Campaign activity for the 2026 midterm elections intensified on Monday as major business groups took sides and candidates prepared for crucial fall contests across the country. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce officially backed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in his bid for the U.S. Senate, Fox News reported, giving the Republican nominee a major national endorsement in his contest against Democratic state Rep. James Talarico.
The endorsement comes as both political parties mount high-profile pushes in key states. Donald Trump was set to travel to Kansas for campaign events while Vice President JD Vance planned a rally in North Carolina, NBC News reported.
High stakes in the Texas Senate contest
The Chamber’s backing marks a shift in the Texas race. The business federation previously endorsed incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn ahead of the party’s primary, Fox News reported. However, after Paxton and Cornyn advanced to a primary runoff, Paxton secured the nomination.
Neil Bradley, executive vice president and chief policy officer at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, called Paxton “a defender of free enterprise” who has worked to preserve low taxes and protect the energy industry from federal mandates, according to Fox News. Bradley added that the group hopes to cooperate with Paxton on legal reforms shielding employers from lawsuits and regulations.
Paxton welcomed the backing in a statement posted on X, writing that he felt honored by the endorsement and pledged to reduce taxes, roll back business rules, and limit bureaucratic intervention, Fox News reported.
Close margins and vote tally expectations
While candidates campaign across the country, election experts caution that final control of Congress might not be known immediately on election night, NPR reported. Race calls depend heavily on victory margins, with tighter contests requiring more time and more counted ballots before analysts can project a winner.
In Alaska, polling indicates a very tight U.S. Senate contest, raising the possibility that the nation could wait weeks to learn which party holds the chamber, according to NPR. MIT Election Lab data showed Alaska was the final state in 2024 to hit 95 percent of ballots counted, and The Associated Press did not call its lone House seat—won by Republican Nicholas Begich by fewer than 10,000 votes—until Nov. 20.
California is also taking steps to address slow counts. The state provided $40 million to accelerate ballot processing and voter education, NPR reported. Kim Alexander, head of the California Voter Foundation, noted that a major factor behind delays is voters holding mail ballots until Election Day. In addition, following mid-cycle redistricting, California has only three competitive House seats according to the Cook Political Report, down from nine in 2022, potentially reducing the national focus on its tallies.
Gubernatorial races and judicial clashes
Beyond federal legislative seats, voters across 36 states will cast ballots to elect governors in November, Business Insider reported. Official gubernatorial compensation averages $174,479 nationally, ranging from $70,000 in Maine to more than $250,000 in Pennsylvania. Some wealthy state leaders, including JB Pritzker of Illinois and Ned Lamont of Connecticut, forgo their state pay entirely.
Meanwhile, legal tensions in Washington continue to unfold alongside the midterm season. U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes rejected an administration motion demanding her recusal from a dispute over plans to renovate the public East Potomac Golf Links into a championship-grade course, NBC News reported. Reyes stated in a court filing that her frustration regarding the sudden removal of hundreds of trees did not constitute bias. Trump criticized Reyes on Truth Social, describing her as “a crazed lunatic” and maintaining that work on the course would begin immediately, according to NBC News.
With just weeks remaining before voters head to the polls, party strategists and election administrators are watching closely to see how turnout patterns and vote-counting timelines will shape the eventual balance of power in Washington and statehouses across the nation.
