Democrats take control of Congress after sweeping midterm gains

Democrats have won control of both chambers of Congress, flipping Senate seats in Republican strongholds and taking more than 25 House seats in a midterm defeat for President Donald Trump’s party.

Republicans lost seven Senate seats and five governor’s races, The Guardian reported. Al Jazeera reported that Democrats had won 54 Senate seats to Republicans’ 44, with two seats not accounted for in those totals. In the House, Al Jazeera put the count at 228 seats for Democrats and 139 for Republicans, with Democrats leading in 34 races that had not yet been called.

The Senate result gives Democrats the power to block new Supreme Court and cabinet appointments, The Guardian reported. Republicans held 53 of the chamber’s 100 seats before the election; 35 seats were on the ballot.

Texas delivered one of the clearest signs of the shift. Democrat James Talarico defeated Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, whom Trump had backed. The Guardian reported that Talarico won by more than 10 points, becoming the first Democrat elected to the Senate from Texas since 1988. Political scientist Chris Featherstone told Al Jazeera the margin was “almost 10 points.”

In Kansas, Democrat Adam Hamilton defeated Republican Senator Roger Marshall, giving the state its first Democratic senator since 1932, according to The Guardian. The outlet reported a 21-point swing toward Democrats compared with the 2024 presidential election. Democrat Roy Cooper won North Carolina’s Senate race against Trump-backed Michael Whatley, becoming the state’s first Democratic senator elected since 2008. Every county in North Carolina swung toward Democrats compared with 2024, The Guardian reported.

Al Jazeera reported that Democrat Annie Andrews won a Senate seat in South Carolina, which had not elected a Democratic senator since 1998. In Michigan, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed defeated Trump-backed Mike Rogers.

The Guardian’s analysis of counties with sufficient returns found widespread swings toward Democrats compared with the 2024 presidential vote, particularly in urban areas, places with more younger residents and areas with larger Hispanic populations. In heavily Hispanic Starr County, Texas, Trump won 58% of the vote in 2024; Talarico took 77% in this year’s Senate race, the outlet reported.

Democrats also gained ground in House districts Republicans had held for years. The Guardian reported that Democrat JD Ford defeated incumbent Victoria Spartz in Indiana’s fifth district, which Republicans had held for more than three decades. In Missouri’s second district, Democrat Ann Wagner lost despite boundaries redrawn to favor Republicans.

Republicans retained some prominent offices. Al Jazeera reported that Senator Ashley Moody won in Florida, where Republican Byron Donalds was elected the state’s first Black governor. Republican Harriet Hageman won a Senate seat in Wyoming, and Tommy Tuberville won Alabama’s governor’s race.

Trump had urged voters to imagine he was on the ballot, Al Jazeera reported. The results leave his party without control of either chamber, though how much they constrain him beyond Congress remains contested. Laurel Rapp of Chatham House told Al Jazeera that Trump would still retain “wide latitude” in foreign affairs.