Millions of Americans are about to decide the future of Congress, currently controlled by Republicans, in a midterm election that will have a significant impact on the final two years of Donald Trump's presidency.
All eyes are on a handful of Senate elections that will decide control of the coveted Upper House.
A victory that allows them to add four additional seats would give Democrats control there and with it they would gain the power to limit Trump's ambitions, reject his judicial appointments and investigate his government.
Right now, billions of dollars are being poured into the 35 elections taking place across the country, but only a few have an uncertain outcome.
There are seven Senate races that, according to the independent electoral analysis report Cook Political Report, are considered too close to anticipate a clear winner.
Here we present the profiles of the figures who are giving something to talk about in these elections.
In a nutshell:
This race has been marred by controversy generated by the presence on the ballot of two candidates who have the same name: Dan Sullivan. One of them is the Republican senator who occupies that seat and is currently seeking re-election. This legislator faces tough competition from Democrat Mary Peltola, whom he accuses of having promoted the candidacy of a person with the same name to confuse voters, something she denies.
End of Most read
image copyrightGetty Images
All the news you need is on BBC World Service
Download it here
End of Ad app
The history of the election:
Ultimately, this race could be decisive in determining which party controls the chamber if, as expected, Alaska is one of the slowest states to reach a conclusion.
Peltola, a former member of the House of Representatives and the first Alaska Native woman elected to Congress, has run her campaign on a platform of "fishing, family and freedom" and has criticized Sullivan's record as Alaska's natural resources commissioner.
Two-term Sen. Sullivan, a veteran Marine Corps reservist and former Alaska attorney general, accused Peltola's campaign of having ties to an attempt to confuse Republican voters by facilitating the entry of a second candidate named Dan Sullivan into the race.
Peltola's campaign denies any link to that alleged plan. However, the matter is the subject of a state investigation and a lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice, which was rejected by a judge on Sunday.
Alaska's ranked-choice voting system also adds uncertainty to the equation. This state has historically been difficult to poll, as polls often underestimate Republican voters.
How they got here:
Sullivan, 61, retired from the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve in 2024 after a 30-year career that included tours in Afghanistan and the Middle East. Peltola, 53, grew up salmon fishing with his father and later became the first person born in the state to represent it in Congress.
Susan Collins is one of the few Republican senators who voted to impeach Trump in 2021. Susan Collins has consistently outperformed her party in this Democratic-leaning state, in part by presenting herself as a rebel figure.
Collins' opponent, Troy Jackson, is drawing on his experience as a logging industry worker cutting down trees in this election to convince Maine workers that he can identify with them.
Jackson hopes time has finally run out for one of the great survivors of American politics.
Collins hopes her reputation as a moderate politician will win over independent voters in a state that typically votes Democratic in presidential elections.
Now, his campaign will test whether Republicans can win by distancing themselves from Trump.
Collins, seeking a sixth term, began the midterm election cycle as one of the most vulnerable incumbent Republican senators seeking re-election.
However, it has been helped by the controversy surrounding Graham Platner, who was initially the Democratic candidate in that state but ended up being replaced by Jackson, a former president of the Maine state senate.
Both Jackson and Collins oppose Trump's tariffs on Canada, aware of the impact they have on this border country. However, unlike Collins, the Democratic candidate is in favor of abolishing US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Collins, 73, began his political career straight out of college in the 1970s and entered the U.S. Senate in 1997.
Jackson, 58, is a lumberjack who became involved in politics when he helped lead a protest to prevent lower-wage Canadian workers from entering Maine.
James Talarico seeks to end decades of electoral drought for Democrats in Texas and demonstrate that one of the main Republican strongholds could be at stake heading into the 2028 presidential election.
Talarico's showdown with Ken Paxton has become the most expensive Senate race in U.S. history.
Election history:
Republican Paxton knows that his party has been winning state elections in Texas for more than 30 years.
Texas state Rep. James Talarico, a former schoolteacher and Presbyterian seminary student, is the latest Democrat hoping to break his party's long losing streak.
Texas Republicans face a daunting combination of obstacles. The national political landscape is complex for conservatives. In addition, several state issues such as the construction of data centers and strict enforcement of immigration laws have damaged that party's image.
Added to this is the controversial figure of Paxton.
The campaign has been highly tense, with Talarico focusing on Paxton's 2023 impeachment trial by the Republican-controlled state House of Representatives for alleged corruption, bribery and abuse of power. Paxton denied the charges and was later acquitted by the state Senate, calling the impeachment trial a "politically motivated farce from the beginning."
Backed by more than $170 million in funding from tech mogul Elon Musk, Paxton has sought to portray Talarico as a liberal out of touch with Texans on issues such as transgender rights, law enforcement, immigration and energy policy.
A Democratic victory here could signal that America's second-highest electoral prize in a presidential election could be within reach in 2028, an idea that could dramatically transform the country's political landscape.
Before entering public service, Paxton spent 14 years founding and growing his own law firm. He was a member of the state House of Representatives and Senate before becoming Texas' top legal advisor.
Talarico taught classes at a high school in San Antonio, in a neighborhood that he himself has described as one of the poorest in the state. He has studied theology and considers Pope Leo XIV a "spiritual hero."
This is one of the closest races, with leftist candidate Abdul El-Sayed seeking to keep this crucial seat in Democratic hands.
El-Sayed faces Mike Rogers, a former Republican FBI agent who received the unexpected endorsement of the Democratic candidate defeated in the primary by El-Sayed, which only increases the tension that has characterized this electoral race from the beginning.
El-Sayed, a doctor and public health official, is one of the most left-wing Senate candidates in this election cycle.
Supports a state health insurance system and the abolition of ICE. His strong criticism of Israel has been a source of tension in the party.
Rogers, who emphasizes his military and intelligence experience, has managed to maintain Trump's support despite criticizing his tariffs on Canada and his diesel deal with Russia.
He has also distanced himself from the president by calling for an immediate end to the war with Iran. El-Sayed would be the first Muslim elected to the United States Senate.
In addition to attacking him for his political beliefs, Trump and Rogers have attempted to link him to the Muslim Brotherhood, while El-Sayed has denounced the organization.
Trump has also made reference to 9/11 and even called him a "jihadist" without citing any evidence, prompting a strong backlash and accusations of Islamophobia.
El-Sayed, 41, was born and raised in Michigan before studying medicine in the United States and the United Kingdom, and then working in the sector.
Rogers, 63, served in the U.S. Army and the FBI before entering Congress and becoming a key advocate for U.S. surveillance policies.
Trump traveled to Iowa on his last day of campaign events, given the importance of this state. Polls have him tied between Republican and former television news anchor Ashley Hinson and Democrat Josh Turek, who won basketball gold at two Paralympic Games.
Agriculture, tariffs and Trump have become key issues in this close electoral race.
Hinson has distanced himself somewhat from the president. He asked him to end the war with Iran and disagreed with him over reducing beef tariffs. At the same time, he defends Trump's broader tariff policies as important.
While Turek argues that Trump's tariffs have caused "farmageddon" in this largely rural state. He has also tried to convince voters that the war with Iran has caused fuel and fertilizer costs to rise.
Hinson has described Turek as a candidate he would vote like an "East Coast liberal."
The two have also had disagreements on issues ranging from taxes and Social Security to immigration. The last time a Democrat won a federal election in Iowa was almost 20 years ago.
Hinson, 43, is a former local news reporter who says her journalism experience helps her understand the issues facing the state's farmers and small businesses.
Turek, 47, was born with spina bifida and underwent several surgeries before representing the United States in wheelchair basketball at four Paralympic Games, two of which he won.
A Democratic victory in Kansas would end 94 years of history. The last time this Midwestern state elected a Democratic senator was in 1932.
Senator Roger Marshall is the Republican trying to avoid a humiliating defeat, while rookie candidate and Methodist minister Adam Hamilton is the Democrat looking to break records.
On the one hand, Marshall has aligned himself with Donald Trump and presents himself as a pro-farmer candidate.
On the other hand, Hamilton, who once considered running as an independent, has presented himself as a candidate capable of overcoming the political divide. His campaign has focused primarily on reducing costs and protecting access to health care.
Marshall has attempted to question Hamilton's record as a pastor, describing him as "too woke" (or "too progressive") for a conservative state.
Meanwhile, Marshall has been under scrutiny since reports emerged that he sued patients who couldn't pay their medical bills. The candidate told Fox News that it was nothing more than a smear campaign orchestrated by left-wing media and senior Democratic officials.
The tight electoral dispute is read as a potentially worrying signal for Republicans.
A victory for Hamilton could be interpreted as a sign of growing dissatisfaction with Trump's policies, especially on economic matters, in a place previously considered safe for the party.
Both Marshall, 66, and Hamilton, 62, emphasize that they are fifth-generation Kansans and are deeply involved in local affairs.
Marshall worked for 25 years as an obstetrician, delivering some 5,000 births, while his rival Hamilton founded a church that became the center of the largest United Methodist congregation in the United States.
Trump won Ohio easily in 2024 and a year ago no one considered it a key state for the midterm elections.
However, Republican Senator Jon Husted finds himself neck and neck with Democrat Sherrod Brown, who is running to regain his old seat, having represented Ohio in the Senate for several years before losing his seat.
Husted was appointed in 2025 to the Senate seat vacated by Vice President JD Vance, and is now running to fill out the remainder of Vance's term.
He promises to use his business experience to create jobs and growth in Ohio.
In another election cycle, he would likely be the favorite to win this once swing state that has turned solidly Republican in the Trump era.
But Husted faces a formidable challenge from Brown, who enjoys wide public recognition after three decades representing Ohio in Congress.
Brown is known for being a champion of workers and for championing populist economic policies long before other members of his party.
This race is a referendum on Trump's economic policies, particularly his trade wars that have hurt the manufacturing and auto industries that support Ohio's economy.
Husted, 59, grew up in foster care and went into business before entering politics. He was a college football player and his physique has been repeatedly praised by President Trump at rallies.
Brown, 73, became involved in political activism at a young age and became involved in local politics before graduating from Yale.
By Bernd Debusmann, Daniel Bush and Anthony Zurcher in Washington, and James FitzGerald and Tom Geoghegan in London.
This article was originally written in English and we used an artificial intelligence tool to translate it. A BBC journalist reviewed the text before publication. Learn more about how we use AI.
Discover more
Video
End of Video
