US midterm elections 2026 live updates: polls begin to close as voters decide direction of Congress for remainder of Trump’s term

in Austin, Texas

There is a slow but steady flow of voters at the Austin Recreation Center in Austin, the Texas capital, which has emerged as one of the biggest battlegrounds of the midterm elections.

Maya Murshed, 19, a student at the University of Texas, was voting for the first time in her life – but preferred not to say for whom. “It was a good experience. It felt good, being able to participate in it for the first time and voice what I want.”

Zach Garvey, a 33-year-old software developer, said he approached the ballot as an independent voter, using nonpartisan online resources to evaluate each candidate. Ultimately, he backed Democrats down the ballot.

“I like to consider myself to be fairly nonpartisan. I’m looking for, do they promote individual liberty of a person like me maybe wanting to start a small business? And I feel like it ended up being Democrat after Democrat in the state.”

Garvey cited concerns over religious influence in public institutions and the platform of state Republicans as central to his decision. “I don’t particularly like a lot of the stuff that Ken Paxton is saying and I don’t like a lot of what the Texas Republican Party is doing right now.

“Economic freedom is as important as social liberties but I don’t feel like the current Republican party in Texas values that. It’s all large corporate profit above small businesses or religious dogmas that are being indoctrinated in our politics.”

Considering the prospect of a Democratic breakthrough in Texas after decades of Republican dominance, Garvey added:

It’ll be a shocker for sure. But it would make me very proud to be a Texan.

Heidi Gibbons, 76, a retired nonprofit development director and Travis County Democratic precinct chair, recalled marching across the Congress Avenue Bridge after Ann Richards’s landmark victory in the 1990 gubernatorial election.

She said: “Democrats have heart and Democrats care. Paxton is busy breaking all the Ten Commandments. The person running against [James] Talarico is busy learning the Ten Commandments in seminary.”

Among those weighing their choices on election day was LaColby Tucker, 29, a professional American football player currently filming a movie in Texas. Tucker voiced objections to Talarico, pointing to his Christian faith and interpretation of the Bible.

“He tries to make up his own thing and I don’t like that because he’ll try to say things basically the Bible says that aren’t true and he’ll make up his own stuff. I’m just going off the Bible.”

But with only hours left before the polls closed, Tucker admitted: “I don’t know who to vote for. I have to do my research. I’m not super into politics.”