# US midterms: Democrats eye House and Senate

> As Americans vote in record numbers, economic anger and Trump's unpopularity point toward Democratic gains.
- Title: US midterms: Democrats eye House and Senate · Daily Maverick
- Summary: As Americans vote in record numbers, economic anger and Trump's unpopularity point toward Democratic gains. Democrats are positioned to gain House and Senate…
- Keywords: us midterm elections, democrats, republicans, donald trump, barack obama, cost of living, iran conflict, michigan senate race, ohio governor race, alaska senate race, news, politics
- Source: Daily Maverick — https://dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-10-26-sick-and-tired-of-being-sick-and-tired-us-limbers-up-for-midterms
- Author: J Brooks Spector
- Published: 2026-10-26T10:49:28+00:00
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: us midterm elections, democrats, republicans, donald trump, barack obama, cost of living, iran conflict, michigan senate race, ohio governor race, alaska senate race, news, politics
## Record early voting underway
By Sunday, October twenty-fifth, nearly twenty-seven million Americans had voted early or by mail ahead of the November third midterm elections.
## What's at stake in midterms
All four hundred thirty-five House seats and thirty-five Senate seats are up for election, along with many governorships, state legislative seats and local offices.
## Democrats could gain control
Polling data suggests Democrats could take control of the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate, clawing back seats held by Republicans for years.
## Trump ignores unpopularity data
President Donald Trump insists his approval rating is more than double what polling shows, even as opinion data points to his growing unpopularity.
## Cost of living drives voters
The key issue for voters is affordability: the general cost of living, rising interest rates, and especially rapid increases in petrol and diesel fuel prices.
## Gas prices as political weapon
Pollster Nate Silver observed that every time somebody drives past a gas station, it's an advertisement for the Democrats.

> Every time somebody drives past a gas station, it's an advertisement for the Democrats.
## Iran war fuels voter anger
Voters link Donald Trump's war of choice against Iran to restrictions on Middle East oil flow and rising fuel prices at the pump.
## Other voter concerns emerge
Voters worry about excessive force by federal immigration officers and efforts by the Trump administration to restrict voting rights.
## Obama rallies Democrats
Former President Barack Obama campaigned for Democrats in key battleground states including Michigan and Ohio, showing why he remains the US's most inspiring public speaker.
## Obama invokes civil rights icon
In Cleveland, Ohio, Obama quoted Fannie Lou Hamer's nineteen sixty-four address: I am sick and tired of being sick and tired. It was a direct swipe at Trump's governance.

> I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.
## Republicans face controversies
Vivek Ramaswamy's Ohio gubernatorial campaign used a video from Amy Acton's mother calling her a liar, despite the mother's role in a rape case involving Acton as a child.
## Michigan campaign rhetoric deteriorates
Trump and Republican candidate Mike Rogers have called Democrat Abdul El-Sayed a Muslim Brotherhood supporter, communist and fascist in their Michigan Senate race.
## Alaska ballot confusion erupts
The Trump administration's Justice Department sued to block Alaska's Senate race results because two candidates named Dan Sullivan appear on the ballot alongside Democrat Mary Peltola.
## Daniel Sullivan runs independently
Daniel J. Sullivan, a retired schoolteacher from Petersburg, Alaska, says he is running for Senate of his own accord, not as a Democratic plant to siphon Republican votes.
## Key takeaway

Democrats are positioned to gain House and Senate seats in the November third midterm elections, driven by voter anger over cost of living and Trump's Iran conflict.