We Have 10 Weeks Until the Midterms. Here’s What We Do Now.

Friends, we are officially in the final stretch.

The 2026 midterm elections are November 3. And between now and then, there are basically two options: spend the next 10 weeks watching the political nightmare unfold from our phones, or get involved and do everything we can to change what happens next.

I’m choosing the second one.

Because voting matters. But if we want to actually change the direction of this country, voting cannot be the only thing we do.

So here’s what I think the next 10 weeks should look like.

1. Make Sure You Can Vote

Start with the boring stuff because the boring stuff can decide elections.

Check your voter registration.

Make sure your address is correct.

Know your state’s registration deadline.

Figure out whether you’re voting early, by mail, or on Election Day.

Know what identification your state requires.

Voting rules are different from state to state, including registration deadlines, voter ID requirements, early voting and mail voting. Don’t assume everything is exactly the same as the last election.

Use Vote.gov or your state election office and check.

Then send it to somebody else.

2. Learn What Is Actually On Your Ballot

The midterms aren't just about Congress.

Depending on where you live, you could be voting for governors, state legislators, judges, prosecutors, county officials, ballot initiatives, school boards and other offices that can have an enormous impact on your daily life.

Research the whole ballot.

Find the candidates who actually represent your values.

Look at who funds them. Look at their endorsements. Look at their records. Look at what they've done, not just what their campaign website says they believe.

And please don't wait until you're staring at the ballot to Google twelve names you've never seen before.

3. Pick a Race and Get Involved

This might be the biggest thing I want people to understand.

You do not need to become a full-time political organizer.

Pick one race.

Maybe it's your congressional district. Maybe it's a Senate race. Maybe it's a progressive candidate running for your state legislature. Maybe there's a local race where a few hundred votes could determine the winner.

Then give that campaign something.

An hour.

A Saturday afternoon.

Twenty bucks.

A few phone calls.

A volunteer shift.

Whatever you have.

Campaigns need people knocking doors, texting voters, making phone calls, hosting events, distributing literature and talking to their communities.

Ten weeks of thousands of people doing a little bit becomes an enormous political force.

4. Talk to Actual Human Beings

Social media is powerful. I obviously believe that or Cup of Culture wouldn't exist.

But your algorithm is not your neighborhood.

Talk to your coworkers.

Talk to your friends.

Talk to your family.

Talk to the person who agrees with you politically but hasn't paid attention to the midterms yet.

You don't have to give them a 45-minute lecture about the collapse of American democracy.

Ask them one question:

Are you voting in November?

Sometimes that's where organizing starts.

5. Stop Spending All Our Energy Arguing With People Who Aren't Movable

This one might save all of us approximately 40 billion hours.

You probably aren't going to convert the random MAGA account screaming underneath an Instagram Reel.

That's fine.

There are millions of people who already agree with us on abortion rights, LGBTQ+ rights, workers' rights, healthcare, immigration, democracy and economic inequality.

Some of them aren't registered.

Some aren't paying attention.

Some don't know there's an election happening.

Some believe their vote doesn't matter.

Those are the conversations worth having.

The goal isn't winning an argument.

The goal is winning an election.

6. Support Independent Political Media

The information war matters too.

Corporate media organizations have enormous resources. Independent journalists, organizers and creators often don't.

Share independent reporting.

Subscribe to publications you trust.

Send stories to friends.

Follow local journalists.

Correct misinformation when you see it.

And when a small independent outlet breaks something important, amplify the hell out of it.

Information only becomes political power when people actually see it.

To support this platform and cup of culture, please head to cupofculture.news/support.

7. Pay Attention to State and Local Politics

Washington gets most of the attention.

But some of the biggest fights happening in America are happening in state legislatures, city governments, school boards and courtrooms.

That's where voting access can be expanded or restricted.

It's where labor protections can be strengthened.

It's where housing policy gets written.

It's where LGBTQ+ protections can be defended.

It's where abortion access can be protected or attacked.

National politics matters enormously.

Local power does too.

8. Help Someone Else Vote

Maybe someone needs a ride.

Maybe they don't understand how mail voting works.

Maybe they recently moved.

Maybe they're voting for the first time.

Maybe they don't know where their polling location is.

Maybe they don't even know when their state's registration deadline is.

Help them figure it out.

Every state runs elections differently. There is no single national voter-registration deadline, and early voting and mail-ballot rules vary across the country.

That makes helping people navigate the process part of the work.

9. Don't Burn Yourself Out Before November

This matters.

You do not need to consume political news every waking second for the next 10 weeks.

Take breaks.

Go outside.

Play video games.

Watch baseball. (Go Mariners!)

Make dinner.

Spend time with people you love.

Then come back.

Burnout doesn't help anybody. The goal isn't to be furious every second until Election Day.

The goal is to still have enough energy to fight when Election Day arrives.

10. Vote Early If You Can

If your state offers early voting or mail voting and it works for you, use it.

Don't treat November 3 as the only day you're allowed to participate.

Voting early also means campaigns can focus their final resources on people who haven't voted yet instead of continuing to contact you.

Make your plan now.

Then execute it.

November 3 Is the Deadline. The Election Starts Now.

There is going to be an unbelievable amount of noise over the next 10 weeks.

Polls.

Scandals.

Breaking news.

Campaign ads.

Bad debates.

Good debates.

Terrible takes.

Probably several things none of us can possibly predict right now.

But underneath all of that noise is something much simpler:

Millions of individual people deciding whether they're going to participate.

That's where our power is.

Register.

Research.

Volunteer.

Donate if you can.

Organize.

Talk to people.

Support independent media.

Help somebody vote.

And then cast your damn ballot.

We have 10 weeks.

Let's use every single one of them.

- Sean | Founder, Cup Of Culture

Cup of Culture will be covering the midterms all the way through Election Day, with breaking news, progressive campaigns, voting developments and the stories that deserve more attention.