As Americans head to the polls for midterm elections Tuesday, the outcome could have significant consequences for Canada. CTVNews.ca will have live results, breaking updates, real-time election data and on-the-ground reporting from key battleground states.
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The first polls have closed in parts of Indiana and Kentucky after millions of Americans cast their votes Tuesday in U.S. midterm elections that will serve as a referendum on U.S. President Donald Trump’s chaotic and controversial second term.
The outcome will decide which party controls Congress and whether there will be a check on Trump’s unprecedented use of executive power over the remainder of his time in office.
More polls will close across the East Coast starting at 7 p.m. ET.
“For this country to work at its best, citizens need to be involved,” said 49-year-old Andrew Harris, who cast ballots for Democrats in Birmingham, Mich. “And there’s no better way to be involved than to be a voter, an informed voter. It’s a very important day.”
Republicans have been on defence throughout this turbulent midterm campaign season, with polls showing Trump’s approval plummeting due to rising gas and diesel prices, high inflation and the unpopular war with Iran.
Trump made his closing arguments of the campaign Monday. He defended his administration’s tariffs and policies and claimed his second term has seen the “best” economy ever, despite widespread voter disapproval of his handling of pocketbook issues.
Trump also denigrated Democrats, calling their party extreme and dangerous and claiming they hate America.
Democrats have faced controversies of their own, including a shocking eleventh-hour party fracture in a tight Michigan Senate race. Democrat candidate Abdul El-Sayed’s former opponent in the U.S. Senate primary, Haley Stevens, stunned party officials Sunday by endorsing Republican candidate Mike Rogers.
Alan Latham, a 44-year-old attorney and lifelong Michigander, said he was worried about affordability but was more motivated to back a candidate who promises progress instead of polarization.
“For me the candidate that’s going to push forward us in a positive direction as a country, as a people, unify us, is what really brought me out to the polls and what really is important to me as a voter and as a citizen,” Latham said after casting a ballot in White Lake for El-Sayed.
At the same polling station, Mark Pospisil, 43, said he’s pretty neutral on a lot of political issues. Pospisil said he voted for Rogers because the Republican would “honour and fear God and be best to implement good laws for our community.”
Polling shows Democrats are close to taking the House, where a net gain of three seats would give them a narrow majority.
Control of the Senate is much less clear and the Michigan race could prove critical to Democrats’ chances of securing the net gain of four seats they need for a majority.
To control the Senate, Democrats likely need to win seats in places like Maine and Alaska, where Trump’s unpopular trade war with Canada has become a ballot box issue.
Trump recently made changes to 50 per cent tariffs on an array of Canadian goods to offer a reprieve to industries hit hard in Maine, a border state where longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins faces a tough contest.
Mary Monroe, casting her ballot in Bangor, Maine, said while it’s important to be friendly with your neighbours, “I don’t think the United States should be taken advantage of.”
At the same polling station, Tyler Levesque said, “Canada is our partner.”
“It’s not fair to us as Mainers, as a community, to suffer because of failed economic policy,” Levesque said.
While the trade war with Canada may not have been the top issue on voters’ minds in border states, the cost of living is definitely driving voting intentions. Many Americans are angered by Trump’s policies, which have driven up costs at gas stations and grocery stores.
Trump returned to the White House after promising to boost the economy, reduce inflation and keep the United States out of foreign wars. He made gains among young men, the Hispanic community and Black men based on those pledges.
Halfway through his second term, many of those same voters say they feel duped.
Dylan Raford supported Trump in 2024 -- even though he was too young at the time to vote -- and hyped up the president to family and friends. The 19-year-old described himself as a business owner, entrepreneur and “big free market type of guy.”
Raford said he now feels betrayed.
“I did like Trump. I did. As a Black person, I got so much hate for it,” Raford said.
“He made me a fool. He made all those people right.”
Like many voters who turned out for Trump in 2024, Raford doesn’t have a party affiliation. He said he’s voting Democrat in the South Carolina midterm races because he wants Trump to face restraints.
The Senate race for Lindsey Graham’s old seat in historically red South Carolina has turned out to be a surprise battleground. Many voters have criticized Trump’s endorsement of Darline Graham Nordone to run for her late brother’s seat, citing her lack of experience and multiple fumbles on the campaign trail.
But a blue wave -- which would solidify Trump as a lame duck president -- is not guaranteed. Many Republicans remained determined and organized ahead of the vote.
Jay Jamil, with Chaldean Association Iraqi Catholics in Michigan, said his community was motivated to get out the vote for Rogers because the Republican would be good for local businesses and families.
“Mike Rogers has filled the Chaldean need list. What they asked him for, he helped them,” Jamil said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 3, 2026.
With files from Eli Ridder in Bangor, Maine, and The Associated Press
Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press
