Good morning. Tuesday will feel interminably long, full of rumors (Decoy Day spotting!) and anecdotes (long lines where mom votes!) and fake exit polls (dog people think cat people need to knock it off!). And then, when the sun goes down, there will be a constant fire hose of REAL NEWS that could make your head spin. Calm down. We got you. Here’s how to make sense of it all with the key states to watch in each (Eastern Time) hourly window.

7 p.m.: Georgia and South Carolina. In Georgia, the governor’s race is the tightest. So that one might go late into the night. In South Carolina, if Democrat Annie Andrews fights to a lead over GOP Sen. Darline Graham, Republicans might be in for a terrible night. If Graham fends Andrews off, one door for Democrats will close.

7:30 p.m.: North Carolina and Ohio. This will probably mark the Democrats’ first Senate “pickup” of the night, but they will need three more. Will they get one of those in Ohio, with Democrat Sherrod Brown trying to unseat Republican Jon Husted? Meanwhile, in the governor’s race, Democrat Amy Acton will try to defeat Vivek Ramaswamy. Ramaswamy had a newsy final stretch, to say the least, and he could end up being a drag on Husted if Democrats turn out in big numbers.

8 p.m.: Florida, Maine, Michigan and New Hampshire. This is the witching hour. This is when things will get INTENSE. Democrats (well, some Democrats) want to hold the seat in Michigan as Abdul El-Sayed attempts to defeat former GOP Rep. Mike Rogers. Polls look good for El-Sayed, but this race could be really close. And after a summer of missteps, Democrats are hopeful they found their candidate in Troy Jackson to finally defeat the undefeatable GOP Sen. Susan Collins.

If Rogers and Collins beat their Democratic challenges, the prospect of GOP control of the Senate will seem very possible. If they both go down, Democrats could roll. (Michigan counts slow, though, so slow). 9 p.m.: Iowa, Kansas and Texas. In a normal year, Republicans should be able to comfortably hold all three. This isn’t a normal year, though. If they do bat back the Democrats in each of these states, Republicans did their job.

Watch the Senate race in Texas between Democrat James Talarico and Republican Ken Paxton. There were millions of early votes cast there, and the margins might be really tight. If Democrats do produce a blue wave, this is the window when they could cement control of the House of Representatives.

11 p.m.: California. Democrats want to essentially wipe out most of the remaining California Republicans, and they could pad their margins in the House here. The two most interesting votes in California, though, are the L.A. mayor’s race between Karen Bass and Nithya Raman, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. Also, watch the wealth tax vote here. (Reminder, California takes FOREVER to tally votes).

1 a.m.: Alaska. Saved the best for last. Sen. Dan S. Sullivan is hoping to win re-election and defeat Democrat Mary Peltola. Yeah, there’s plenty of back story here. The upshot is that if Senate control comes down to who wins his seat, and it’s close, we might not know who the winner is until quite some time.

Election Day: Follow the WSJ election live coverage as voters decide who will control Congress for the next two years.

Trump’s Tuesday: The president is scheduled to hold policy meetings and will be attending an Election Day reception in the evening.

What the midterms tell us about where our politics are headed. Many voters this year have been re-evaluating their allegiance to either political party, creating more fluidity in the electorate. Voters have elevated a new generation of political leaders who have the potential to reshape the parties. And voter dissatisfaction has produced surprising areas of agreement across party lines on how government can help people handle the cost of living.

Trump surprised Republicans with an election-eve speech about the reflecting pool. The president delivered a nearly hourlong speech at the Lincoln Memorial on Monday that focused on his construction projects and renovations. His remarks frustrated Republicans, who wanted him to focus on economic issues on the eve of the election.

U.S. strikes Iran’s Qeshm Island as Trump talks down war risks. The U.S. attack on Monday is the latest in a series of limited strikes Washington has secretly carried out against the country in recent weeks as Trump touted the possibility of a diplomatic deal. The assault follows comments by the president playing down the possibility of a return to war with Iran after Tuesday’s midterm elections.

I’m Damian Paletta, The Wall Street Journal’s Washington coverage chief. I’ve covered Washington for 22 years as a reporter and editor. I’ve covered the White House, Congress, national security, the federal budget, economics and multiple market meltdowns.