Democrats sweep Congress midterms, flip state legislatures and set up divided government

A sweep across Congress

Democrats ousted Republicans from coast to coast in the 3 November midterms, with majorities in the House and Senate that are padded by unusually wide margins. Some races were still too early to call when the reporting was written. The results end unified Republican control in Washington and set up a starkly divided government when the new Congress convenes on 3 January 2027. Democrats plan a 100-day agenda on gas, grocery and healthcare costs, alongside vast oversight of Trump and his administration in which impeachment remains an option.

Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic leader from New York, would become the first Black speaker of the House if his colleagues elect him when the new Congress begins. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer acknowledged that voters may have been more willing to reject Republicans than to embrace Democrats.

“Many of the folks who voted for us yesterday are still skeptical, and that's OK.”

Schumer said the long-shot Senate seats won in South Carolina, Texas and Kansas created an opportunity to prove Democrats worthy of voter trust. Trump struck a conciliatory tone and suggested he could work with Democrats, but he also warned of gridlock and threatened to use his veto power. Ken Martin, chair of the Democratic National Committee, told the Financial Times that the result was a warning sign for Republicans and an opportunity for Democrats in territory the party had not expected to compete in.

Statehouses and the maps

If the leads hold, Democrats would flip 12 legislative chambers, end five Republican trifectas and break 11 GOP supermajorities, according to AP returns as of 6pm ET on 4 November. Republicans entered Election Day with 23 trifectas to Democrats' 16, and the projected outcome gives Democrats 22 and Republicans 18. Republicans had drawn maps that kept them in power even in years Democrats won more votes statewide, and the Democratic gains broke that firewall.

Republican trifectas before Election Day23

Republican trifectas if leads hold18

Democratic trifectas before Election Day16

Democratic trifectas if leads hold22

Republican trifectas before Election Day

23

Republican trifectas if leads hold

18

Democratic trifectas before Election Day

16

Democratic trifectas if leads hold

22

Data from the article text

Democrats would control 51 of 99 chambers, up from 39, while Republicans would fall from 57 to 46. Democrats flipped five Republican-held governorships in Georgia, Iowa, Nevada, Ohio and Texas and lead in Alaska. Republicans flipped none of the governorships they targeted in Arizona, Michigan, Oregon and Wisconsin, and the Kansas race between Democrat Cindy Holscher and her opponent was uncalled, with Holscher leading by about half a point on Wednesday evening.

Democrats before the election39

Democrats if leads hold51

Republicans before the election57

Republicans if leads hold46

Democrats before the election

39 chambers

Democrats if leads hold

51 chambers

Republicans before the election

57 chambers

Republicans if leads hold

46 chambers

Data from the article text

Election deniers lose governor races

Five Republicans who had cast doubt on or voted to block Joe Biden's 2020 victory lost their races for governor. They are Andy Biggs in Arizona, John James in Michigan, Stacy Garrity in Pennsylvania, Tom Tiffany in Wisconsin and Rick Jackson in Georgia. Biggs and Tiffany voted to overturn the 2020 results as House members in January 2021. Tiffany, Garrity and Jackson have since acknowledged that Biden won, while Biggs and James have not.

The 2028 race opens

Several Republicans and Democrats began positioning themselves for 2028 within hours of the vote. Vice President JD Vance, 42, remains the pollsters' favourite to succeed Trump, but he may be tainted with primary voters by the war with Iran. On the morning after the vote, he blamed the defeat on the war in a post on X.

“The reason we lost is the war.”

The Financial Times noted that only one sitting vice president, George HW Bush, has won the presidency in the past 190 years. Arizona Senator Mark Kelly and Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear have already held preliminary conversations with potential presidential campaign staff. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro won reelection by about 22 points according to preliminary returns, the largest margin for a Pennsylvania governor in more than two decades. Democrats also took the state Senate, gave the party its first governing trifecta in Pennsylvania since 1993 and flipped four congressional seats, after Shapiro spent $10 million in campaign funds to help achieve the wins.

“I realized the only thing I could do is change the makeup of Congress in order to stop the cruelty and stop the chaos.”

Maryland Governor Wes Moore and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker also won reelection decisively, while outgoing California Governor Gavin Newsom campaigned for Democratic candidates across the country.