Midterms 2026 · Coverage tournament

Midterms 2026 Coverage Bracket

March Madness for the campaign trail: top figures by graded coverage on CladFacts. Matchups advance by coverage volume and average factuality — not polls.

Round of 16

South

1
Donald Trump 403 reports

vs

16
Hakeem Jeffries 16 reports
Midwest

8
Gavin Newsom 43 reports

vs

9
Lindsey Graham 25 reports
Northeast

4
Barack Obama 59 reports

vs

13
Chuck Schumer 19 reports
West

5
Benjamin Netanyahu 50 reports

vs

12
Graham Platner 20 reports
South

2
JD Vance 123 reports

vs

15
Jon Ossoff 16 reports
Midwest

7
Zohran Mamdani 43 reports

vs

10
Mike Collins 20 reports
Northeast

3
Keir Starmer 84 reports

vs

14
Nigel Farage 17 reports
West

6
Volodymyr Zelenskyy 46 reports

vs

11
Vladimir Putin 20 reports

Quarterfinals

South

1
Donald Trump 403 reports

vs

8
Gavin Newsom 43 reports
Northeast

4
Barack Obama 59 reports

vs

5
Benjamin Netanyahu 50 reports
South

2
JD Vance 123 reports

vs

7
Zohran Mamdani 43 reports
Northeast

3
Keir Starmer 84 reports

vs

6
Volodymyr Zelenskyy 46 reports

Semifinals

South

1
Donald Trump 403 reports

vs

4
Barack Obama 59 reports
South

2
JD Vance 123 reports

vs

3
Keir Starmer 84 reports

Championship

South

1
Donald Trump 403 reports

vs

2
JD Vance 123 reports

Guide How this tournament works

Seeding is by graded-report volume — who shows up most in coverage we grade, not by polls or fundraising.
Matchup lead (signed-in) prefers more reports, then higher average factuality of that coverage.
Not a prediction. This is a coverage heat bracket, not who will win an election.
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