APTOPIX Election 2026 America Votes Virginia

The first polls were closing on Tuesday as voters, fed up over high prices and angry over the direction of the country, cast their ballots in midterm elections that will serve as a referendum on President Donald Trump’s second term. The elections could drastically shift power in Washington. Democrats were cautiously optimistic as they watched Republicans spend the campaign’s final stretch pumping tens of millions of dollars into states and districts that Trump won handily two years ago. They’re betting that discontent over Trump’s failure to tackle rising costs, the Iran war, and perceptions that he’s focused more on gilding the nation’s capital than their pain at the pump will depress Republican turnout and drive their own voters to the polls.