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After the election: questions answered

When we'll know who won, how recounts work, Georgia's runoff, the lame-duck Congress and the next elections, explained in plain language.

After the election

When Will We Know Who Won the House and Senate? → Why some 2026 races are called on election night and others take days or weeks, which states count slowest, and what 218 and 51 mean.

How Election Recounts Work: Thresholds, Costs and Odds → When a recount happens automatically, when a candidate can ask for one, who pays, and how rarely recounts change the winner.

Georgia's December 1 Runoff Explained → Why Georgia holds runoffs, who can vote on December 1, 2026, early voting dates and how the runoff decides the race.

What Is a Lame-Duck Session of Congress? → What Congress can do between the election and January 3, why it's called a lame duck, and what usually gets done.

When Do Newly Elected Members of Congress and Governors Take Office? → The new Congress is sworn in on January 3, 2027. Here's what happens between the election and then, and when new governors start.

Redistricting in 2026: Which States Redrew Their House Maps → Nine states used new congressional maps in 2026, drawn after the post-2020 maps. Which ones, who drew them, and why the Supreme Court's Callais ruling mattered.

Midterm history since 1946 → How many seats the president's party loses, election by election.

The next elections

2027 Governor Races: Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi → The next statewide races: three governorships are on the ballot in 2027, two of them open seats. Who holds them now and when they vote.

2028 Senate Map: The 34 Seats Up for Election → Every Senate seat on the ballot in 2028, who holds it and which party, including the Florida and Ohio seats decided in 2026 special elections.

Presidential approval tracker → Every poll of Donald Trump's job approval, with the average and its trend.

How Congress works

What Is the Filibuster? How the Senate's 60-Vote Rule Works → Why most bills need 60 votes in the Senate, what cloture is, and which votes need only a simple majority.

How a Bill Becomes Law: The Steps in Congress → From introduction to the president's signature: committees, floor votes, the other chamber, vetoes and overrides.

How Is the Speaker of the House Elected? → The Speaker is chosen on the first day of each new Congress by a majority of members voting by name. What happens if no one gets there, and how a Speaker can be removed.