Welcome to the midterms!
Voters in three key states can officially cast their ballots as of Wednesday, a key moment in the battle for Congress.
Arizona, Indiana and Ohio all began early voting on Wednesday. All three feature marquee statewide elections.
In Arizona, Reps. Martha McSally (R-AZ) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) are locked in a tight Senate battle. Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-IN) is working hard to hold off businessman Mike Braun (R) in Indiana. And Ohio features a very close gubernatorial race, as well as a pair of potentially competitive races for GOP-held House seats (Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) is expected to cruise to reelection.)
Montana, which has another competitive Senate race, started earlier this week. Nebraska’s early voting started Tuesday as well, where Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) is looking to hang onto his seat.
Minnesota and New Jersey, which have eight close House races between them, began all the way back on Sept. 21 and Sept. 22. Illinois and Iowa, which each have a handful of competitive House races, have also begun early voting.
Tennessee begins in a week, and Texas is just a few days later, beginning the fight for arguably Democrats’ two best chances to open up a real path to win Senate control.
Georgia, with its marquee governor’s race, begins mail-in absentee voting next Monday.
That means in many key spots in the country, the battle for Congress is no longer an abstraction. Campaigns are pushing their voters to turn out and send in absentee ballots now. This stretch will likely prove crucial in a number of races.
