Democrats win Congress after six Senate flips on Nov 3
Democrats flipped at least eight Republican-held House seats in the US midterms, as living costs and the Iran war fuelled voter frustration with Trump.
- Democrats won control of both the House and Senate in the November 3, 2026, midterm elections, overturning Republican majorities.
- The Senate majority was secured by flipping six Republican-held seats, including victories in traditionally conservative states like Texas, South Carolina, Kansas, and Ohio.
- In addition to the Senate, Democrats also flipped at least eight Republican-held seats to gain control of the House of Representatives.
- The election is considered a major setback for President Donald Trump, as several candidates he endorsed lost in key races and voters expressed a desire for a check on his power.
Democrats won control of both chambers of the US Congress in the November 3, 2026 midterm elections, overturning Republican majorities as voters delivered a major setback to President Donald Trump. The party gained six Republican-held Senate seats and flipped at least eight Republican House districts while results were still being counted.
The Democratic gains extended into traditionally conservative states that had strongly backed Trump in 2024, including Texas, South Carolina and Iowa. The full scale of the party's victories was still emerging as further election results came in.
Democrats win Senate seats in Republican strongholds
Democrat Sherrod Brown won Ohio's Senate race against Republican Jon Husted, taking the seat held by Vice-President JD Vance two years earlier. In Texas, Democratic state legislator James Talarico defeated Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton despite substantial outside spending. Both states had voted for Trump by double-digit margins in 2024.
South Carolina elected Democrat Annie Andrews, a paediatrician, over Republican Senator Darline Graham, who had been appointed to the seat after the death of her brother, Senator Lindsey Graham. Trump won South Carolina by almost 18 percentage points in 2024.
Kansas voters elected megachurch pastor Adam Hamilton, making him the state's first Democratic senator since the Great Depression nearly a century ago. Democrats also broke through in Iowa, another state long regarded as solidly Republican.
The six Senate seats captured from Republicans gave Democrats a majority even if the party failed to retain its own closely contested seats in Michigan and Minnesota.
Democratic gains extend to House seats and governorships
Democrats overturned Republican control of at least eight US House seats, including constituencies in Kentucky, New Jersey and North Carolina, while also performing strongly in conservative districts. Texas's three-term Republican Governor Greg Abbott lost to Democrat Gina Hinojosa, and Democrats captured governorships in Iowa and Ohio.
Republican Senator Ashley Moody retained her seat in Florida against Democrat Angie Nixon, but was ahead by only about three percentage points in a state Trump carried by 13 points in 2024, according to votes counted by Reuters and USA Today. Democrats also held three Florida House districts redrawn by Republican lawmakers this year, despite each having supported Trump by at least nine points in 2024.
Trump-backed candidates lose as voters cite higher prices
Trump campaigned for losing candidates Paxton, Graham and Husted during a final push involving more than two dozen rallies, against a backdrop of voter anger over household costs. He repeatedly urged supporters to “pretend I'm on the ballot” to encourage Republican turnout.
Trump had favoured Paxton and Graham over more established Republican candidates despite their political vulnerabilities. Paxton had faced controversies including an impeachment in 2023 and securities fraud charges, while Graham's limited political experience attracted criticism.
As Republican losses mounted on election night, Trump argued on social media that he would have prevailed had he been a candidate himself, writing that “we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!”
Voters' concerns about the cost of living and Trump's economic record helped drive the Democratic gains. Reuters linked sharply higher fuel prices to the war against Iran that Trump launched in February.
Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff, the projected winner in Georgia, criticised Trump at a victory gathering, accusing the president of “depravity, corruption and incompetence”.
Exit polls conducted by SSRS for a group of US media organisations, including major television networks and the Associated Press, found that half of voters treated the election as an opportunity to reject Trump. Three-quarters expressed anger or dissatisfaction with the country's direction, while 70% wanted Congress to exercise stronger checks on the president.
Justice Department election monitors draw criticism
The US Justice Department deployed 1,000 election monitors and observers across all 50 states, describing it as the largest such Election Day operation in its history. Democrats argued that the deployment could intimidate voters.
A Reuters analysis found that roughly two-thirds of the jurisdictions selected for federal monitoring had voted for Democrat Kamala Harris rather than Trump in the 2024 presidential election. Legal observers and Democrats had also expressed concern that Trump could contest the results after Republican defeats, given his repeated false assertions about election fraud.
Election officials in several states reported no problems with federal monitors. New Mexico's secretary of state's office, however, received reports that monitors had asked “unusual questions” in one county, and the Justice Department assured officials that the conduct would be addressed.
