With one week to go until Election Day, here are some of the most interesting candidates of the 2026 midterm elections.
This is not an exhaustive list — look here and here for more interesting candidates.
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Democrat Rob Sand in Iowa’s governor’s race
Iowa is a surprisingly competitive state this year.
It’s got a toss-up Senate race, and its open governor’s race may be an even better opportunity for Democrats. Their gubernatorial candidate, Rob Sand, is the only statewide elected Democrat in Iowa. He’s the state auditor — a generally nonpartisan job — and is trying to pitch himself as an economic populist who rises above politics.
“We’re building a coalition of not red versus blue but of the well-fed versus the fed-up,” he’s said. He is targeting Iowa’s large chunk of voters who don’t register with either major party.
The Republican nominee, businessman Zach Lahn, also is trying to appeal to independents, and has pushed back on data centers and strongly criticized large agriculture firms to show his own independent streak. He’s also had to bat down accusations that he’s a recent transplant: He voted in Kansas rather than Iowa as recently as 2022.
Republican Vivek Ramaswamy in Ohio’s governor race
It’s been 20 years since a Democrat has led Ohio, but Ramaswamy’s controversial campaigning, especially in these final days, could put Republicans’ control of the state at risk.
Other Republican candidates in the state are being forced to talk about whether they agree with Ramaswamy’s ad featuring Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton’s mother attacking Acton. The Democrat has been estranged from her mother since childhood, after Acton’s stepfather was indicted and charged with raping her.
Term-limited Gov. Mike DeWine (R) told Ramawswamy to take down the ad; he’s resisted. “Our ad had nothing, nothing to do with childhood abuse, sexual abuse,” Ramaswamy said this week.
Statewide offices such as attorney general, which also long have been held by Republicans, are looking increasingly competitivefor Democrats. And Democrats think they have a chance of breaking Republicans’ supermajority in the state legislature.
Three high-quality polls conducted in October have shown Acton leading, though her campaign insists it’s still a close race.
Democrat David Jolly in Florida’s governor’s race
Jolly is a former Republican who is making Florida’s governor’s race unusually competitive for Democrats after years of Republican leadership. (Gov. Ron DeSantis is term-limited.)
Florida is a state that has turned more Republican in President Donald Trump’s era, and the GOP candidate, Byron Donalds, is significantly better funded. The Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan election prognosticator, says the race still leans toward Republicans.
Jolly has campaigned heavily against data centers and tried to stay away from criticizing Trump, given that he’ll need independent Trump voters to win the race. “In the last 18 months, I haven’t really talked about the president,” he told Fox News this week. “I’ve talked about housing, health care, gas, good schools for our kids.”
Trump looms over the race, though: A win for Democrats would be a symbolic blow to the president, given Florida is now the state he votes in, and Florida voted for Trump in the past three presidential elections.
Republican French Hill in a House race in Arkansas
Perhaps no House race signals the peril Republicans are facing in these midterm elections than one deep in Arkansas, featuring the powerful Rep. French Hill. Hill is chair of the House Financial Services Committee, has represented his district for more than a decade without a major scandal and is fighting for survival in what had increasingly become a pro-Trump district.
“I’ve devoted my entire life to central Arkansas,” Hill told CNN recently, “and people know that.”
Some Republican strategists say that if Hill loses his race against Democrat Chris Jones, a nuclear engineer who previously ran for governor, 2026 probably will feature a blue wave. Even if Hill wins a close race, it could signal Democrats have made gains with White, rural voters — something that could affect the next presidential election. (Jones has received funding from potential Democratic 2028 contender JB Pritzker, the billionaire governor of Illinois.)
Amber Phillips writes The 5-Minute Fix newsletter, a quick analysis of the day’s biggest political news. Send her an email here, or ask a question that could be featured in an upcoming newsletter.
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