US Midterm Elections: Democrats Regain Control of Senate and House

US midterm election results 2026: The Democratic Party has regained control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, after voting in the US midterms concluded on Tuesday (November 3). As of around 1.37 pm IST on Wednesday (November 4), The New York Times reported that Democrats had secured 54 Senate seats against 43 for Republicans, flipping seven Republican-held seats. In the House, Democrats had won 225 seats against the Republicans’ 136, crossing the 218-seat majority threshold, with several contests still to be called. The election was widely considered a referendum on Donald Trump ’s presidency, with voters expressing dissatisfaction over the cost of living and his administration’s policies. In an interview with The NYT , Trump said he was “absolutely willing to accept those results” and was prepared to work with Democrats. “We’ll, you know, look forward to working with them,” he said. “We’ll probably work something out.” The party flipped Senate seats in Republican strongholds Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, North Carolina, South Carolina and even Texas. In Texas, where Democrats had not won a US Senate election since 1988, Democratic candidate and state legislator James Talarico defeated Ken Paxton, the Republican state attorney general who was impeached by the Texas House in 2023 over allegations of misconduct, but subsequently acquitted by the state Senate. Separately, in the state’s gubernatorial election, Gina Hinojosa defeated three-time Republican governor Greg Abbott to become Texas’ first Democratic governor since Ann Richards, who was elected in 1990. In Ohio, Democrat candidate Amy Acton defeated Republican Vivek Ramaswamy to become its governor. Ahead of the election, Ramaswamy had run a controversial ad featuring Acton’s mother that sought to discredit his rival. The Indian Express has explained it here . In South Carolina, Democrat Annie Andrews defeated Republican Senator Darline Graham, who had been appointed after the death of her brother, longtime Senator Lindsey Graham, in July. The result marks the first Democratic Senate victory in the state since 1998. In Georgia, former Atlanta mayor and Democratic candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms has become the first Black woman to be elected governor in the country’s history, and the state’s first Democratic governor since 1998. She defeated Republican businessman Rick Jackson, ending more than two decades of Republican control of the governorship. In Maine, Democrat Troy Jackson defeated five-term Republican Senator Susan Collins, ending her nearly 30-year tenure in the Senate. Democrats have also flipped the North Carolina Senate seat, as well as House seats in Kentucky, New Jersey, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. However, Republicans retained Florida’s Senate seat, with incumbent Ashley Moody defeating progressive Democrat Angie Nixon in a surprisingly close contest. Moody, appointed to replace Marco Rubio after he became Secretary of State, won by around three percentage points, compared with Trump’s 13-point victory in the state in 2024. What drove the Democratic gains? Economic concerns and a deep dissatisfaction with Trump’s policies appear to have contributed to the Democrats’ gains. The AP Voter Poll, conducted by SSRS, found that 39% of voters considered the economy the country’s most important issue, followed by the state of democracy (32%) and immigration (14%). Nearly three-quarters rated the economy poorly, while 65% believed Trump’s policies had worsened economic conditions. Another 62% blamed his policies for higher-than-usual prices. The war with Iran added to these concerns. The AP Voter Poll found that 62% of voters believed the US had been wrong to launch military action against Iran, while 74% said the conflict was a major or crucial factor in their congressional vote. The war also pushed up fuel prices, adding to the cost-of-living pressures already worsened by Trump’s tariffs, as Udit Misra explained in his ExplainSpeaking column ahead of the election. Voters also expressed broader dissatisfaction with the administration. According to the AP Voter Poll, 43% of voters said opposition to Trump was a reason for their vote, compared with 16% who cited support for him. Meanwhile, 75% described themselves as angry or dissatisfied with the country’s direction. The results suggest Democrats drew support across several demographic groups. According to the voter poll, 60% of Hispanic and Latino voters and 69% of Asian voters backed Democratic candidates for the House. Among voters aged 18–29, the Democratic share stood at 71%, compared with 25% for Republicans. The discontent was evident even before the election. An October survey by Pew Research Center found that 84% of registered voters considered the economy very important to their vote, including 88% of Democratic supporters and 82% of Republican supporters. In Texas, where Democrats secured two major statewide victories, signs of dissatisfaction were visible ahead of the election. An October survey by Marist found that 43% of likely voters believed their family finances had worsened over the previous year, while 38% said their congressional vote was primarily an expression of opposition to Trump. Among independent voters, 52% supported Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico. Did the redistricting gambit backfire on the Republicans? The results have also raised questions about whether Republican efforts to redraw congressional districts ahead of the midterms delivered the electoral gains they had hoped for. In Texas, Republicans redrew district boundaries to concentrate Democratic voters in fewer constituencies, improving their prospects elsewhere. The party hoped to gain up to five additional House seats. Democrats responded with a similar exercise in California, also targeting five seats. In December 2025, the US Supreme Court allowed Texas to use its new congressional map. A lower court had earlier blocked the map, finding that it likely discriminated against minority voters. The Supreme Court lifted that block without finally resolving whether the map was discriminatory. This gamble appears to have backfired. In Houston’s newly redrawn 9th District, Democrat Leticia Gutierrez defeated Republican Alex Mealer, despite the district voting for Trump by around 20 percentage points in 2024. Democrats also retained several other Houston-area seats targeted by the Republican redistricting effort. In California, Governor Gavin Newsom backed a new congressional map that voters approved through Proposition 50 in November 2025. The revised boundaries were intended to give Democrats an advantage in five additional House districts. In the redrawn 1st District, Democrat Mike McGuire defeated Republican incumbent James Gallagher, who had won a special election in June under the previous boundaries, flipping a seat that had previously favoured Republicans.