A Paralympian vs a former TV news anchor – and other US Senate races to watch

Millions of Americans are regarding to decide the future of the Republican-controlled Congress in a midterm election that will have a significant impact on President Donald Trump's final two years in office.

Key points

• After a 30-year career that included deployments in to Afghanistan and the Middle East, sullivan, 61, only retired from the US Marines as lately as 2024.
• Collins, 73, began her political career fresh from college in the 1970s and she entered the US Senate in 1997.
• The campaign has been acrimonious, with Talarico targeting Paxton's 2023 impeachment by the Republican-controlled state House of Representatives for alleged corruption, bribery and abuse of power.
• Texas State Representative James Talarico, a former schoolteacher and Presbyterian seminary student, is the latest Democrat hoping to break his party's long losing streak.
• There are seven Senate races deemed to be a toss-up by independent elections analyst Cook Political Report, external.

All eyes are on a handful of Senate races that will decide control of the prized upper chamber.

For context, a four-seat gain by Democrats would offer them control – and with it the power to limit Trump's ambitions, reject his judicial nominations and investigate his administration.

Billions of dollars are being poured into the 35 races nationwide, but only a handful could go either way.

There are seven Senate races deemed to be a toss-up by independent elections analyst Cook Political Report, external. Here, we profile the personalities making waves in these much-watched contests.

This race has been marred by controversy over the appearance of a second candidate named Dan Sullivan on the ballot. The Republican senator of that name faces stiff competition from Mary Peltola and accuses her of introducing his namesake to confuse voters. It she denies. Story of the race.

As projected, Alaska is one of the slower states to reach an outcome, the race may ultimately be the tipping point state that decides which party controls the chamber if.

Peltola, a former House member and the first Alaska Native to be elected to Congress, has run on a platform of "fish, family, freedom" and has attacked Sullivan's record as Alaska's natural resources commissioner.

Two-term senator Sullivan, a long-time Marine Corps reservist who additionally served as Alaska's attorney general, has accused Peltola's campaign of links to an effort to confuse Republican voters which led to a second man named Dan Sullivan entering the race.

Notably, the Peltola campaign denies any such link, though the matter is the subject of a state investigation and a justice department lawsuit. It on Sunday was rejected by a judge.

Alaska's ranked-choice system additionally adds uncertainty to the mix, and the state has historically been challenging to poll, with surveys historically underestimating Republican voters. How they obtained here.

After a 30-year career that included deployments in to Afghanistan and the Middle East, sullivan, 61, only retired from the US Marines as lately as 2024. Peltola, 53, grew up fishing salmon with her father, afterwards becoming the first person born in the state to actually represent it in Congress.

One of the few Republican senators who voted to convict Trump when he was impeached in 2021, Susan Collins has consistently outperformed her party in this Democratic-leaning state, partly by presenting herself as a rebel. Her opponent Troy Jackson. This person draws on his background as a lumberjack to persuade blue-collar Mainers he can relate to them, hopes that time is finally running out for one of the survivors of US politics.

Collins is hoping her reputation as a centrist will persuade independent-minded voters in a state that reliably votes Democratic in presidential elections.

Now her campaign will test whether Republicans can win by distancing themselves from Trump.

Collins, who is seeking her sixth term, entered the midterm cycle as one of the most vulnerable incumbent Republicans seeking re-election.

But she has been supported by controversy on the other side of the aisle involving Graham Platner. This person was ultimately replaced as the Democratic nominee by Jackson, a former president of the Maine state senate.

Both Jackson and Collins oppose Trump's tariffs on Canada, mindful of the impact they are having on this border state. Unlike Collins, though, he favours the abolition of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE).

Collins, 73, began her political career fresh from college in the 1970s and she entered the US Senate in 1997. Jackson, 58, is a logger who became politically active when he supported to lead a protest to block lower-paid workers from Canada entering Maine.

James Talarico intends to end a decades-long electoral drought for the Democrats in Texas – and show that one of the Republicans' main strongholds could be in play for the 2028 presidential election. His match-up with Ken Paxton has become the most expensive Senate race ever.

Republican Paxton knows his party has been winning statewide races in Texas for more than 30 years.

Texas Republicans are facing a daunting combination of headwinds. It is a challenging national political environment for conservatives and there are a number of state matters like data centre construction and aggressive immigration enforcement that have cut against their party. Continued to that is a controversial candidate, Paxton.

Notably, the campaign has been acrimonious, with Talarico targeting Paxton's 2023 impeachment by the Republican-controlled state House of Representatives for alleged corruption, bribery and abuse of power. Paxton denied the charges and was afterwards acquitted by the state Senate, calling the impeachment a "politically motivated sham from the beginning".

Backed by more than $170m in funds from tech mogul Elon Musk, Paxton has attempted to paint Talarico as a liberal who is out of touch with Texans on matters like transgender rights, law enforcement, immigration and energy policy.

In practice, a Democratic victory here might indicate America's second-biggest electoral prize in a presidential election could be within their reach in 2028 – a notion that could dramatically reshape the nation's political landscape.

Before he entered public service, Paxton spent 14 years launching and building his own law firm. He served in the state House and Senate before becoming the chief legal officer in Texas.

Talarico taught at a middle school in San Antonio, in a neighbourhood he has described as one of the poorest in the state. He has studied theology and names Pope Leo as a "spiritual hero".

This is one of the most bitter contests, with left-wing candidate Abdul El-Sayed aiming to keep this crucial seat in Democratic hands. He is up against Mike Rogers, a Republican former FBI agent who received a surprise endorsement from El-Sayed's defeated Democratic rival, only adding to the acrimony that has characterised this race from the start.

Meanwhile, a doctor and public health official, El-Sayed is one of the most left-wing Senate nominees this election cycle.

He supports a government-run health insurance system and the abolition of ICE. His solid criticism of Israel has been a source of tension in the party.

Rogers, who emphasises his military and intelligence background, has managed to maintain Trump's backing despite decrying his Canada tariffs and his Russia diesel agreement.

He has additionally diverged from the president by calling for a quick end to the war with Iran. El-Sayed would be the first Muslim person ever elected to the US Senate.

As well as attacking him for his politics, Trump and Rogers have sought to link him to the Muslim Brotherhood; El-Sayed has denounced the organisation.

Meanwhile, the president has additionally invoked 9/11 and even called him a "jihadist" without citing any evidence, prompting a backlash and accusations of Islamophobia.

El-Sayed, 41, was born and raised in Michigan before his medical studies in the US and UK and subsequent work in the sector. Rogers, 63, served in the US Army and in the FBI before entering Congress and emerging as a key advocate of US surveillance policies.

Trump created the trip to Iowa on his final day of campaign rallies, such is its importance. Polls have it as a toss-up between Republican and former TV news host Ashley Hinson and Democrat Josh Turek. This person won gold at basketball at two Paralympic Games.

Farms, tariffs and Trump have all emerged as key problems in the closely-watched race.

While meanwhile defending Trump's broader tariff policies as significant, hinson has slightly distanced herself from the president, urging him to end the war with Iran and breaking with him on easing beef tariffs.

Meanwhile, Turek argues that Trump's tariffs have led to "farmageddon" in the largely rural state. He has additionally sought to convince voters that the war in Iran has led to rising fuel and fertiliser costs.

Taken together, the developments around a Paralympian vs a former TV news anchor – and other US point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.