Democrats have taken control of the Senate after picking up five Senate seats in the 2026 midterm elections, as well as more than a half-dozen House districts.
The outcome appears to be a direct repudiation of President Donald Trump, who urged voters to pretend he was on the ballot. Most voters appear to blame Trump’s administration for high costs and want Congress to impose more checks
on him, according to The AP Voter Poll.Democrats' victories reached
deep into Trump country, with ruby-red states Texas, Kansas and South Carolina electing Democratic senators for the first time in decades, while Democrats also flipped seats in North Carolina and Ohio.
Democrats Keisha Lance Bottoms in Georgia, Amy Acton in Ohio, Rod Sand in Iowa and Gina Hinojosa in Texas won races for governor, flipping GOP-held offices.
Here's the latest:
Ohio Senate voters had a more positive opinion of Democrat Sherrod Brown than Republican Jon Husted, according to The AP Voter Poll, which found that about half of voters had a “strongly” or “somewhat” favorable view of Brown, while only about 4 in 10 felt the same way about Husted.
Most Ohio voters also saw Husted as “too supportive” of Trump, while less than half of voters said Brown was “too extreme.”
About half of Ohio voters said control of the Senate was “crucial” to their vote, and Brown won a majority of this group.
Brown substantially improved on his 2024 performance among young voters, while making more modest — but still significant — gains among moderates, lower-income voters and women. The vast majority, about 7 in 10, of voters under 30 supported Brown this year, while only about half of this group voted for him in 2024, according to AP VoteCast.
Brown also won about two-thirds of moderates this year, up from about 6 in 10 moderate voters in 2024, and just over half of women voters, after splitting this group with Sen. Bernie Moreno in 2024.
Paxton spoke briefly after Talarico’s victory.
“I will commit that I will be praying for him, that he will do good for Texas and this nation,” he said.
Paxton also acknowledged Republican losses across the country.
“We’ve had a difficult night tonight across the country, but it’s not over,” he said.
It marks a decisive rebuke of Republican control of governance in Washington, ushering in a new era of congressional resistance to Trump.
The midterm elections that came to a close Tuesday channeled voters’ deep frustration with high prices, the war in Iran and concerns about government corruption.
The House remains too early to call, but Democrats have already flipped seven seats as they try to win the majority in that chamber as well.
Democratic control of the Senate will profoundly reshape Trump’s final two years in office and likely hamstring his ability to push his agenda, including his hopes for sustaining a conservative shift to the Supreme Court.
Trump has promised he would use his veto power to block Democrats’ agenda, forecasting the potential for gridlock in Washington.
Thousands had arrived hoping a Democrat would win a statewide race in Texas for the first time in more than three decades. Talarico won the Senate seat. Then came another Democratic victory.
Gina Hinojosa beat Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, and the crowd’s excitement reached a crescendo.
People leapt in the air; others hugged; one danced; a young man called his dad; and an older man marveled that it was “unbelievable.”
Republican Vivek Ramaswamy expressed both reservations and hope for the future after losing the Ohio governor’s race to Democrat Amy Acton.
“I have to tell you, I have some serious concerns about the future direction of our country. There’s no avoiding that,” he told supporters at a subdued watch party. “But I do believe that there have been many ups and downs in the history of our country, and we have, in the end, still found our way upward.”
The biotech billionaire thanked his parents, who were in attendance, as well as his wife and her parents.
As he watched election results from the White House, Trump told The New York Times late Tuesday that he would respect the results of the election and work alongside Democrats, who continued to rack up unlikely victories.
“I am absolutely willing to accept those results,” he said shortly before 10:30 p.m. “We’ll work with the Democrats, and we’ll, you know, look forward to working with them. We’ll probably work something out.”
Voters defeated a proposed amendment to the Missouri Constitution that would have reimposed restrictions on most abortions.
The defeat Tuesday came just two years after voters approved an abortion-rights amendment, making Missouri the first state in the nation to undo an existing abortion ban through a ballot measure.
The Republican-led Legislature responded by referring a new, less restrictive version of an abortion ban to this year’s ballot. The measure would have allowed abortions only for medical emergencies and fetal anomalies, or in cases of rape or incest up to 12 weeks of pregnancy. The Legislature paired the latest abortion measure with a prohibition on certain medical procedures for transgender minors.
Abortion-rights advocates, led by national progressive groups, heavily outspent abortion foes in a successful campaign to defeat the ballot measure.
Hinojosa defeated Republican incumbent Greg Abbott.
Hinojosa’s win marks an upset victory for Democrats. The state House member from Austin will be Texas’ first Latina governor. She also is the first Democrat to win a governor’s race in the state since 1990.
Abbott was seeking an unprecedented fourth term after first winning election in 2014.
The Austin state representative overcame his party’s decades-old curse Tuesday, defeating Republican Ken Paxton in a race that once seemed like another far reach for Democrats.
Talarico benefited from a combination of circumstances, including Paxton’s liabilities and Talarico’s stellar fundraising.
In the race’s closing months, Trump and Senate GOP super PACs tried to paint Talarico as out of the mainstream, with Elon Musk spending $158 million to oppose the Democrat.
But Talarico won in Texas’ metro areas, as well as in once GOP-leaning urban and suburban areas.
The last Democrat to win a Texas Senate seat was Lloyd Bentsen in 1988. Talarico was born the following May.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has been dogged by questions of corruption during his run for the Senate — and about two-thirds of voters in the Senate race say he lacked the personal character to serve in that chamber.
Democratic State Rep. James Talarico has been portrayed by Republicans as a vegan who is too supportive of transgender rights.
The attacks have had mixed results. Texas voters are roughly split on whether Talarico’s views are “too extreme.”
Talarico beat Paxton to net the first Democratic win of a statewide office in Texas since 1994.
Talarico’s victory represents the first time a Democrat has won a statewide office in Texas since 1994, a shakeup for a state long dominated by Republicans. The outcome boosts Democrats as they look to retake control of the Senate.
A seminary student and state representative, Talarico focused on bringing down everyday costs and revisiting corruption allegations against Republican opponent Ken Paxton, a state attorney general.
Paxton, who had Trump’s endorsement, said Talarico’s progressive stances on social issues were out of step with Texas.
The Democratic former Atlanta mayor addressed a boisterous crowd of supporters after being declared the winner in an election that will make her the nation’s first Black female governor.
She was met with chants of “Keisha! Keisha!” when she took the stage and was introduced by her daughter.
Bottoms called her campaign a victory for all Georgians, from teachers to farmers to entrepreneurs.
“No matter who you voted for tonight, I will be a governor for all of Georgia,” Bottoms said. “Georgia, we sent a message loud and clear that we want a leader who will put Georgia first and who will stand up to all the chaos coming out of Washington, DC.”
The Democrat said she’d stand up to her own party in Congress and pledged to show up for voters, including those who didn’t support her.
Speaking to cheering supporters, she acknowledged her historic victory — she’s the first woman to be elected to represent South Carolina in the U.S. Senate — and lamented vitriol in politics and influence from billionaires.
“South Carolina, you have shown the nation what is possible,” Andrews said.
She also said she’d stand up for her state, even if it means disagreeing with other Democrats.
But Andrews also alluded to Trump’s support for Darline Graham, her opponent and the sister of late Sen. Lindsey Graham, whose seat Darline Graham was appointed to fill.
“The Senate seat does not belong to one family, one party or to Washington, D.C.,” Andrews said.
Trump strongly pushed for Graham to be named senator after her brother Lindsey Graham died in July. Trump visited the state twice in the weeks before the election as her chances appeared to be fading.
“He loves this country dearly and I appreciate all that he has done,” Graham said.
Graham told the crowd they should remain as proud of her brother as she is.
“This is a tough cycle and all of us need to be involved as we chart a path forward. It is clear that we as conservatives have work to do and that work starts tonight,” Graham said.
In a victory speech, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul reminded a crowd of the president’s request to vote as if he was on the ballot, saying, “Well, Mr. President, you got your wish!”
Hochul won a second full term Tuesday night, defeating Republican Bruce Blakeman, a Trump ally.
Republican Reps. Tom Kean of New Jersey and three Republicans in Pennsylvania, Ryan Mackenzie, Scott Perry and Rob Bresnahan, lost reelection and Democrats won open seats in North Carolina and Kentucky. Democrats need a net gain of three seats for a majority.
As Democrats continued to pick up seats, Trump responded on Truth Social, shirking blame for the showing among Republican candidates.
“I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE! Thank you for your attention to this matter,” he posted shortly after 10:30 p.m. He was watching the returns in the East Wing with political advisers and Cabinet members, according to his official schedule.
Trump campaigned for many Republican candidates, urging voters at rallies to pretend that he was on the ballot.
All polls close at 11 p.m. in California and Washington, as well as the remaining polls in Idaho and Oregon.
Elections in California and Washington are conducted primarily by mail. Mail ballots postmarked by Election Day will be counted if received by Nov. 10 in California and Nov. 23 in Washington.
In the 2024 general election, about 38% of the vote in California and about 33% of the vote in Washington was not counted on election night. The count reached 90% in Washington by Nov. 9, four days after Election Day, and in California by Nov. 14, nine days after Election Day.
Some key contests to watch in this hour are California governor, California’s Proposition 40 and U.S. House races in California and Washington.
She defeated Republican incumbent Darline Graham.
Andrews’ victory in a state Trump won three times by double digits is a stark defeat for the Republican Party. A pediatrician, Andrews had previously run unsuccessfully for the U.S. House.
Graham had been appointed to the seat that her brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham, held before he died unexpectedly in July. She later won a contentious special primary for the Republican nomination with Trump’s backing.
In a race viewed as an early test for Democratic efforts to take the House majority, former federal prosecutor and Navy veteran Zach Dembo has won an open seat created by Republican Andy Barr’s decision to run for the Senate.
Dembo is also a former aide to Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.
Beshear easily won the district during an off-year gubernatorial contest in 2023 and has spent time campaigning for his former legislative director.
Ralph Alvarado, a physician and ex-state senator, was the Republican nominee.
The district includes Democratic-trending Lexington and covers multiple rural counties that are Republican strongholds.
California Rep. Robert Garcia issued the blunt two-word statement to Republicans as Democrats grew increasingly optimistic about reclaiming control of the House.
If Democrats secure a majority, Garcia and other party leaders have vowed an aggressive oversight agenda, including investigations into Trump, his family and his administration.
A judge gave elections officials in Westchester County permission to move thousands of paper ballots to a secure warehouse for counting after a technical problem caused vote scanning machines to malfunction.
The issue is expected to delay counting until Wednesday in New York’s 17th Congressional District, which features a competitive race between GOP Rep. Mike Lawler and Democrat Cait Conley.
The New York Board of Elections said machines throughout the county wouldn’t accept paper ballots when polls opened Tuesday because of a programming glitch.
Voters were instructed to put completed ballots in emergency bags that would be safeguarded to be processed later.
The bags will be transported under police escort to a county warehouse, where they will be scanned and counted under the supervision of representatives of parties.
Lawler and Conley had both implored residents to cast their ballots despite the problem and stressed that all votes would be counted.
The Associated Press does not make projections and will only declare which party has won control of the House when one of the parties reaches 218 seats.
Currently, 219 members caucus with Republicans, just one more than the minimum needed for a majority when all seats are filled. There are two vacancies now.
During the last elections in 2024 and 2022, the AP called control of the House eight days after Election Day.
A line of voters Tuesday night snaked around a Las Vegas parking lot in a busy shopping plaza, where a tent was set up as a polling location. With an estimated wait time of two hours, a DJ played music as voters stood in line.
Earlier in the day, pizza, water and other snacks were handed out. Some Clark County voters skipped the line and dropped off their mail ballots.
Voters in Washoe County, home to Reno, also were waiting over an hour.
Amber Falgout with the Institute for a Progressive Nevada, which runs a nonpartisan voter education program, attributed the long wait times to increased voter turnout plus an additional step in-person voters must take this year. Once they finish voting, their ballot is printed out and they must turn that in, Falgout said.
The polls close at 7 p.m. Pacific time, but any voter still in line at that time will be allowed to cast a ballot.
Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, considered a potential candidate for president in 2028, told the crowd celebrating his reelection victory in Pennsylvania that the people spoke with “resounding force” that they are done with leadership “that fails to make life better.”
“You left no doubt,” Shapiro told the crowd at a suburban Harrisburg hotel ballroom.
He said people want to raise Pennsylvania’s minimum wage to $15 an hour, to build more housing and invest in infrastructure, kids, cops and communities. They also want to enshrine abortion rights for women in the state constitution, he said.
A state judge in New Mexico has sided with Republicans who filed a lawsuit on Election Day over concerns that a Democratic county clerk had placed restrictions on election challengers.
The Republican Party of New Mexico, the Republican National Committee and the Republican Party of Doña Ana County sued County Clerk Amanda López Askin. They claimed GOP election challengers were placed in a corner where they could not properly see whether mail ballot envelopes contained the required signatures.
The judge granted a preliminary injunction, ordering that the challengers be positioned where they could properly observe the processing of the ballots.
“Transparency and accountability are fundamental to public confidence in our elections, and we will continue to stand up for those principles,” said Leticia Muñoz, executive director of the state party.
López Askin is running for the secretary of state’s office.
“I want to cry. I’m very grateful and excited that we finally got the first female governor,” said Conqula Milner, 54, who was wearing a long blue shirt with “Blessed” written on the back in silver sparkles.
Milner, who was at Bottoms’ election night party, said she was confident Bottoms would win but thought the margin would be tighter.
A veteran who works at the VA hospital in Atlanta, Milner says she believes Bottoms will do a lot to help veterans.
Paula Sanders, 69, a retired school counselor, said she supports Bottoms because she strongly agrees “with her plan to make life better for all Georgians.”
Dancing to the music with some friends as she waited for Bottoms to come out and address the crowd, she savored the election of the country’s first Black female governor: “This is a real history-making moment. So proud of Georgia!”
