Democrats challenge Republican Senate majority as Virginia race is called

Democrats are pressing for control of the Senate in Tuesday’s midterm elections, with close races stretching from Maine to Alaska and early results giving the party an expected win in Virginia.

Democratic Sen. Mark Warner won reelection in Virginia, according to projections by CBS News and the Associated Press. Republicans hold a 53-47 Senate majority, and Democrats need a net gain of four seats to take control. Thirty-five seats are up for election.

A Democratic majority could block President Donald Trump’s legislation and nominees, including judicial picks, and issue subpoenas to investigate his administration. Republicans have controlled both chambers of Congress during the first two years of Trump’s current term.

Republicans are defending competitive seats in Maine, North Carolina, Ohio, Alaska and Texas, while Democrats are defending seats in Georgia and Michigan. CBS News also identifies Kansas, Iowa and South Carolina as battlegrounds, though it rates those races as leaning Republican. The network rated South Carolina a toss-up after polls closed there.

The contests come amid voter dissatisfaction with Trump. Early NBC News exit poll results showed that more than half of voters in Texas, Ohio, Iowa, Alaska, Kansas and South Carolina disapproved of his job performance. In Kansas, where Trump won by 16 percentage points in 2024, disapproval stood at 57%. The same poll found that 71% of midterm voters, including 41% of Republicans, said Congress was not providing enough oversight of the presidency.

In Ohio, Republican Sen. Jon Husted faces former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown for the remaining two years of JD Vance’s Senate term. Husted was appointed after Vance became vice president. Trump held three rallies in Ohio in recent weeks to support him, NBC News reported.

Michigan’s race has been shaken by a split among Democrats. Rep. Haley Stevens, who lost the Democratic Senate primary to Abdul El-Sayed, endorsed his Republican opponent, former Rep. Mike Rogers, on Sunday. Stevens cited tensions with El-Sayed over Israel-related criticism and said his campaign had indicated she was no longer welcome at its events. Other Democrats accused her of betrayal.

In Alaska, Democratic candidate Mary Peltola has denied allegations that her campaign helped recruit another candidate named Sullivan, who shares a name with her opponent, Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan. The New York Times reported the alleged effort, which drew scrutiny because Alaska uses ranked-choice voting. The state’s governor ordered a criminal investigation, The Guardian reported. A federal judge dismissed a Trump administration lawsuit seeking to block certification under certain circumstances if the senator loses.

Peltola told reporters Tuesday that the accusations might have helped “get people reengaged.” She said she had “every faith that things will turn out the way they should.”

In Texas, Democrat James Talarico faces state Attorney General Ken Paxton, who defeated incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn in a primary runoff. NBC News reported that Elon Musk has spent at least $150 million backing Paxton. Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins, meanwhile, faces former state Senate President Troy Jackson in a state that voted for Kamala Harris in 2024.

More than $3.4 billion has been spent on television and digital ads in Senate races nationwide, according to figures from tracking firm AdImpact cited by NBC News.