midterm elections
A Kansas resident fills out his ballot for the midterms on the first day of in-person voting at the Douglas County Clerk Election Office in Lawrence, Kansas on October 14. Getty Images

The 2026 U.S. midterm elections are approaching, with the federal general election scheduled for November 3. All 435 seats in the U.S. House and one-third of the 100 seats in the Senate are up for election.

A July 2026 Pew Research Center survey found that 55% of Americans were confident this November's elections would be conducted fairly and accurately, down from 61% before the 2024 elections and 64% before the 2022 midterms.

Pew also found in 2025 that 61% of Americans described the Republican Party as too extreme in its positions, while 57% said the same about the Democratic Party. About three-in-ten Americans said both parties were too extreme.

In September 2025, only 17% of Americans said they trusted the federal government to do what is right "just about always" or "most of the time", according to Pew's long-running measure of public trust. The figure was among the lowest recorded in nearly seven decades of polling.

For Rob DeMarco, a member-at-large of the Winthrop, Massachusetts, Town Council, these national numbers point toward a question that is ultimately local and practical: What happens after the votes are counted? DeMarco's experience in municipal government has led him to argue that winning an election creates a broader obligation to govern.

"Winning an election is not the same as knowing how to govern it," DeMarco says.
"The campaign asks you to earn enough votes to take responsibility. Governing asks you to take responsibility for everyone, including the people who did everything they could to keep you from winning."

That distinction has shaped DeMarco's view of public service during his years in the Winthrop government. He believes that his work also exposed him to the less visible side of governing. "You learn very quickly that the people who disagree with you are still your constituents," DeMarco says. "Their criticism does not reduce your obligation to hear them. In many cases, it increases the importance of listening carefully, because governing requires you to understand the consequences of a decision from more than one point of view."

Winthrop's debates over housing policy offer a concrete example of the tensions elected officials face. The Town Council has repeatedly considered compliance with Massachusetts' MBTA Communities law, which requires certain communities to establish multifamily housing districts. DeMarco voted against the planning board's recommended compliance plan in 2024and again opposed a subsequent plan in 2025. Those votes placed him on one side of a consequential local debate while other councilors supported compliance.

For DeMarco, such disagreements reinforce the value of civility. He argues that public officials and residents have to retain the ability to discuss difficult subjects without allowing disagreement to erase the humanity of the people involved.

"There are conversations we cannot avoid simply because they make people uncomfortable," he says. "We need to have those conversations, and we need to have them with enough civility that people can still recognize one another as neighbors when the meeting ends."

DeMarco points to compromise, deliberation, and constituent engagement as essential parts of local government because decisions rarely affect only the people who supported them. He emphasizes that his experience has also included disagreements within the council itself, including debates over the structure of the council, term lengths, recall provisions and housing policy.

The national context makes that lesson increasingly relevant. Pew's research found that even amid deep partisan disagreement, majorities of both Republicans and Democrats said a president should focus on the concerns of all Americans, even when doing so could disappoint some supporters.

For DeMarco, that expectation should extend throughout the government. He notes that a campaign divides the electorate into choices, and an election resolves that choice. Governing then, he adds, begins with a much larger constituency.

"It's important to support candidates, regardless of denominational party, who understand the responsibility of governing for all. Which is why I will be supporting Brian Shortsleeve for governor of Massachusetts."

"The person who voted against you still needs safe streets, responsive government, fair treatment, and someone willing to listen," DeMarco says. "That is the responsibility you accepted when you took the oath. If we want to bring civility back to politics, we have to start by remembering that an election gives you a responsibility to everyone you represent."

The test of political leadership, in DeMarco's view, therefore arrives after the applause, after the victory speech and after the campaign signs come down. "You might win 60% of the vote," he says. "The other 40% still lives in your community, still pays taxes, still has concerns, and still deserves your service. Winning gets you the office. What you do with the responsibility is what defines you."