How to watch live election results on CBS News

CBS News · PBS NewsHour and PBS NewsHour report that Tuesday's 2026 midterms will decide who controls Congress and shape what President Donald Trump can pursue next. Voters fill all 435 House seats and 35 Senate contests, while 36 states and 3 U.S. territories pick governors; California voters also weigh a billionaire tax proposal.

CBS News details its election-night schedule: prime-time coverage with anchors Tony Dokoupil and Norah O'Donnell begins at 7 p.m. ET. It says the first polls close at 7 p.m. ET, California and several Western states at 11 p.m., and Alaska, home to a closely watched Senate race, at 1 a.m. Alaska's ranked choice system could delay a final tally until Nov. 18 if nobody gets a majority of first-choice votes.

PBS NewsHour focuses on Georgia, where Senator Jon Ossoff is the lone Democrat defending a seat in a state Trump carried in 2024. Rep. Mike Collins, his Republican opponent, won the nomination in a June runoff against Derek Dooley, the pick of Gov. Brian Kemp, after Trump backed Collins. Collins stresses immigration and border security.

Summarized by PolitiKool from CBS News · PBS NewsHour and PBS NewsHour’s reporting. Read the full story at CBS News · PBS NewsHour → Also at PBS NewsHour →