Category: News

The Democrats have won control of both chambers of the US Congress in the midterm elections held on 3 November 2026, ending two years of unified Republican rule. The Associated Press called both chambers for the Democrats in the early hours of Wednesday, 4 November.

The results so far

  • Senate: Democrats hold 54 seats to 44 for Republicans, a net gain of seven seats. Two races — Alaska and Mississippi — are still uncalled.
  • House: Democrats have won at least 228 of the 435 seats, passing the 218 needed for a majority. Dozens of districts, mostly in the West where mail ballots are still being counted, are not yet called.
  • New Congress: sworn in on 3 January 2027. Republicans hold both chambers until then.

The seven Senate seats that flipped

Democrats flipped Republican-held Senate seats in Texas, Kansas, Iowa, Ohio, South Carolina, Maine and North Carolina, and lost none of their own.

  • Texas: James Talarico beat Attorney General Ken Paxton — the first Democrat to win a Texas Senate seat since 1988, in the most expensive Senate race of the cycle.
  • Kansas: Adam Hamilton won — the first Democrat senator from Kansas in almost 90 years.
  • Iowa: Josh Turek won the open seat — the result that put Democrats over the top for Senate control.
  • Ohio: Sherrod Brown beat incumbent Republican Senator Jon Husted.
  • Maine: Troy Jackson unseated Senator Susan Collins, ending her roughly 30-year tenure.
  • South Carolina: Annie Andrews won.
  • North Carolina: Democrats flipped the seat.

In the House, Democrats picked up at least 31 seats, many in districts that voted for Donald Trump in 2024, including in California, Iowa, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas and Wisconsin.

What changes — and what does not

For the final two years of President Donald Trump’s term, he will now face a Democratic House and a Democratic Senate. That means Democratic majorities can scrutinise the administration, block legislation and set the agenda in both chambers.

But the outlook for major policy change is limited. Democrats do not have a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, and the President retains veto power, so gridlock is likely. Allianz Research noted on 4 November that the near-term policy outlook is largely unaffected.

Voters were driven mainly by high prices and gas costs, according to the AP voter poll. The Fox News Voter Poll, which surveyed more than 100,000 registered voters, called the result a blue wave driven by widespread discontent.

All results are unofficial AP race calls as of Wednesday morning, 4 November 2026. Counting continues and states certify final results in the coming weeks.

Source: Associated Press election results, 3–4 November 2026; Statista midterm recap, 5 November 2026; Fox News Voter Poll, 4 November 2026.

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