4 key April 2026 elections that could decide House majority control

After starting in March, the 2026 primary calendar takes a break this month before returning with a vengeance in May.

But that doesn’t mean there will be a shortage of consequential elections in April.

Special elections to the U.S. House of Representatives in Georgia and New Jersey, a state Supreme Court election in battleground Wisconsin and a referendum in Virginia that is the latest showdown between President Donald Trump and Republicans and Democrats in the high-stakes congressional redistricting wars — with the House majority at stake — will all draw national attention this month.

Here’s a closer look at the four election matchups.

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Republican congressional candidate Clay Fuller, left, speaks next to President Donald Trump during a visit to the Coosa Steel Corporation in Rome, Georgia, February 19, 2026. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

April 7 — GA-14 Special Election

Trump-backed Republican House candidate Clay Fuller faces Democratic candidate Shawn Harris to fill vacancy congressional district in northwest Georgia, solid red, which was once held by late MAGA brand Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Harris, a retired brigadier general and cattle rancher, and Fuller, a local prosecutor and member of the Air National Guard, were the top two finishers among 17 candidates, including 12 Republicans, in the special election in early March. With no candidate above 50%, Harris and Fuller advanced to the runoff.

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The special election comes as Republicans cling to a razor-thin 218-214 majority in the House. That means the Republican Party can’t afford any surprises or allow Democrats to spring a surprise in a district that stretches from the northwest suburbs of Atlanta to Georgia’s northwest border with Alabama and the northern border with Tennessee, which Trump won by 37 points in his 2024 presidential victory.

Fuller, who is expected to consolidate the divided Republican vote in the first round, is considered the clear favorite in the race. But if Harris keeps Fuller’s margin at 15 or less, national Democrats will say this election is the last in the 14 months since Trump returned to the White House, in which they have overperformed.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., speaks with reporters after a meeting of the House Republican Conference at the Capitol Hill Club on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

The congressional seat was left vacant when Greene resigned in early January. Greene left Congress a year into her term, after a very public falling out with Trump, primarily over his willingness to release the Jeffrey Epstein files.

April 7—Wisconsin Supreme Court election

Although officially a nonpartisan contest, state Supreme Court elections in the battleground Midwest have become extremely partisan in recent years.

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With the court’s majority at stake in last year’s election, outside money poured in and out-of-state clashes engulfed Wisconsin. One of the biggest spenders was Trump ally Elon Musk, who headlined a rally days before the election and wore a cheesehead hat worn by Green Bay Packers fans.

Then-Trump advisor Elon Musk appears at a town hall meeting in Green Bay, Wisconsin, in March 2025. Musk and his super PACs spent more than $2 million supporting the campaign of conservative Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel. (Scott Olson/Getty)

Democrats won that election by a larger-than-expected margin and currently hold a 4-3 majority on Wisconsin’s highest court.

With the retirement of a conservative judge, the majority is not in play in this year’s election, although victorious liberals could increase their majority to 5-2.

But if the conservative candidate wins, or stays close, the Republican Party can claim a moral victory.

April 16 — NJ-11 Special Election

Republican Joe Hathaway, local mayor, hopes to create a surprise during the special elections to fill the congressional seat vacated by the current governor. Mike Sherrill resigned after winning last November’s gubernatorial election.

Hathaway, who was unopposed in the February primary, will face Democrat Analilia Mejia, a progressive organizer backed by left-wing champions Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Analilia Mejia secured the Democratic Party nomination in a special election to see who will succeed newly elected New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill to the vacant seat. (Heather Khalifa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Mejia pulled off the upset, narrowly edging out former Rep. Tom Malinowski in a field of 11 candidates. The confrontation was one of the latest between progressives and more traditional Democrats.

The 11th Congressional District, in the northern New Jersey suburbs of New York, was once the kind of seat where Republicans excelled at the ballot box. Hathaway, who has emphasized her differences with Trump, is the type of Republican who could attract crossover voters.

Add in that Mejia may be too left-leaning for some voters in the district, and there’s a chance for Election Day intrigue.

April 21 — Virginia redistricting referendum

Virginia voters are voting for a Democratic-led referendum that would give the competitive state up to four additional left-leaning districts in the House of Representatives in time for this year’s midterm elections.

That could give Democrats a 10-to-1 advantage in the state’s delegation in the House of Representatives, up from their current 6-to-5 advantage.

Signs urge early voters to vote yes or no in Virginia’s redistricting referendum at the Ellen M. Bozman Government Center in Arlington, Va., Tuesday, March 31, 2026. Early voting continues statewide for Virginia’s redistricting referendum. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

With three weeks until Election Day, early voting is up sharply, officials say, with turnout surpassing that of last fall’s general election. Although largely outraged by Democrats, Republicans see positive signs in the early turnout.

Republicans call Democrats’ redistricting efforts an “unconstitutional power grab.” Democrats counter that it’s a necessary step to counteract the partisan gerrymandering already implemented in other states by the GOP.

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Virginia is the latest redistricting battleground, with Florida on deck, to change congressional maps ahead of the November election.

Republicans defend their thinness Majority in the House midterms, and Democrats need a net gain of just three seats to regain control of the chamber. That means redistricting efforts in Virginia and other states could very well decide which party controls the House next year.