U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 27, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
With the United States' 2026 midterms drawing closer, Democrats are feeling cautiously optimistic — especially where the U.S. House of Representatives is concerned. President Donald Trump continues to have weak approval ratings in many polls, and Democrats have enjoyed a series of double-digit election victories in late 2025 and early 2026.
The Democratic National Committee (DLC), the Democratic Leadership Campaign Committee (DLCC) and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) are keeping a close eye on the U.S. Senate. Although Democrats realize that flipping the Senate is a heavy lift, DSCC Chair Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York) believes that Congress' upper chamber is in play for her party.
In an article published by The Bulwark on February 27, Never Trump conservative Bill Kristol argues that the 2026 midterms will be largely a referendum on Donald Trump's second presidency even though Trump himself isn't literally on the ballot. And he stresses that although midterms are often treated like "the neglected stepchildren of American politics," this year's midterms are a golden opportunity to push back against Trump.
"The 2026 midterm election season kicks off this coming Tuesday, March 3, with primaries in Arkansas, North Carolina, and Texas," Kristol observes. "Nine months of political labor — sometimes painful, more often, one trusts, promising — will follow. And on November 3, 2026, we the people will choose a new House of Representatives, 35 newly elected senators, and a fresh slate of governors and state legislators."
The conservative journalist notes that in 2024, "the American people decided to take a gamble on a second term for a man who had left office four years before after trying to overturn the results of the free and fair election he'd lost."
"They decided to overlook — or to embrace? — the demagoguery and the dishonesty, and the bigotry and the cruelty that were already so evident in his campaign," Kristol laments. "And they decided to give majorities in Congress to a political party that would submit to his authority, go along with his policies, and enable his accumulation of power. And so, here we are, with federal agents assaulting our citizens, with the federal government threatening our elections, and with our highest officials lying, bullying, and grifting without shame or remorse."
Kristol continues, "The midterm elections can't change the character of the executive branch the American people chose in 2024. But the midterms can mitigate and in some cases stop the damage. They can point to a different path ahead. They could be a repudiation of the Trumpist project. Or they could signify acquiescence to it…. I don’t think it's an exaggeration to say that a triumphant Trumpism would go a long way to blowing out the moral lights around us. The 2026 midterms will be a key moment in our accepting, or rejecting, such an outcome."
