Voters won’t be heading to the general election polls for the 2026 Senate races for another year and a half, but the elections are already taking shape.
Over the past week, the candidate pool in Georgia, Michigan, and North Carolina—states that will determine the Senate’s balance of power during President Donald Trump‘s final act—has shrunk dramatically.
Here’s where these contentious 2026 races stand.
Michigan
Republican Rep. Bill Huizenga announced Thursday he will not be running for Senate in the Wolverine State, further solidifying former Rep. Mike Rogers’ status as the presumptive nominee.
Rogers, who left Congress a decade ago, lost to current Michigan Democrat Sen. Elissa Slotkin by under 20,000 votes in 2024—an impressive showing in a state that has not elected a Republican senator in over 30 years.
President Donald Trump endorsed Rogers to take the seat of retiring Democrat Sen. Gary Peters shortly after Huizenga’s announcement, writing on the social media platform Truth Social, “Mike Rogers has my Complete and Total Endorsement — HE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN!”
The president’s support, combined with early endorsements from Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, are likely to give Rogers further fundraising momentum a year out from the August 2026 Republican primary.
On the Democrat side, the Michigan candidate pool has not yet been narrowed down. The three front-runners are Rep. Haley Stevens, state Senate Majority Whip Mallory McMorrow, and Abdul El-Sayed, who previously served as the director of the Department of Health, Human, and Veterans Services for Wayne County.
“Now is the time to unite and let Democrats fight over their first place loser,” wrote Alex Latcham, the executive director of the Senate Leadership Fund, a Thune-allied group, after Trump’s endorsement.
North Carolina
The picture in North Carolina is getting clearer by the day.
On Thursday, Lara Trump, the president’s daughter-in-law who chaired the GOP during the 2024 election, announced she will not run for Senate in the Tar Heel State.
Republicans need a new candidate after moderate Republican Sen. Thom Tillis’ decision not to seek reelection.
Shortly after his daughter-in-law’s announcement, Trump endorsed Michael Whatley, also a North Carolinian who co-chaired the GOP during the election, to join what could be a tough race.
“Mike would make an unbelievable Senator from North Carolina,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“He is fantastic at everything he does, and he was certainly great at the RNC where, in the Presidential Election, we won every Swing State, the Popular Vote, and the Electoral College by a landslide! But I have a mission for my friends in North Carolina, and that is to get Michael Whatley to run for the U.S. Senate.”
Rep. Mark Harris, R-N.C., has told The Daily Signal that being vocally pro-Trump is probably an asset for whichever candidate becomes the Republican nominee.
“I think they just need to have the quality of being genuine. Telling people the facts, letting people understand what’s going on, making sure that they recognize that we believe in President [Donald] Trump’s ‘America First’ agenda. And that wins in North Carolina,” he said.
“[Trump’s] won every time he’s run in that state, and I have no doubt that he’s going to play a major role,” Harris added.
Democrats appear close to selecting their nominee, as well.
Former Governor Roy Cooper, who won elections in the state in 2016 and 2020 at the same time as it elected Trump for the presidency, appears close to joining the race, with both Axios and The New York Times predicting an imminent campaign announcement.
Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., recently told The Daily Signal that any Republican nominee would have to have the bipartisan appeal necessary to beat Cooper, who has had great electoral success in the state.
“We need to have a Republican that can beat the presumed nominee of the Democrat Party, Roy Cooper, who’s the former governor,” he said. “Someone who understands how to navigate in a bipartisan manner. But in a conservative, bipartisan manner so that we keep the Senate and we can actually do things that are good for the country.”
Georgia
Republicans have an opportunity to regain lost ground in a state that elected Trump by a 115,000-vote margin in 2024. Jon Ossoff, who narrowly won in a runoff election in 2020, will be seeking reelection.
The Republican pool of candidates remains crowded, with Rep. Buddy Carter already in the race and Rep. Mike Collins teasing a run with unsubtle videos on X asking, “Who can beat Jon Ossoff?”
Earlier this year, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Gov. Brian Kemp both stifled speculation about possible Senate runs. More recently, Georgia Insurance Commissioner John King ruled out taking a shot at the seat, narrowing down the field of potential candidates.
