Welcome back to the ‘Dataset of the Week’ blog series, where we bring you a compilation of free datasets on trending topics. This week’s topic is the 2026 US midterm elections.
You can also read previous blogs in the series:
Quick Answer:
The best way to build a midterm election news dataset is to combine free official data (results, money, turnout, polls) with news coverage. NewsData.io supplies the news layer. Its archive spans 10 years, 100,000+ sources, 90+ languages, and 206+ countries, in CSV, Excel, and JSON.US Midterm Elections 2026 at a Glance
The US midterm elections take place on Tuesday, November 3, 2026. All 435 House seats, 35 Senate seats, and 36 Governorships are on the ballot. Control of Congress for the second half of the presidential term is at stake.
Census Bureau data show that 52.2% of voting-age citizens voted in 2022, up from 53.4% in 2018. About 47.1% of 2022 midterm voters cast ballots before Election Day, up from 37.8% in 2018. So the story runs for weeks, not one night.
Below is a list of free datasets that cover that story from different angles.
List of Available Free Datasets
Finding an authentic, topic-relevant dataset takes time. We grouped the best free options by type.
News Coverage Datasets
1. World Politics News Dataset
- Source: NewsData.io
- Link: https://newsdata.io/files/datasets/world-politics-news
- Description: Political news from around the world, with article metadata. A solid base to filter US midterm coverage by keyword and date.
2. NewsData.io Free Sample Dataset
- Source: NewsData.io (GitHub)
- Link: https://github.com/newsdataapi/newsdata.io-free-datasets
- Description: A sample news file showing how fields such as title, source, country, category, and sentiment are structured.
Election Results Datasets
3. US House 1976-2024
- Source: MIT Election Data and Science Lab (Harvard Dataverse)
- Link: https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/IG0UN2
- Description: District-level returns for House elections. Useful for comparing 2026 coverage against past results.
4. US Senate Statewide 1976-2024
- Source: MIT Election Data and Science Lab (Harvard Dataverse)
- Link: https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/PEJ5QU
- Description: Statewide Senate returns, with a codebook. A baseline for the 35 Senate seats up this year.
5. MEDSL Data Hub (Precinct-Level Returns)
- Source: MIT Election Data and Science Lab
- Link: https://electionlab.mit.edu/data
- Description: Precinct-Level returns by office and state, plus county-level results for past cycles.
Campaign Finance Datasets
6. FEC Bulk Data
- Source: Federal Election Commission
- Link: https://www.fec.gov/data/browse-data/?tab=bulk-data
- Description: Downloadable files from statements and reports filed with the FEC, covering candidates, committees, contributions, and spending.
7. OpenSecrets Bulk Data
- Source: OpenSecrets
- Link: https://www.opensecrets.org/bulk-data
- Description: Standardized, industry-coded campaign finance and lobbying data. A bulk data account is required.
8. FEC Campaign Finance Database
- Source: Hugging Face
- Author: Nason
- Link: https://huggingface.co/datasets/Nason/fec-database
- Description: A queryable DuckDB database built from FEC bulk data. It saves cleaning time.
Turnout and Election Administration Datasets
9. Voting and Registration in the Election of November 2022
- Source: US Census Bureau
- Link: https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/voting-and-registration/p20-586.html
- Description: Tables on turnout and registration by race, sex, age, and education. The last midterm benchmark.
10. CPS Voting and Registration Supplement API (2022)
- Source: US Census Bureau
- Link: https://api.census.gov/data/2022/cps/voting/nov
- Description: Machine-readable access to the same 2022 survey. Good for developers who want JSON.
11. Election Administration and Voting Survey (EAVS) 2024
- Source: US Election Assistance Commission
- Link: https://www.eac.gov/research-and-data/datasets-codebooks-and-surveys
- Description: Datasets and codebooks on voter registration, absentee voting, polling places, poll workers, and voting technology.
Polling Datasets
12. Congress Generic Ballot Polls
- Source: FiveThirtyEight (via DataHub)
- Link: https://datahub.io/fivethirtyeight/congress-generic-ballot
- Description: CSV files with generic ballot poll lists and toplines. Best for historical comparison.
13. Generic Polling Average 2026
- Source: Silver Bulletin
- Author: Nate Silver and Eli McKown-Dawson
- Link: https://www.natesilver.net/p/generic-ballot-average-2026-nate-silver-bulletin-congress-polls
- Description: A running generic ballot average with a download of every poll in its database.
14. Featured Polls (2026 Midterms)
- Source: Fifty Plus One
- Link: https://fiftyplusone.news/readme
- Description: CSV files for Senate, House, and Governor polls, general and primary. Some files are premium only.
15. 2026 Midterm Generic Ballot Analysis
- Source: Morning Consult
- Link: https://pro.morningconsult.com/analysis/2026-midterm-generic-ballot-september-2025
- Description: Generic ballot analysis with a data downloads section.
16. US Midterms 2026 Data Room
- Source: The Rio Times
- Link: https://www.riotimesonline.com/us-midterms-2026-data-room/
- Description: Generic ballot average, forecaster ratings for Senate and House races, and control odds, free to download.
Early Voting and Turnout Datasets
17. 2026 Early Voting Tracker
- Source: UF Election Lab
- Author: Dr. Michael McDonald
- Link: https://election.lab.ufl.edu/early-vote/2026-early-voting/
- Description: Live national and state-by-state early voting statistics for the 2026 general election, including mail ballots returned and in-person early votes.
18. General Election Turnout Rates
- Source: UF Election Lab
- Author: Dr. Michael McDonald
- Link: https://election.lab.ufl.edu/?p=81
- Description: Turnout rate files for general elections, including 2018 and 2022, and a national series going back to 1789. Handy for midterm comparisons.
Voter Opinion and Candidate Datasets
19. Cumulative CES Common Content
- Source: Harvard Dataverse
- Author: Shiro Kuriwaki
- Link: https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/II2DB6
- Description: Cooperative Election Study respondents from 2006 to 2024. Includes demographics, geography, vote choice, and validated votes.
20. Cumulative CES Policy Preferences
- Source: Harvard Dataverse
- Link: https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/OSXDQO
- Description: Policy preference questions from CES respondents over time. Good for linking voter issues to new themes.
21. Candidates in American General Elections
- Source: Harvard Dataverse
- Author: Jeremiah Cha, Shiro Kuriwaki, and James M. Snyder Jr.
- Link: https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/DGDRDT
- Description: A database of candidates in American general elections. Useful for matching names in news articles to candidate records.
22. Cast Vote Records: A Database of Ballots from the 2022 U.S. elections
- Source: Harvard Dataverse
- Link: https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/PQQ3KV
- Description: Ballot-level records from the 2022 general election. Ballots are the core records of elections.
Congress and Redistricting Datasets
23. Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database
- Source: UCLA
- Author: Jeffrey B. Lewis, Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, and others
- Link: https://voteview.com/data
- Description: Every congressional roll call vote since 1789, with DW-NOMINATE ideology scores. Download includes member votes and ideology.
24. Redistricting Data Hub
- Source: Redistricting Data Hub
- Link: https://redistrictingdatahub.org/data/download-data/
- Description: Shapefiles and data for congressional and legislative districts, including newly enacted maps from mid-decade redistricting.
25. All About Redistricting
- Source: Redistricting Data Hub
- Link: https://redistricting.lls.edu/
- Description: State-by-state redistricting status, with shapefile, GeoJSON, and PDF downloads of district maps.
26. 120th Congressional Districts
- Source: U.S. Census Bureau
- Link:https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/about/rdo/congressional-districts.120th_Congress.html
- Description: Official boundaries for the congressional districts in effect for the 2026 election cycle.
27. OpenElections Data
- Source: OpenElections (GitHub)
- Link: https://github.com/openelections
- Description: Free, standardized CSV election results at the precinct and county level. Each state has its own repository, and coverage varies.
Dataset Customization
The datasets above cover results, money, turnout, and polls. None of them capture the news cycle itself. You cannot see which races dominated headlines or when coverage spiked.
That gap is where a custom midterm elections news dataset helps. NewsData.io offers historical news data from 100,000+ sources across 206+ countries. Each record can carry:
| Field | What it tells you |
| Title, description, content | The headline, summary, and body text |
| Source name and URL | Who covered the story |
| Publish date | When coverage rose or fell |
| Country and language | Where and in what language it ran |
| Category and sentiment | Topic label and tone |
Historical datasets also include named entity recognition, keyword extraction, and duplicate filtering.
You can request an election news data download on NewsData.io in these steps:
- Search for data. Open the historical news download page. Enter a term such as “midterm elections” or “Senate race”.
- Set your filters. Choose the Archive endpoint, a date range, and filters for country, language, or category.
- Download a sample. Preview how the data will be structured before you commit.
- Request the data. Submit the form. Price depends on the number of records.
Need live tracking instead? Get a free API key. The News Count API shows coverage volume over time, and the Real-Time streaming API delivers stories as they publish.
Conclusion
That wraps up this week’s “Dataset of the Week” blog on the US Midterm Elections. Combine the free datasets above with a custom news dataset from NewsData.io for the full picture.
FAQs
Q. What is a midterm elections news dataset?
A structured file of news articles about the midterms. Each record holds a headline, source, date, language, country, category, and sentiment.
Q. How do I download election news data?
Search your topic on NewsData.io, set a date range, preview the free sample, and submit the request form.
Q. Which file formats are available?
CSV, Excel, and JSON.
Q. When are the US Midterm Elections?
Tuesday, November 3, 2026.
Raghav Sharma is a content writer and media researcher at Newsdata.io, specializing in news industry analysis, media literacy, and the evolving landscape of digital journalism. With a background in English Literature and Journalism, along with a focus on fact-based reporting standards, Raghav covers topics including news API technology, editorial bias evaluation, and responsible information consumption. Raghav’s work has covered media trends across categories, including healthcare news, international journalism, and API-driven publishing. You can connect with him on LinkedIn or explore more of his writing on the Newsdata.io blog.
