Democrats win control of House and Senate in midterms

Democrats have won control of both chambers of Congress, flipping Republican-held seats across the country in midterm elections that delivered a string of Senate and gubernatorial firsts.

The party has secured 54 Senate seats, according to The Guardian and Al Jazeera. The outlets reported different House totals as counting continued: The Guardian put Democrats at 225 seats, while Al Jazeera, citing an Associated Press tally, reported 228. A party needs 51 seats to control the Senate and 218 to control the House.

All 435 House seats and 35 of the Senate’s 100 seats were contested Tuesday, including special Senate elections in Florida and Ohio. Voters in 36 states also chose governors. Some races remained uncalled as counting continued overnight, Al Jazeera reported.

In Texas, Democrat James Talarico defeated Republican Ken Paxton in a Senate race. The Guardian described the result as breaking a 38-year drought for the party in the Republican stronghold; Al Jazeera reported that a Democrat had not won state office there since 1994. “The people of Texas were my slingshot,” Talarico told supporters in Austin. “And tonight, we defeated Goliath.”

In Kansas, Adam Hamilton defeated Republican incumbent Roger Marshall, becoming the state’s first Democratic senator since 1932. Abdul El-Sayed defeated Mike Rogers in Michigan to become the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate. In his victory speech, El-Sayed said America’s greatness lies in “the courage that we have to correct” its flaws and called for taking on “the corporations and the billionaires’ special interests who rigged the system against us.”

Troy Jackson unseated five-term Republican Senator Susan Collins in Maine. Democrats also won Senate races in South Carolina, where Annie Andrews became the state’s first Democratic senator in more than a quarter-century, and North Carolina, where former Governor Roy Cooper became its first Democratic senator in 10 years. Sherrod Brown defeated incumbent Jon Husted in Ohio, while Josh Turek won in Iowa. Jon Ossoff was re-elected in Georgia, and Chris Pappas became the first openly gay man elected to the Senate after winning in New Hampshire, The Guardian reported.

Al Jazeera reported that Juliana Stratton’s victory in Illinois means three Black women will serve in the Senate simultaneously for the first time. She will join Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware and Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland.

Democrats also won governorships with historic firsts. Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms became the first Black woman elected governor in the United States, winning in Georgia. Deb Haaland, a former interior secretary and member of the Laguna Pueblo, became the first Native American woman elected governor of a state after winning in New Mexico. Gina Hinojosa won the Texas governor’s race, The Guardian reported.

Other Democratic gubernatorial winners included Rob Sand in Iowa, Amy Acton in Ohio and Xavier Becerra in California. Al Jazeera reported that Becerra is the first Latino elected governor of California.

Republicans won two prominent Florida races. Senator Ashley Moody won a special election against Democrat Angie Nixon, while Trump-endorsed Byron Donalds defeated Democrat David Jolly to become the state’s first Black governor, The Guardian reported.