US midterms live updates: Polls start to close

When we start to see results in the midterms depends on the state.

Here is a state by state breakdown of when polls close, and when we can expect to see a winner.

Read the full breakdown

Never before has so much money been bet on an election outcome.

About $2.1 billion has been wagered on the US mid-term elections for the House of Representatives and the Senate through prediction markets such as Polymarket and Kalshi, Reuters reports.

According to Polymarket, the result is clear. The Democrats have a 94 per cent chance of retaking the House, which they lost four years ago, and a 74 per cent chance of taking the Senate, which they lost when Donald Trump won the 2024 election.

In one of the most-watched contests, the Michigan Senate seat, Polymarket predicts that Democrat Abdul El-Sayed has a 76 per cent chance of beating Republican Mike Rogers. Mr El-Sayed wants to cut US military aid to Israel, a position likely to appeal to Michigan’s large Arabic-speaking population.

Prediction markets have taken off over the past two years in the US and elsewhere, although questions have been raised about their integrity after revelations relatively small bets can have a big impact and concerns about insider trading.

Three US candidates were fined by Kalshi in April for betting on their own races, although each said they bet $US100 ($143).

Polymarket is banned from Australia by the Australian Communications and Media Authority, which regulates online gambling services.

Polls will close in some eastern states at 10am Australian Eastern Daylight Time and stay open in Hawaii and Alaska until late in the afternoon AEDT.

Follow us for live updates as early results come in.

US President Donald Trump says he made a deal with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the United States will stop funding Israel after the end of this year.

Speaking to Fox News, Mr Trump said Israel no longer needed the $US4 billion ($A5.7 billion) in annual funding and that some Democrats were using the US financial support to Israel as a talking point to criticise Republicans.

“You can consider it barter. You can consider military aid or cash,” Mr Trump said.

“Look, we give them $US4 billion of things and money, and they don’t need it. And I was approached by Bibi Netanyahu, and we’ve been talking about it for a couple of years because it’s a lot of money.”

- Reuters

Read the full story ​here​.

Voters struggling with high prices and angry over an unpopular war with Iran are deciding whether to drastically shift power in Washington DC, with surveys favouring Democrats to wrest the House of Representatives from Republicans while control of the Senate remains uncertain.

Democrats were cautiously optimistic as they watched Republicans spend the campaign’s final stretch pumping tens of millions of dollars into states and districts that US President Donald Trump won handily two years ago.

They’re betting that discontent over Mr Trump’s failure to deliver on his promise to tackle rising costs and perceptions that he has focused more on gilding the capital than their pain at the pump will depress Republican turnout and drive their own voters to the polls.

- AP

Read the full story ​here​.