With fewer than 100 days until Election Day in November, the 2026 midterm elections are coming into focus. Several things are happening at once: both political parties are dealing with problems in their primaries, a foreign conflict is pulling attention away from domestic issues, and cryptocurrency companies are spending record amounts of money to influence the outcome.

Midterms are the elections held halfway through a president's term. They decide which party controls the House of Representatives and the Senate. NPR's Mara Liasson and A Martínez described the situation July 27 on Morning Edition (NPR). The November 2026 vote will determine which party holds the majority in both chambers of Congress (AP).

Trouble in the Primaries

A primary is an election where each party picks its candidate for the general election. Both major parties ran into unexpected problems during their 2026 primaries. An Associated Press report from July 22 found disruptions on both sides, though the details varied by race and region (AP). The AP also reported that Republicans plan to make border security their main campaign message.

Those primary disruptions made it harder for party leaders to carry out the plans they had drawn up earlier in the year. Republicans chose to focus on border security because they believe immigration and enforcement issues motivate their supporters and appeal to undecided voters.

The Iran War and the Campaign Trail

A foreign conflict has gotten in the way of that plan. Reuters reported July 16 that the Iran war was "heating up again," pulling attention away from the campaign trail on the same day President Donald Trump was scheduled to give a primetime address to the nation (Reuters).

When a war is in the news, it can push campaign issues to the side. Neither party's campaign team can control what happens overseas. If the Iran conflict keeps escalating, Republicans may have to rethink whether their border-security message still works.

Crypto Companies Are Spending Big

Cryptocurrency companies — businesses that deal in digital money like Bitcoin — spent $189 million to influence the 2026 elections as of June 30, according to a Reuters report. That is more than the industry has ever spent in an election cycle before (Reuters).

The timing matters. Since that $189 million was counted at the end of June, the total will likely grow over the remaining four months of the campaign. Crypto companies have a direct interest in how Congress regulates their industry, so their spending is driven by specific policy goals rather than broad political ideology.

Where Things Stand

The NPR report ties these threads together at the 100-day mark. With an active foreign conflict, a surge in crypto spending, and unsettled primaries in both parties, the final stretch of this election will show how much of each party's planned message holds up against real-world events.