A Guide to Election Night 2026

About this episode

<p>After two years of campaigning, the 2026 midterm election is now in the hands of the American voters.</p><p>As the ballot counting begins, Nate Cohn, the chief political analyst for The New York Times, offers a guide for how to understand the results.</p><p>Guest: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/nate-cohn" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Nate Cohn</strong></a>, the chief political analyst for The New York Times.</p><p>Background reading:&nbsp;</p><ul><li>Here are <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/29/upshot/midterm-elections-senate-house-scenarios.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">four scenarios</a> for how the midterms could go.</li><li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/11/01/upshot/poll-times-siena-senate-midterms.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The final polls show a blue surge</a>. Can we trust them?</li><li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/11/02/us/politics/midterms-election-2026-senate-house-congress.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Here’s what to know</a> about the fight for Congress.</li></ul><p>Photo: Erin Schaff/The New York Times</p> <p><p>For more information on today’s episode, visit <a href="http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily"><strong>nytimes.com/thedaily</strong></a>. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. </p><p> </p><p>Subscribe today at <a href="http://nytimes.com/podcasts">nytimes.com/podcasts</a> or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher">https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher</a>. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.</p></p><br/> <p>Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.</p>