Episode Details

With the November 3, 2026 election less than two weeks away, Mark Simon and Bob Marks use this episode of The Game to sum up what they have seen in the midterms, from Congress down to San Mateo County.

Bob puts the House races in perspective against five past midterms, from 1974 to 2018, and points to polls from CNN and Fox showing 77% disapproval on inflation and affordability. They discuss what a Democratic majority should do with the House, the likelihood of lawsuits and delays over the results, and why Bob says the Senate matters more, including for any Supreme Court vacancy. Bob goes through the Senate races from North Carolina and Ohio to Iowa, Maine, Alaska, Texas and Michigan, and both hosts react to Vivek Ramaswamy's ad in the Ohio governor's race.

In California, they look at why the attacks on the state's elections target California, Xavier Becerra's path to the governor's office and the issues no candidate saw coming, the insurance commissioner race between Jane Kim and Ben Allen, Fiona Ma and Eleni Kounalakis, and the Board of Equalization race between Sally Lieber and John Pimentel. On the ballot measures, they discuss Props 40, 41 and 42, the money spent by Building a Better California, Prop 3 and the other statewide measures, and whether it is time to reform the initiative process.

Closer to home, they cover the regional transit measure for BART and Caltrain, local sales taxes, parcel taxes and bonds, city council races in Daly City and San Mateo, how district elections have changed who runs for local office, and the Board of Supervisors race between Juslyn Manalo and Mark Nagales, who join the show next week. Mark and Bob will also be live on Election Night, November 3, starting at 8 p.m.

Chapters

• (00:00) - Intro
• (01:57) - The House: past midterms and expected Democratic gains
• (08:05) - A Democratic House, Trump and challenges to the results
• (12:33) - The Senate races and the Supreme Court
• (17:39) - Vivek Ramaswamy's ad in the Ohio governor's race
• (22:08) - Why California is targeted, and the governor's race
• (27:32) - Other statewide races: the insurance commissioner
• (29:44) - Fiona Ma, Eleni Kounalakis and the Board of Equalization
• (32:34) - Props 40, 41 and 42: the billionaire tax
• (35:47) - Prop 3 and the other statewide measures
• (39:58) - Is it time to reform the initiative process?
• (42:07) - The regional transit measure
• (47:22) - Local tax and bond measures
• (51:31) - City council races in Daly City and San Mateo
• (53:36) - District elections and why fewer people run
• (57:02) - The supervisors race: Juslyn Manalo and Mark Nagales

The Game is hosted by Mark Simon and Bob Marks and produced by Frank Bravo, BravoITC.com and YourTechMakeover.com. Watch or listen to every episode at TheGamePeninsula.com.