‘It’s the disregard for the rule of law. It just seems like they’re thumbing their nose at it’

• US midterms 2026 live – latest updates

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In the battleground state of Maine, Todd Cox, 63, has supported the state’s incumbent Republican senator Susan Collins not once, but twice, in previous elections. Not this time.

On Tuesday, Cox, a technology professional, cast his vote for Collins’s Democratic challenger, Troy Jackson – driven not by pressing local issues, but broader concern “for the direction the country is going in”, he said.

Control of the Senate and House of Representatives, both currently held by the Republicans, is at stake

• US midterms 2026 live – latest updates

• Track live results from all 50 states

Americans are heading to the polls today in US midterm elections widely seen as a referendum on Donald Trump’s second presidency and a chance for opponents to rein in his untrammeled power.

At stake is control of the US Senate and House of Representatives, both currently held by Republicans, and in recent days, the two parties have scrambled to deliver their final pitches to voters. Additionally, there are elections for governor in 36 states, as well for state legislatures, sheriff’s offices, and on the approval of ballot initiatives nationwide.

Key contest between incumbent Republican Susan Collins and Democrat Troy Jackson will gauge how voters feel about Trump 2.0 and rising costs

Christian LaMontagne has started slowing his lobster boat down.

The 27-year-old fisher spends longer on the water when out hauling traps in Casco Bay, but the trade-off helps him save fuel at a time when costs have surged. Before the US war with Iran began in late February, filling his tank cost about $350 a week. Now it’s doubled to nearly $700.