| DAILY NEWS FOR YOU / MIDTERMS / CONGRESS |
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CBS News Identified 9 Senate and 42 House Races to Watch. Here Is the Current Midterm Map. |
| All 435 House seats and dozens of Senate seats will be decided in November. CBS News has narrowed its current battleground watchlist to 51 contests where it says the fight for congressional control is concentrated. |
| CONGRESSIONAL CONTROL BOARD | | 9 SENATE RACES | 42 HOUSE RACES | 51 CBS WATCHLIST | | |
| STATUS WATCHLIST | CBS explicitly says these races can move on or off the list as the campaign develops. The list identifies competitive terrain; it does not determine winners. | |
| CBS News has published its current map of the congressional races its political team considers most important to watch as the general election enters its final stretch. The network identified nine Senate contests and 42 House districts — a concentrated group of races within a much larger national ballot. |
| The map is useful because the two chambers have different arithmetic. Republicans hold the Senate majority with 53 seats. The Democratic caucus consists of 45 Democrats and two independents, meaning that side would need a net gain of four seats to reach 51. |
| 51 SENATE MAJORITY | 53 Republicans
45 Democrats
2 Independents caucusing with Democrats | |
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| 01 ALASKA | 02 IOWA | 03 MAINE | | 04 MICHIGAN | 05 OHIO | 06 TEXAS | | 07 GEORGIA | 08 NORTH
CAROLINA | 09 NEW
HAMPSHIRE | |
| SENATE / MATCHUPS | Alaska — Dan Sullivan / Mary Peltola and others
Iowa — Ashley Hinson / Josh Turek
Maine — Susan Collins / Troy Jackson
Michigan — Mike Rogers / Abdul El-Sayed
Ohio — Jon Husted / Sherrod Brown
Texas — Ken Paxton / James Talarico
Georgia — Jon Ossoff / Mike Collins
North Carolina — Michael Whatley / Roy Cooper
New Hampshire — Chris Pappas / John Sununu | |
| CBS's Senate list contains both open seats and contests involving incumbents. It spans states with very different recent voting histories, which is one reason the network treats the group as a watchlist rather than a single category with one uniform political profile. |
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| 218 REPUBLICANS | 214 DEMOCRATS | 1 INDEPENDENT | 2 VACANCIES | |
| All 435 House seats are on the ballot. The threshold for a majority in a fully seated House is 218. At present, Republicans hold 218 seats, Democrats hold 214, one independent caucuses with Republicans, and two seats are vacant. |
| 42 HOUSE RACES | CBS's list spans 19 states, from Arizona and California to Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin. | |
| ARIZONA AZ-01 · AZ-06 | CALIFORNIA CA-13 · CA-22 · CA-45 · CA-48 | | COLORADO CO-08 | FLORIDA FL-14 · FL-22 · FL-25 | | IOWA IA-01 · IA-02 · IA-03 | MICHIGAN MI-04 · MI-07 · MI-08 · MI-10 | | NEBRASKA NE-02 | NEVADA NV-03 | | NEW HAMPSHIRE NH-01 | NEW JERSEY NJ-07 | | NEW MEXICO NM-02 | NEW YORK NY-03 · NY-04 · NY-17 · NY-19 | | NORTH CAROLINA NC-01 · NC-11 | OHIO OH-01 · OH-09 | | PENNSYLVANIA PA-01 · PA-07 · PA-08 · PA-10 | TEXAS TX-15 · TX-28 · TX-34 · TX-35 | | VIRGINIA VA-01 · VA-02 | WASHINGTON WA-03 | | WISCONSIN WI-03 | |
| The geographic pattern is uneven. California, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania and Texas each contribute four districts to the CBS list, while several other states have only one. That reflects a House battlefield shaped both by longstanding swing districts and by congressional maps that changed before this election. |
| WHERE THE HOUSE LIST CLUSTERS | | | |
| ► MAPS CHANGED THE TERRAIN | | |
| Several districts on the CBS list look different from the seats voters saw in 2024 because states conducted mid-decade redistricting. Florida, Texas, California, Ohio and other states altered boundaries, changing the partisan composition of some districts before the general election. |
| 01 OLD
DISTRICT | 02 NEW
BOUNDARIES | 03 NEW
ELECTORATE | |
| Missouri is one example of why the map itself has remained fluid. After state and federal litigation over a replacement congressional map, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed a federal district court order that would have required the newer map. CBS reports that Missouri must use its 2022 congressional boundaries for the fall election while the litigation continues. |
| WHY A WATCHLIST MATTERS MONEY → STAFF → ADVERTISING → VOTER CONTACT Competitive-race lists help show where campaigns, party committees and outside groups are concentrating resources. They do not establish what the final electorate will do. | |
| That distinction is important. A race appearing on this list means CBS currently sees it as relevant to the fight for congressional control. It does not mean every listed race is equally close, and it does not mean districts outside the list cannot become competitive before voting concludes. |
| SENATE 9 CBS-selected races in the fight over a 51-seat majority. | HOUSE 42 CBS-selected districts in the fight over a 218-seat majority. | |
| THE MAP 9 Senate races. 42 House districts. Two congressional majorities — and a watchlist that can still change before Election Day. | |
| 03 | CORE NOTES Three facts behind the CBS battleground map | |
| 01 | CBS currently identifies nine Senate contests as its core watchlist. Republicans hold 53 seats, while the Democratic caucus consists of 45 Democrats and two independents. | |
| 02 | The House watchlist contains 42 districts across 19 states. The chamber is currently divided among 218 Republicans, 214 Democrats, one independent who caucuses with Republicans and two vacancies. | |
| 03 | CBS describes the 51-race list as dynamic. Candidate developments, district conditions and the broader campaign can still alter which races remain on the battleground map. | |
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| SOURCES 2026 Midterm Election Races to Watch — CBS News
12 Key Races That Will Determine Who Controls the Senate — CBS News
Current House Party Breakdown — U.S. House of Representatives
Current Senate Party Division — U.S. Senate
Missouri Congressional Map Litigation — U.S. Supreme Court |
