [New York _Times_/Siena polls](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/11/01/polls/times-siena-poll-crosstabs.html) released before Election Day shows Democratic Senate candidates [outpacing](https://time.com/live/2026/11/01/the-road-to-the-midterms-latest-news-and-updates/#update-democrats-lead-in-five-key-senate-races-new-york-times-siena-polls-show) their Republican opponents in several critical states, including [Abdul El-Sayed](https://time.com/article/2026/08/05/abdul-el-sayed-haley-stevens-michigan-democratic-senate-primary-election-result/) in Michigan, [James Talarico](https://time.com/article/2026/09/30/can-james-talarico-make-texas-competitive-again/) in Texas, Troy Jackson in Maine, Sherrod Brown in Ohio, and Adam Hamilton in Kansas.

As of Monday afternoon, more than 57.5 million Americans had already cast their ballots ahead of Election Day, according to data from [the University of Florida’s Election Lab](https://election.lab.ufl.edu/early-vote/2026-early-voting/). Registered Democrats made up a notably greater share of early voters in states with party registration, at just under 43%, than their Republican counterparts, at 31.7%. Another 25.3% of early voters were not registered with either party. 

With millions more voters expected to turn out on Tuesday, however, Republicans—who have been more likely to vote in person on Election Day in recent years—are [expected](https://time.com/article/2026/10/27/midterm-elections-early-voting-data-democrats-republicans-hispanic-voters/) to narrow that gap. The outcome of the pivotal elections in several states may only be known days after the polls close Tuesday evening.

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=bltc0a64de7ea058979 Mon, 02 Nov 2026 22:45:08 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Chantelle Lee\]\]><!\[CDATA\[The Surprising Link Between Sunlight and Blood Sugar\]\]> https://time.com/article/2026/11/02/how-sunlight-may-affect-blood-sugar/<!\[CDATA\[Health\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Emerging research suggests a little-known benefit to getting more sun.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Getty Images—Ippei Naoi\]\]><!\[CDATA\[Emerging research suggests a surprising benefit to getting more sun.\]\]><!\[CDATA\[

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6c92347630c7ebfb/6ae8dd1368c814ded7625f5c/GettyImages-2226960338.jpg?branch=production)

Emerging research suggests a surprising benefit to getting more sun. —Getty Images—Ippei Naoi

Now that [clocks have fallen back](https://time.com/article/2026/10/26/daylight-saving-time-standard-clock-change-2026-sleep-health-bill/), many Americans face a dreary daily reality: finishing the workday after the sun has set. That could be problematic for health, since sunlight benefits us in many ways. It helps regulate our internal clocks, boosts mood, and supports the production of [vitamin D](https://time.com/7288858/should-i-take-vitamin-d-supplement/), which is essential for bone and overall health. Emerging research offers yet another reason to soak up the sunshine while you can, linking more sunlight exposure to improved metabolism and lower blood sugar. 

“Light is an underestimated lifestyle factor when it comes to metabolism,” says Patrick Schrauwen, a senior scientist at the German Diabetes Center in Düsseldorf who has been studying this relationship. “We focus on diet and exercise, but I think exposure to natural light also plays a role.”

Schrauwen was a co-author of a small study, [published in the January issue of _Cell Metabolism_](https://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/fulltext/S1550-4131%2825%2900490-5?%5FreturnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS1550413125004905%3Fshowall%3Dtrue), in which 13 people with Type 2 diabetes spent several days during working hours in one of two environments. They were either exposed to natural daylight through windows or only artificial lighting from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Continuous glucose monitoring showed that people spent more time in the normal blood sugar range when they had access to daylight.

“It was one of the first experimental studies to show that natural light has this effect,” Schrauwen says.

An[ August study](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-66100-4) of more than 420,000 people in the U.K. linked greater sunlight exposure to lower blood sugar. The same study found that people who use tanning beds—which, like the sun, emit UV radiation—had significantly lower likelihood of developing Type 2 diabetes. 

The researchers used blood-glucose test results from the UK Biobank, a large biomedical database, combined with satellite estimates of sunlight where participants lived, to examine whether sunlight exposure in the days before a blood test influenced glucose levels. 

“The main overall finding is that blood glucose was lower if you'd just been through a period of sunnier weather, relative to the time of year, in the two days or seven days before the test,” says study co-author Chris Dibben, a health geographer at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

The finding was most pronounced in the winter months, says Dibben. “It makes sense that in the most sunlight-starved time of the year, the effect may be biggest,” he says.

In a separate analysis using the same medical records, Dibben and his colleagues found that people who used tanning beds were less likely to develop Type 2 diabetes compared to people who didn’t.

The researchers chose to study people who frequently use tanning beds as a sort of proxy for people who spend more time in the sun, Dibben says. In addition to getting sun-like light from the devices themselves, past research has shown that people who use tanning beds also get [more sun exposure](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10246252/) compared to non-users. “They enjoy sun-bathing too,” Dibben says. The researchers found that people who regularly used tanning beds had a roughly 20% reduced risk of developing Type 2 diabetes compared to non-users over the course of their lifetime, Dibben says: “This was quite a large effect.”

There are known downsides to sun and UV exposure. People who use tanning beds are [more likely than non-users to develop skin cancer](https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.ady4878?referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F), for one. But Dibben says he was initially drawn to this area of research after seeing research indicating that even though people exposed to more sun had a higher risk of skin cancer, they also had an [overall lower risk of dying and disease](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26992108).

These results are largely drawn from correlational studies, not causative ones. But a growing number of studies have linked more sunlight exposure [with improved cardiovascular health](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5592328/) and a [lower risk for obesity](https://jhr.uwpress.org/content/59/6/1683).

“The combination of these studies support the notion that light is important for metabolic and cardiovascular health,” says Frank A.J.L. Scheer, a neuroscientist at Harvard Medical School who studies how the body’s internal rhythms affect health.

Scientists are still working out how light affects metabolism, but the circadian system, which helps regulate blood sugar, body weight, and cardiovascular function, is thought to be a leading factor, Scheer says.

“If we zoom out a little bit, we know that light is the most important signal for our body clock, our circadian system,” says Scheer, who also heads the Medical Chronobiology Program at Mass General Brigham. “The evidence from these recent studies is supporting the idea that daytime light is a signal that can strengthen the circadian system.” 

By contrast, too much light during the night can “disturb this carefully coordinated system,” Scheer says, pointing to research that shows how [exposure to light during night hours](https://news.feinberg.northwestern.edu/2022/03/14/exposure-to-artificial-light-during-sleep-may-increase-risk-of-heart-disease-and-diabetes/) [can cause blood sugar levels to increase](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12221600/). 

“In the modern world, we live in a weird lighting environment where we are typically indoors during the day,” a much dimmer environment compared to the outdoors, Scheer says. “During the night, we are introducing light where before there was none. We spend an enormous amount of time in front of screens—the TV, phones, computers—close to bedtime.” 

Researchers think that light at night could activate the sympathetic nervous system—involved in the “fight or flight” response—which is “mismatched with what we should do at night” and could cause dysregulation of glucose metabolism, Scheer says. 

Other biological pathways are also likely involved in how light affects metabolism, Dibben says. In laboratory experiments, for example, researchers have found that exposure to UVA, a type of ultraviolet light from the sun, triggers [stores of nitrite in the skin to turn into nitric oxide](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5593895/). Nitric oxide widens blood vessels, which could potentially lower blood pressure and increase blood flow in ways that could improve glucose regulation, Dibben says.

As winter approaches and evenings darken earlier, Dibben says accumulating research supports the idea that people should get outside when they can.

Scheer agrees. “Go outdoors more during the day. If you cannot go outdoors, position yourself near a window, and cut down on artificial light in the few hours before and during sleep," he says.

Just remember to use [sun protection](https://time.com/6193896/safest-sunscreen-to-buy/) when you venture outside.

\]\]> https://time.com/?p=bltf836915394bff811 Mon, 02 Nov 2026 19:14:05 +0000<!\[CDATA\[Dominique Mosbergen\]\]>