With the May-June onslaught of primaries tailing off, Decision Desk HQ thought it would be fun to do a mailbag episode addressing questions from our listeners! For this episode, DDHQ Chief Elections Analyst Geoffrey Skelley dug deep with data and background information to answer three questions. DDHQ will definitely do more mailbag episodes in the future, so please email questions to [email protected] and we will try to answer them. Thanks for the questions you asked for this mailbag and for future ones!

The show started out with a question from Ryan that asked which states tend to be the fastest and the slowest at counting votes (1:35). Geoffrey used the 2024 pace of returns in each state to examine when we are likely to have most of the votes counted in some states that could be key in the 2026 election. A slow-counting state like California could be very important to the battle for control of the U.S. House, while there is definitely a chance that control of the Senate comes down to Alaska, where it could take many days to know the outcome.

Next, Ramin asked about the recent situation in which a challenger with the same name as Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan tried to get on the ballot in Alaska (22:21). The Alaska Division of Elections disqualified the second Sullivan, arguing that his candidacy appeared aimed at confusing voters. But Ramin also wanted to know if something like this had been tried elsewhere. And the answer is yes, in a 2020 Florida state Senate contest, a situation that Geoffrey then explored (27:44).

The episode closed with a question from Barry about how much split-ticket voting may happen in Iowa if Democrats win the state’s gubernatorial race and Republicans win the U.S. Senate race (30:46). Geoffrey looked back at Iowa’s 2018 and 2022 statewide races to explore just how much or little split-ticket voting would have to happen to bring about a divided outcome in 2026.

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