Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress in Tuesday’s midterm elections, the Associated Press and NBC News reported, flipping Senate seats in states that Republicans have held for decades and that President Donald Trump carried by double digits two years ago.
Both outlets described the results as a rebuke of Trump and Republican governance. Trump said he did not consider them a personal defeat. Voters “didn’t like the candidates,” he told Fox News in a late night interview.
What We Know So Far
Senate. Republicans had expected to hold their majority. Instead, Democrats won a string of races, including:
- Texas: James Talarico defeated Ken Paxton, the first Democratic statewide win there in more than 30 years.
- South Carolina: Annie Andrews defeated Sen. Darline Graham.
- Kansas: Adam Hamilton defeated Sen. Roger Marshall, becoming the state’s first Democratic senator since 1932.
- Iowa: Josh Turek defeated Rep. Ashley Hinson.
- Ohio: Sherrod Brown defeated Sen. Jon Husted.
- North Carolina: Roy Cooper won an open seat.
- Maine: Troy Jackson defeated Sen. Susan Collins.
- Michigan: Abdul El-Sayed defeated Republican Mike Rogers.
- New Hampshire: Rep. Chris Pappas defeated former Sen. John Sununu for the seat of retiring Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.
- Georgia: Sen. Jon Ossoff won reelection over Rep. Mike Collins.
Alaska remained undecided, and the Trump administration filed a lawsuit to block certification if Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan loses, citing a second candidate named Dan Sullivan on the ballot. Mississippi’s Senate race was too early to call.
House. Democrats needed a net gain of three seats and were favored all season. The AP reported multiple pickups in Iowa, Texas, Florida and Pennsylvania and new Democratic seats in Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio and Utah. Iowa’s all Republican delegation will now include three Democrats. NBC News said Democrats are set for what could be their largest House majority in nearly two decades. Republican redistricting efforts in Florida and Texas, which aimed to gain as many as nine seats, fell short.
Governors. Democrats Josh Shapiro, JB Pritzker, Wes Moore, Maura Healey and Kathy Hochul won reelection. Gina Hinojosa defeated Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who sought a fourth term. Amy Acton defeated Republican Vivek Ramaswamy in Ohio. Keisha Lance Bottoms of Georgia will be the first Black woman governor of any state. In Florida, Byron Donalds became the first Black Republican elected governor in the country.
What Authorities Are Saying
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer called the results a “generational remake of the Senate map.” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said “the American people are crying out for transformational change.”
Trump wrote on his social media site before polls closed on the West Coast that he was not on the ballot. “I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!” he wrote. He vowed to veto Democratic legislation. Trump had warned that noncitizens would vote in large numbers and filed lawsuits in Alaska and California, but he told Fox News he would accept the results.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune wrote on X that Senate Republicans “will not stand idly by as the far-left, socialist wing of the Democrat Party attempts to unwind everything we’ve done,” and said they will work with Trump to stop “Democrat extremism.”
Differing Accounts
The sources differ on how the Senate flips are counted. NBC News said Democrats flipped seven Republican held seats but listed eight states: Michigan, Maine, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas. The AP named most of the same races without giving a count, and neither source gave a final seat total, with Alaska and Mississippi unresolved.
The sources also describe Trump’s role differently. Trump said he was not on the ballot. NBC News and the AP reported that Trump held rallies nearly every day for the last month and asked voters to treat the election as if he were on the ballot. In the NBC News exit poll, 43% of voters said one reason for their vote was to express opposition to Trump.
Why This Matters
The AP Voter Poll found about three quarters of voters said they were “angry” or “dissatisfied” with the country’s direction, and three quarters rated the economy “not so good” or “poor.” About 8 in 10 said inflation caused them severe or moderate hardship. Roughly half called government corruption and the cost of living “crucial” to their vote for Congress, more than immigration enforcement, the Iran war or artificial intelligence data centers, and about 6 in 10 said Trump prioritizes his own interests over the country’s. Only about one third of Hispanic voters backed the Republican in House races. Just under half viewed the Democratic Party favorably, against about 4 in 10 for Republicans.
NBC’s exit poll found 71% of voters, including 41% of Republicans, said Congress does not provide enough oversight of Trump, whose job approval rating is lower than any president’s on Election Day in nearly two decades. Not since 2006 has the minority party flipped both chambers on a single night.
Democrats say they will use new subpoena and oversight powers. Jeffries has outlined a 100 day agenda on the cost of living and oversight of the administration. Party leaders have signaled investigations of the administration, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Elon Musk among possible targets, the AP said. Reps. Robert Garcia and Jamie Raskin are expected to lead inquiries into what Garcia calls “Trump family corruption” and the administration’s immigration crackdown. Jeffries said impeachment is not the focus but has not been ruled out. “There is a cost to corruption,” he said. Trump was impeached twice in his first term and acquitted both times.
With a Senate majority, Democrats would be positioned to block Trump nominees, including any Supreme Court vacancy. Sen. Richard Blumenthal said support for a nominee from this administration is “slim to none.”
What Happens Next
Democrats hold leadership elections the week of Nov. 16. Jeffries would need 218 votes on Jan. 3 to become the first Black House speaker, and Schumer is expected to return as Senate majority leader. Republicans could try to pass a party line reconciliation bill and a debt ceiling increase in the lame duck session. Thune’s future as Republican leader is uncertain, as is House Speaker Mike Johnson’s.
Sources: the Associated Press and NBC News, citing the AP Voter Poll, the NBC News Exit Poll
