Breaking: Election Day is here! Make your selections: Cobb County votes in a midterm that will shape the final two years of Trump's term

Polls opened at 7 a.m. Tuesday across Cobb County and all of Georgia and will close at 7 p.m., giving voters from Marietta to Mableton and from Smyrna's neighbors in Sandy Springs and Brookhaven to the edges near Roswell and Atlanta a 12 hour window to cast ballots in a midterm election that will set the course of the final two years of President Donald Trump's second term, according to Ballotpedia.

On the ballot in Cobb County, according to Ballotpedia, is Georgia's U.S. Senate seat, where Democratic incumbent Jon Ossoff is running, with Democratic, Independent and Republican candidates listed. The governor's office is an open seat with no incumbent running, contested by Democratic and Republican candidates. Every U.S. House seat in the state is on the ballot, along with state and local offices and measures that vary by county.

The Senate race is one of the most closely watched in the country, according to Ballotpedia and the Associated Press. Ossoff, a Democrat, faces Republican Rep. Mike Collins in a state Trump carried by 2.2 percentage points in 2024. Race ratings as of October 27 from Cook, Decision Desk, Inside Elections and Sabato place Georgia between lean and likely Democratic.

The governor's race to succeed Brian Kemp pits Republican health care executive Rick Jackson against Democratic former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, according to the Associated Press. Georgia is one of nine governor's battlegrounds identified by Ballotpedia, and Democrats would need a net gain of two governorships nationwide to hold a majority for the first time in two decades.

Across the country, all 435 U.S. House seats are up, with Republicans holding 218, Democrats 214 and one independent, plus vacancies, according to Ballotpedia. Democrats need a net gain of three districts for a majority, while Republicans can afford to lose no more than two. Ballotpedia counts 46 battleground districts, 25 held by Democrats and 21 by Republicans, and 60 House incumbents, 23 Democrats and 37 Republicans, did not run again.

In the U.S. Senate, 35 of 100 seats are on the ballot, including 33 regular elections and two special elections for the remainder of terms Marco Rubio of Florida and JD Vance of Ohio were elected to in 2022, according to Ballotpedia. Republicans hold 53 seats, Democrats 45, and two independents who caucus with Democrats. Democrats need a net gain of four seats for a majority, and Republicans can lose only two. Winners begin six year terms on January 3, 2027, according to Ballotpedia.

The Associated Press describes the election as a referendum on Trump's second term, with voters struggling with high prices and angry over an unpopular war with Iran. AP-NORC polling shows 35 percent of U.S. adults approve of Trump's job performance, 25 percent approve of his handling of the economy, and about seven in ten say the country is heading in the wrong direction, with most blaming him for high prices.

More than 57 million people had already voted as of Monday, according to the Associated Press, surpassing the early vote of four years ago in many closely watched states. Republicans were bracing to lose the House and fighting to hold the Senate, the AP reports, with one or two seats able to tip either chamber, while Democrats were cautiously optimistic.

Trump held dozens of rallies, ending Sunday in Salina, Kansas, where he told supporters, I really want you to pretend I'm on the ballot, according to the Associated Press. Many Republican candidates kept their distance. Trump has continued to make false claims about voting fraud, including that noncitizens vote in large numbers, and his administration sued in Alaska and California, the AP reports, while Democrats fear interference and intimidation as the Justice Department threatens to prosecute local election officials.

Republican National Committee Chairman Joe Gruters said, Everything depends on turnout. If we turn out our voters, we win, and that's what we've been planning for, according to the Associated Press. Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Rep. Suzan DelBene said, The American people are angry. They want change. Voter Mark Barker of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, told the AP, I've just been following Trump the whole time. I really think he's doing an awesome job, while James Moore, 57, a librarian in Raleigh, North Carolina, said, I'm paying more taxes. I'm paying more for my healthcare. I'm paying more for everything.

A federal judge on Monday temporarily barred the Trump administration from carrying out a plan it says would prevent noncitizen voting, Reuters reports, a plan critics say risks disenfranchising eligible voters and infringes on states' authority over elections. A judge also ordered the administration Monday to stop demanding that California election officials segregate ballots cast by people on its lists of suspected noncitizens, according to Reuters. The U.S. Postal Service has added hours, staff and special lines so mail ballots are counted on time, Reuters reports.

To vote in Cobb County today, polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., according to Ballotpedia. Find your polling place at vote.gov or through your state election office. Anyone in line when polls close is entitled to vote, and identification rules vary by state, so check your state's rules before heading out, according to USA.gov.

The 2026 elections will likely be the most expensive in history, according to the Associated Press. Republican committees outraised and outspent Democratic committees, helped by Trump affiliated groups and Elon Musk, while at the candidate level Democrats outraised their opponents. An AP analysis of AdImpact data found 88.1 percent of Republican general election TV ad spending went to states and districts Trump won in 2024, including more than $850 million where he won by 10 points or more.

If Democrats win even one chamber of Congress, investigations and possible impeachment proceedings become likely, according to the Associated Press, and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries would be the first Black speaker, with a 100 day agenda on the cost of living and oversight. A strong Democratic night would boost potential 2028 candidates Gavin Newsom, JB Pritzker and Pete Buttigieg, and could complicate Vice President JD Vance's path, the AP reports. Wall Street is watching for more than control of Congress, Reuters reports, as results could add to investor concerns about AI spending and debt ceiling negotiations.