Democrats Seize Both Chambers of Congress in Midterm Rout, Ushering In Divided Government
The Democratic Party has won control of both chambers of the United States Congress in Tuesday's midterm elections, according to race calls by the Associated Press, ending two years of unified Republican rule in Washington and setting up a period of divided government for the final two years of President Donald Trump's term. In races the AP has called, Democrats have won 252 seats in the House of Representatives to 161 for Republicans, with 22 contests still uncalled, comfortably past the 218 needed for a majority. In the Senate, Democrats won 20 of the 33 races decided and flipped seven Republican-held seats, while Republicans flipped none.
The Senate gains reached deep into Republican territory. In Texas, state legislator James Talarico defeated Attorney General Ken Paxton, the first Democrat to win a Senate seat in the state since 1988. In Kansas, Adam Hamilton became the first Democrat elected to the Senate from the state in almost 90 years. Democrats also flipped seats in Iowa, where Josh Turek defeated Ashley Hinson; in Ohio, where Sherrod Brown beat Senator Jon Husted; in Maine, where Troy Jackson defeated longtime Senator Susan Collins; in North Carolina, where Roy Cooper won the open seat; and in South Carolina, where Annie Andrews defeated Senator Lindsey Graham. Counting two independents who caucus with them, Democrats will hold at least 54 Senate seats. Two races remain uncalled, in Alaska and Mississippi, where Democrat Scott Colom led Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith by 2,574 votes as of 6 November, with mailed absentee ballots due by 10 November and counties certifying by 13 November. Democrats also won 22 of the 34 governors' races called, flipping five Republican-held seats.
The scale of the House victory was striking. The Associated Press called the House for Democrats at about 1:28 a.m. EST on Wednesday, after CBS News had projected the outcome at 10:15 p.m. on Tuesday night. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries declared victory at 10:39 p.m. Democrats picked up seats in districts where Mr Trump had beaten his Democratic opponent by as much as 18 percentage points in 2024, with gains across California, following Democratic redistricting there, as well as in Iowa, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas and Wisconsin. Reporting on the result has pointed to affordability concerns as the issue that drove many voters to the Democrats.
The consequences will be felt well beyond the campaign trail. When the new Congress convenes in January 2027, Democrats will take control of the House committees, giving them subpoena power and the ability to investigate the Trump administration, the president's family and their business interests, according to NBC News. The result could also derail the CLARITY crypto market-structure bill, analysts have said, although Democrats remain short of the 60 Senate votes needed to overcome a filibuster, which will limit their ability to advance legislation of their own. The change does not take effect immediately: the incoming Congress is constitutionally scheduled to begin on 3 January 2027.
Republicans are already reckoning with the defeat. Speaker Mike Johnson has said he will not run for Republican leader in the next Congress, and House Republicans hold leadership elections on Tuesday, 10 November, with House Democrats voting on 18–19 November. Secretary of State Marco Rubio declined on Sunday to address the Republican losses directly, even as he defended the administration's war against Iran as necessary though "not necessarily popular". Mr Trump, meanwhile, said on Sunday that he expects to hold talks with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, and Russia's Vladimir Putin during the APEC leaders' summit in China next week.
Online, the reaction has been a mix of celebration and caution. On Reddit, a thread arguing that the Democrats' victory "will be wasted without new leadership" drew more than 2,600 upvotes, while another heavily discussed thread focused on expectations that the new majority will move to block Mr Trump's proposed $1.5 trillion defence budget (r/politics). On Hacker News, commenters welcomed the result, with one writing from Europe: "This gives hope. Now don't screw it up, you are not done yet!" The coming days will bring the remaining race calls, the leadership votes, and the first signals of how the new majority intends to use its power.