Wednesday, November 4, 2026

Georgia holds runoffs on Tuesday, December 1, in any race where no candidate won a majority on November 3, with polls open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., according to Georgia.gov. Mail-in ballots must reach county registrars by 7 p.m. on Election Day. Check the Georgia Secretary of State's My Voter Page for whether your ballot has a runoff, your polling place and early-voting times.

California's county election officials have until Thursday, December 3, to certify their results, and the Secretary of State certifies the statewide Statement of Vote and issues certificates of election on Friday, December 11, according to the Secretary of State. Results will keep changing until then as counties count mail and provisional ballots, so close races and ballot measures may not be decided for weeks.

The stopgap spending law signed September 2 keeps the federal government funded through Friday, December 11. Before then, the current Congress, which keeps its Republican majorities until January, must pass spending bills or another extension to avoid a shutdown. None of the 12 annual spending bills had passed both chambers when the stopgap was signed.

Under the 20th Amendment, the terms of members of Congress begin at noon on January 3, so the House and Senate chosen on November 3 take office on Sunday, January 3, 2027, when Democrats are set to take control of both chambers. Until then, the current Congress, with Republican majorities, remains in session.

Medicare's open enrollment, when people with Medicare can change their health or drug plans for 2027, ends Monday, December 7. For coverage starting January 1 through HealthCare.gov, pick a marketplace plan by Tuesday, December 15; some state marketplaces set later dates.

Democrats won majorities in both chambers of Congress in Tuesday's midterm elections, according to the Associated Press, which called the Senate for the party shortly before midnight Eastern time and later called the House majority, Time reports. Republicans had held the Senate 53 to 47 and the House 220 to 213 going into the election. As of 8 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday, Democrats had won 54 Senate seats and Republicans 44, with two close races still uncalled, according to Yahoo News's tally.

In Senate races called by the AP, Roy Cooper won North Carolina's open seat over Republican Michael Whatley; Troy Jackson defeated Sen. Susan Collins in Maine; James Talarico defeated Ken Paxton in Texas; Sherrod Brown defeated Sen. Jon Husted in Ohio; Adam Hamilton defeated Sen. Roger Marshall in Kansas; Josh Turek defeated Rep. Ashley Hinson in Iowa; and Annie Andrews defeated Sen. Darline Graham in South Carolina. Democrats also held seats in Georgia, where Sen. Jon Ossoff was reelected, and New Hampshire, where Chris Pappas defeated former Sen. John Sununu, PBS News and CNBC report. House Speaker Mike Johnson said he would not seek re-election as House Republican leader, Time reports.

The new Congress is sworn in on January 3, 2027; until then, the current Congress, with Republican majorities, remains in session, including for the December 11 government funding deadline. Results are unofficial until states certify them, and recounts are possible in close races. News Unc will update uncalled races as the AP calls them.

Democrat Annie Andrews, a Charleston pediatrician, defeated Republican Sen. Darline Graham in South Carolina's Senate race on Tuesday, the Associated Press projected, PBS News reports. Andrews becomes the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from South Carolina; Graham, who was appointed in July after the death of her brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham, was the first woman to represent the state in the Senate.

Graham won the Republican nomination in an August 25 runoff over Rep. Ralph Norman, after leading a 10-candidate special primary. South Carolina had not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1998. Andrews takes office with the new Congress in January.