Democrats win control of US House and Senate in midterm elections

Democrats take the House

Democrats were projected to win a majority in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, 3 November, according to CNN, NBC News and CBS News, although much of the seat count was still pending. Those projections came around 04:30 French time on Wednesday, 4 November, while voting was still open in the western United States. NBC News projected about 248 seats for Democrats, a figure it said could vary slightly, well above the 218 needed for a majority, and said the margin could be the party's largest in nearly two decades. Democrats also flipped seats in Kentucky, Pennsylvania and North Carolina, and they led in districts that Republicans had won in 2024. Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic minority leader, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez both regained their seats without serious trouble, and several candidates from the Democratic Socialists of America won their House races.

Senate flips six Republican seats

Democrats needed to take four Republican seats while holding their own to win the Senate, and by early Wednesday they had already taken six. Roy Cooper won North Carolina, where he succeeds Republican Thom Tillis. In Texas, James Talarico defeated Ken Paxton by almost 20 percentage points shortly after 22:00 local time on Tuesday, in a race that drew heavy spending, with Elon Musk putting hundreds of millions of dollars into Paxton's campaign. Reports differ on when a Democrat last won a Texas Senate seat: 1988 in some accounts and 1990 in NOS's. Republicans also lost the Texas governorship held by Greg Abbott, while Adam Hamilton won Kansas, the first Democrat to win a Senate seat there since 1932. In South Carolina, Annie Andrews defeated Darline Graham, whom Trump personally chose after Lindsey Graham, her brother, died suddenly in July. Democrats also took Iowa, where Josh Turek beat Ashley Hinson, and Ohio, where Sherrod Brown returns to the Senate, while Jon Ossoff was comfortably re-elected in Georgia. In Maine, CNN and NBC News projected a Democratic gain, with Troy Jackson expected to defeat Susan Collins, a senator since 1997, after the Democrats' original candidate, Graham Platner, dropped out amid allegations.

Trump's response

In a first reaction, Trump told The New York Times that he was willing to accept the results and hoped to work with Democrats in both chambers. Shortly afterward he posted an image with the word VETO on social media, so it remains to be seen what he will do with that offer. The New York Times reported that Trump watched the returns live and saw Darline Graham lose, asking how he thought Lindsey Graham would have fared. On Truth Social he criticized Greg Abbott, writing that Abbott would not have lost had he remained a true Republican. Before the vote there had been fears he would not accept a bad result, and he has still not accepted his 2020 defeat.

Count still running

According to NOS, Democrats unofficially hold 51 of the 100 Senate seats, with results still to be declared in ten races, eight of which were still held by Republicans at the time of reporting. Races in Maine, Michigan and Alaska remained open in the early hours. NOS links the Republican losses in rural areas partly to higher living costs and fuel prices tied to Trump's war in Iran, with some farmers facing diesel prices that have nearly doubled. The New York Times predicted that the House result could be the Democrats' largest since 1982. NOS reports that Trump's party has lost its majorities in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.