What does the U.S. Senate have to do with mosquitoes in Fort Myers Beach? On November 3, 2026, both appeared on the ballot in this Florida town. Residents were voting to choose their representatives in Washington, D.C. They were also deciding whether two local mosquito control districts should be merged.

That’s what makes American midterm elections so interesting. On television, the focus is on the battle between Democrats and Republicans for control of Congress. But at the local level, voters also have a say in decisions that directly affect their communities. And all of this happens while the president still has two years left in office.

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Why Do Americans Vote in Midterm Elections?

In the United States, the president is elected to a four-year term, while Americans vote in congressional elections every two years, on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November.
The first congressional election takes place alongside the presidential election, while presidential candidates are still campaigning and making promises to voters.
Two years later come the midterm elections. By then, Americans have had a chance to see the president in action and how their elected representatives have voted on important issues.

This election schedule dates back to the drafting of the U.S. Constitution. The Founding Fathers wanted members of the House of Representatives to remain accountable to the people in their districts. If voters are unhappy with how their representative has voted, they have the opportunity to elect someone else every two years.

In the Senate, six-year terms are staggered. Approximately one-third of Senate seats are up for election every two years, ensuring continuity from one election to the next.

On November 5, 2024, Americans voted in both the presidential and congressional elections. On November 3, 2026, halfway through Donald Trump’s second term, they headed back to the polls to elect members of Congress.
However, the newly elected Congress won’t officially take office until January 3, 2027.
The period between Election Day and the start of the new Congress is known as the “lame duck session.” During this time, the outgoing Congress remains in office and still has the authority to pass legislation and confirm certain presidential appointments before the newly elected members take over.
The next U.S. presidential election will take place in November 2028.

The president remains in the White House even if his party loses its majority in Congress. What the election can change, however, is who the president has to negotiate with to get things done.

In 2018, during Donald Trump’s first term, Democrats regained control of the House of Representatives, while Republicans maintained their majority in the Senate.

Starting in January 2019, Trump had to negotiate with Nancy Pelosi, the newly elected Democratic Speaker of the House, as he sought funding for his proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Who Do Americans Elect to Congress?

Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. federal government. It meets at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
American voters directly elect members of both chambers of Congress, which represent the country in two different ways.

In the House of Representatives, the number of seats each state receives is based on its population. California therefore has more representatives than Wyoming.

In the Senate, however, both states have equal representation, with two senators each.

Senators serve staggered terms, meaning voters may have a House representative to elect in a given year without having a Senate race on their ballot.
How Does Voting Work in U.S. Elections?
Before November, primary elections are generally held to select each party’s candidates, following rules that vary from state to state.
During the general election, voters choose a candidate for each office on the ballot.
For example, someone can vote for a Republican governor and a Democratic senator on the very same ballot.

A voter’s address also determines what appears on their ballot. Two neighbors living on opposite sides of a congressional district boundary may have different candidates to choose from for the House of Representatives.
When a governor’s race is on the ballot, however, voters across the entire state choose from the same candidates. The governor serves as the head of the state’s executive branch.

🩺 Expat insurance: care, repatriation, long stays: free personalized quoteDepending on where they live, voters may also elect members of their local school board or vote “yes” or “no” on local ballot measures.
In Florida, for example, voters in the Lee County Mosquito Control District were asked to vote on a proposal under Florida House Bill 4035 (HB 4035) to merge their mosquito control services with those of Fort Myers Beach.

To determine which party controls Congress, what matters is the number of seats won.

Winning a congressional district by just 100 votes gives a party the same seat as winning it by 100,000 votes.
In the House of Representatives, a party needs 218 out of 435 seats to secure an outright majority. In the Senate, 51 out of 100 seats are needed for a majority.
If the Senate is evenly split, with 50 senators on each side, the Vice President of the United States can cast the deciding vote to break a tie.

How Midterm Elections Affect the President

Imagine a president promises to cut federal income taxes. For that tax cut to become law, both the House of Representatives and the Senate must pass the same version of the bill.

If one chamber wants to limit the tax cuts to certain families, lawmakers will need to reach a compromise, or the legislation could stall.
The president can also veto legislation passed by Congress. To override a presidential veto, a two-thirds majority vote is required in both the House and the Senate.
The Senate plays a particularly important role when a vacancy opens up on the U.S. Supreme Court. The president nominates a candidate, and senators then vote to confirm or reject the nomination.
This means that midterm elections can influence the makeup of the Supreme Court long after the president’s remaining two years in office.

These elections also give Americans an opportunity to evaluate the first two years of a president’s term. Historically, the party holding the White House often loses seats in the House of Representatives during midterm elections.

However, there have been some notable exceptions. Bill Clinton’s Democrats gained House seats in 1998, as did George W. Bush’s Republicans in 2002.

Sources: Primary Elections · Party-Line Voting · Senate Votes · How a Bill Becomes Law · Presidential Nominations · Pew Research Center

What Changed in the 2026 Midterm Elections?

On Tuesday, November 3, 2026, American voters headed to the polls to elect all 435 members of the House of Representatives and fill 35 Senate seats.
Why 35 Senate seats? In addition to the 33 regularly scheduled Senate elections, two special elections took place in Florida and Ohio to fill the remainder of existing terms.
Voters in 36 states also chose their governors.

The 2026 U.S. midterm elections took place on November 3, with all seats in the House of Representatives and a portion of the Senate up for election.

In Washington, Democrats won control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, which had previously been controlled by Republicans. The Associated Press called the Senate for Democrats on Tuesday evening, followed by the House early Wednesday morning.

Starting in January 2027, Donald Trump will therefore have to negotiate federal spending with an opposition-controlled Congress. Any nominees he puts forward for the Supreme Court, should a vacancy arise, will also need to secure confirmation from a Democratic-controlled Senate.
It’s possible to determine which party will control Congress before every individual race has been decided. In the House of Representatives, once a party secures 218 seats, the remaining races can only affect the size of its majority.
Election officials then continue counting ballots, verifying the results, and officially certifying the election outcomes.

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In Florida, Republican Byron Donalds defeated Democrat David Jolly. He will succeed Ron DeSantis, becoming the first Black governor in the state’s history.
Republican Senator Ashley Moody also won her election against Democrat Angie Nixon. Appointed in 2025 after Marco Rubio left the Senate to become Secretary of State, Moody will serve the remainder of his term.
That Senate seat will be up for election again in 2028.

Midterm elections give Americans the opportunity to elect their representatives in Congress every two years.

And what about the mosquitoes in Fort Myers Beach?

According to preliminary election results from Lee County, nearly 77% of voters in the Lee County district approved the proposed merger, while approximately 54% of voters in Fort Myers Beach rejected it.
Since the merger required approval from both districts, Fort Myers Beach residents were able to keep their own mosquito control district.
In 2028, Americans will once again head to the polls to elect their president. Until then, whenever Donald Trump wants to pass legislation, he’ll need to secure enough votes in the Congress elected in 2026.
For Fort Myers Beach residents, that very same ballot also helped determine the future of a local public service.
And that’s one detail you won’t see on any U.S. election map.

Sources
2026 Elections · Associated Press · Reuters · Byron Donalds · Ashley Moody
 · Lee County Election Results · Referendum Rules

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