At Stake in this Election: 

• 35 of 100 seats in the United States Senate* 

• Elections for the House of Representatives are occurring concurrently. 

*Senate terms are staggered, with ~1/3 of seats up for election every 2 years. This year there are 33 seats up for regular election, and 2 special elections 

Government Structure:  

• Chief of State: President Donald J. TRUMP (since 20 January 2025) 

• Head of Government: President Donald J. TRUMP (since 20 January 2025) 

• Assembly: bicameral Congress with a 100-seat Senate and a 435-seat House of Representatives. 

Electoral System:  

• The President is elected by majority vote of electors in the Electoral College. Each state is given a number of electors equal to the number of members in congress from said state. The District of Columbia is also given 3 electors. Electors are elected by the public of each state and generally vote in accordance with their state’s popular vote. The President is elected to a 4-year term. 

• All 100 members of the Senate are generally elected by plurality vote in single-seat constituencies. They are elected to 6-year terms. Approximately one-third of seats are up for election every 2 years. 

• All 435 members of the House of Representatives are generally elected by plurality vote in single-seat constituencies. They are elected to 2-year terms. 

Last Election:   

In the last Senate election, the Republican Party won 15 of the 34 seats up for election, securing a majority with 53 seats in the upper house. The Democratic Party won 17 seats, and independent candidates won 2 seats. 

Key Deadlines: 

• Candidate filing deadline: Varies by state. 

• Voter registration deadline: Varies by state. 

Main Parties in this Election: 

• The Republican Party 

• • Leader: Charles Ernest GRASSLEY 

• • Seats won in the last election: 15 seats out of the 34 at stake in the last election 

• The Democratic Party 

• • Leader: Charles Ellis SCHUMER 

• • Seats won in the last election: 17 seats out of the 34 at stake in the last election 

Independents also won two seats in the 2024 election. 

Country Context: 

• Population: 341,784,857 (2025 est.) 

• Registered Voters: 173,854,000 (2024 est.) 

• V-Dem Electoral Democracy Index Score: 0.74 (2026) 

• V-Dem Regimes of the World Classification: Electoral Democracy (2026) 

• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: 0.938, Very high, Rank 17 (2025)  

Gender Data: 

• Female Population: 170,047,087 (2025 est.) 

• CEDAW Status: Signed 17 Jul 1980  

• Gender Quota: No 

• Female Candidates in this election: Yes 

• Number of Female Legislators (pre-election): 27 of 100 (27%) in the Senate and 125 of 435 (28.9%) in the House of Representatives  

• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: 19.1 (2023) 

Disability Data: 

• CRPD Status: Signed 30 Jul 2009 

• Projected population with a disability: 53,586,383 

IFES Resources: 

• ElectionJudgments: Yes, 24 judgements