Democrats win Congress in midterm blow to Trump

• Democrats won control of the House and Senate in the November 3 midterms.
• Their gains included Senate victories in Republican-held states such as Texas and Kansas.
• Some races remain uncalled, so final seat totals are not yet settled.

Democrats have won control of both chambers of Congress, ending unified Republican control of Washington and giving President Donald Trump a Democratic-led Congress for the final two years of his term. The Associated Press reported that Democrats had secured at least 54 Senate seats; it also called the House for Democrats, though the final margins remain unsettled.¹

The gains reached deep into Republican territory. Democrat James Talarico won a Senate seat in Texas, where no Democrat had won statewide office for more than 30 years, and Adam Hamilton defeated the Republican incumbent in Kansas. Democrats also won Senate races in Iowa, Ohio, Maine, North Carolina and South Carolina, according to AP’s election coverage.¹

A Democratic majority will shape Congress’s legislative agenda and give the party greater influence over consideration of presidential nominees. Democratic leaders have said they plan investigations and oversight of the Trump administration; these are announced intentions, not actions already taken.²³

Trump said he would veto legislation he considered “insane”. The new Congress is due to convene on January 3, 2027.³

Some results were still outstanding in AP’s November 4 update, which reported that Alaska and Mississippi Senate races and 62 House contests remained uncalled. Those unresolved races left the final seat totals and margins open, but AP had already called control of both chambers for Democrats.⁴

Footnotes

1. Associated Press, “Democrats win the US House and Senate as voters deliver a strong rebuke to Trump and Republicans”: https://apnews.com/article/midterm-election-house-senate-democrats-republicans-trump-f126e12e05b579a327b98481c0ae2226 ↩ ↩²

2. Reuters, “Democrats seize Congress in sweeping midterm repudiation of Trump”: https://www.investing.com/news/politics-news/democrats-seize-congress-in-sweeping-midterm-repudiation-of-trump-4997528 ↩

3. Associated Press, “Democratic sweep of Congress ushers in a new era as Trump acknowledges impact of the Iran war”: https://apnews.com/article/congress-democratic-blue-wave-midterms-house-senate-9c5c4c5283f58b1ae0786e2f410c21a0 ↩ ↩²

4. Associated Press, “Senate, governor races not yet called by The Associated Press”: https://apnews.com/article/midterm-election-uncalled-races-b20c577aaffced99155af448bd182fa5 ↩