Midterm elections are the national elections held halfway through a president’s four-year term. They do not choose the president. Instead, voters choose members of Congress and many state and local officials, and the results often determine who controls the agenda in Washington, how easily laws move, and how aggressively Congress will check or support the White House.
If presidential elections are the country picking a direction, midterms are often the country deciding whether to keep the steering wheel steady or tap the brake.
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What is a midterm election?
A midterm election is the federal general election held in even-numbered years that falls two years after a presidential election and two years before the next one. The Constitution sets House terms at two years, so the entire U.S. House of Representatives is always on the ballot in a midterm year.
Midterms also include many other contests, depending on the state, such as Senate races, governor’s races, state legislatures, local offices, and ballot measures. Your ballot can vary widely by state, county, and even city.
Also worth noting: the midterm is part of the November general election cycle. It is preceded by primaries and other nominating contests, and separate special elections can happen outside the regular schedule when vacancies occur.
Midterms follow a familiar schedule
- Election Day: The Tuesday after the first Monday in November (federal law sets the date for federal races).
- Timing: Two years after a president is elected and two years before the next presidential election.
- A quick boundary: Federal midterms are in even-numbered years, but some states hold major statewide elections in odd-numbered years (and many local offices do too).
What offices are on the ballot in midterm elections?
U.S. House of Representatives
All 435 House seats are up every two years. That means every midterm election, in practice, becomes a nationwide test of the House and the governing coalition in Washington.
U.S. Senate
Senators serve six-year terms, so only about one-third of the Senate is up in any given election. Which states have Senate races depends on the class cycle of Senate seats.
Governors and state offices
Many states elect governors in midterm years. In fact, 36 states hold gubernatorial elections during midterm years, which is one reason the midterms can reshape policy on education, voting administration, abortion access, public health, and emergency powers, often more directly than Congress does.
State legislatures, judges, and local races
Midterms can include state house and state senate races, county officials, mayors, prosecutors, sheriffs, school boards, and in many states, judges. These offices may not make national headlines, but they can influence day-to-day rights and governance: bail policy, charging decisions, district maps, and how elections are run.
Why midterm elections matter so much
The president does not appear on the midterm ballot, but the midterm results can determine what the president can actually accomplish.
1) Control of Congress can change
Because all House seats are up and many Senate seats are up, midterms can flip one or both chambers of Congress. Voters do not directly vote on “control,” but control is the real-world result of who wins enough seats.
That matters because Congress controls:
- Lawmaking (no statutes without both chambers and the president, or a veto override)
- Budgets and spending
- Oversight and investigations
- Confirmations in the Senate (judges, cabinet officers, ambassadors)
Unified party control can make legislating easier. Divided government can still produce laws, but it usually changes the negotiating leverage and the pace.
2) Oversight becomes a powerful constitutional tool
When Congress is controlled by a party opposing the president, oversight tends to intensify. Committees can issue subpoenas, hold hearings, and investigate executive agencies. Some of this is healthy accountability. Some of it is partisan signaling. Either way, it is part of the separation of powers in action.
3) Redistricting and election rules echo for years
Midterms often decide state offices that influence how elections are administered and how district lines are drawn. The biggest redistricting happens after the census, and many maps are set early in the decade. But midterm results can still shape future redraws, mid-decade changes, and litigation and enforcement strategy around maps and voting rules.
4) Courts and the Constitution are indirectly on the ballot
Voters do not directly elect federal judges, but midterms can affect:
- Which party controls the Senate, and therefore confirmations
- Which laws get passed, and therefore which cases reach the courts
- State courts in states that elect judges
Is a midterm election in the Constitution?
The Constitution does not use the phrase “midterm election,” but it creates the machinery that makes midterms inevitable.
House elections every two years
Article I sets two-year terms for representatives. That single design choice guarantees regular national elections, regardless of who sits in the White House.
Senate elections on a staggered cycle
The Seventeenth Amendment provides for the popular election of senators. Their six-year terms are staggered, so the Senate is never fully replaced at once.
States run elections, within federal constraints
The Constitution largely leaves election administration to the states, with important federal guardrails:
- Article I, Section 4 (the Elections Clause) gives state legislatures the initial power to set the “Times, Places and Manner” of congressional elections, while allowing Congress to alter those rules.
- Voting rights amendments restrict discrimination in voting based on race (Fifteenth), sex (Nineteenth), failure to pay a poll tax in federal elections (Twenty-Fourth), and age for citizens 18+ (Twenty-Sixth).
- Equal Protection under the Fourteenth Amendment shapes many election-law disputes, even though the Constitution does not contain a single standalone “right to vote” clause in one place.
Why turnout is usually lower in midterms
Midterm turnout is typically lower than presidential-year turnout. That is not a mystery. It is largely about incentives.
- No presidential race means less media attention and fewer habitual voters showing up.
- Down-ballot complexity can discourage participation, especially in states with long ballots.
- Rules and access vary by state, including registration deadlines, early voting windows, and voter ID requirements.
Lower turnout can make midterms more volatile. A smaller electorate can shift power dramatically, even if the overall public mood has only changed a little.
Do midterms always go against the president?
Not always, but often. Historically, the president’s party frequently loses House seats in midterm elections. There are several reasons: voter dissatisfaction, mobilization by the opposition, and the tendency of politics to “correct” after a high-energy presidential race.
But midterms are not a law of nature. National crises, economic conditions, war, major legislation, candidate quality, and state-level controversies can override the usual pattern.
What to watch in a midterm year
Which chamber is most competitive
The House is always up, but Senate cycles vary. Some midterms feature a map favorable to one party simply because of which states have elections that year.
Key state races that shape voting rules
Secretaries of state, attorneys general, and governors can influence election administration, litigation strategy, and the enforcement of state election laws.
Ballot measures
In many states, voters decide ballot initiatives on issues like redistricting commissions, voting access, abortion policy, marijuana legalization, tax limits, and criminal justice reforms.
Midterms in one sentence
A midterm election is the federal election held halfway through a president’s term that can change control of Congress and, through that, the real-world power of the presidency.
Common questions
When is the next midterm election?
Federal elections are held every two years, but midterm elections happen every four years, exactly halfway between presidential elections. For example, after a presidential election in 2024, the midterm comes in 2026.
Do you vote for president in the midterms?
No. The president is not on the ballot in midterm elections.
Are midterms federal or state elections?
Both. Midterms include federal races (House and some Senate seats) and often major state and local races, depending on your state’s election calendar.
Why are midterms called “midterm”?
Because they happen in the middle of the president’s four-year term, even though the president is not being elected.