2026 midterm elections: Will early-voter turnout translate to final results?

All right, Sean, thanks so much. Of course, we're just a few days away from elections and control of the Senate and the House, all up for grabs. This morning, S.E. Cupp, political commentator and writer, joins us. Good morning to you, S.E. I guess the big question here is, will there be a blue wave, as has been predicted for a while, or will Republicans surprise everyone on Election Day? Yeah, it is the question. And we're measuring a couple things. We've seen a lot of early voting turnout around the country. And while we don't know exactly who most of those voters are, we do have indications that that will favor Democrats. However, as I'm sure you know, Republicans have been undercounted, underreported in previous election years. And they tend to turn out on election day because historically, President Trump has told them to do that. So that turnout question still remains a big question mark. And as you know, turnout's the whole ballgame. So we'll have to see on election day. It absolutely is. What do you think about polls and prediction markets? Will they be right this year or are they going to be wildly off? Yeah, I understand voter frustration and skepticism over the polls. The prediction markets have been an interesting way to also tell the story of this election. But listen, there is no substitute for election day turnout. And so we just won't know until then. I feel pretty good about the polls. But as I just said, Republicans tend to be undercounted, and they tend to wait to vote until election day. So don't trust anything except yourself, just go out and vote. Yeah, absolutely, get out there and vote. So what are the top races people should be focusing on for election night? Yeah, I mean, this is all about control of Congress. So we're gonna be watching those big Senate races. Dems feel pretty good about taking the House, but the Senate is where the action is. And so we're gonna be watching Michigan Senate, Texas Senate, but also the Senate races in Alaska and Maine and Ohio and Iowa, lots of big ones. And then there's a bunch of governor's races, and those are really important too. A lot of what happens that impacts your daily life happens at the state level and not the federal level. So lots to watch, lots of stories to tell on election day, and that's what we'll be doing. Republicans, Democrats have their own messaging going on right now, but what is the biggest concern to you for voters? Listen, we hear this over and over again. It's affordability. When people say the economy is their number one issue, they mean their personal economy, their micro economy, what they can afford. And they don't feel as good about their own economies now as they did some years ago. And that's bad. That's bad news for the party in charge. And Republicans own the whole smash, right? They've got the House, the Senate, the White House. So this is not an environment economically that will favor Republicans. All right, the election quickly approaching. What can you tell us more about Tuesday's election special that you're putting on? Yeah, so we're doing an hour and a half streaming special on Fox Local. You can catch it 9 to 11.30 Eastern or 6 to 8.30 Pacific time. And my co-host and I, Bill Anderson, we're gonna be talking to reporters, voters. We're gonna be calling races. So it's a one-stop shop for your midterm coverage. All right, SC Cup. Thanks so much for being with us this morning and look forward to watching you on election night. Thanks, John.