Democrats win Congress as Republicans lose Senate seats in red states

Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress on Tuesday, flipping seven Senate seats and more than two dozen House seats in a midterm election that also expanded their ranks of governors. Their victories reached into states that had long elected Republicans, including Texas, Kansas and South Carolina.

The Associated Press declared before midnight that Democrats would control the Senate, according to The Guardian. Less than two hours later, they secured the House. The results give Democrats the power to challenge President Donald Trump’s agenda, though they will not have a filibuster-proof Senate majority, NPR reported.

In Texas, Democrat James Talarico defeated Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton in a Senate race that ended a 38-year Republican hold on the seat. Talarico won by roughly 12 percentage points, or 1.1 million votes, according to NPR. Democrats also won the governorship with Gina Hinojosa, who prevailed by seven points, or nearly 700,000 votes. NPR reported that the party flipped two Texas congressional districts Trump had carried by at least 14 points in 2024, and won races for lieutenant governor, attorney general and railroad commissioner. Republicans spent more than $413 million on the state’s Senate race, NPR reported.

The Guardian reported that Adam Hamilton defeated Republican Sen. Roger Marshall in Kansas, giving Democrats their first Senate victory in the state in 94 years. In South Carolina, Dr. Annie Andrews defeated Darline Graham, the sister of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, to become the first Democrat to win a Senate seat there in nearly 30 years. The Guardian also reported Democratic Senate wins in Iowa and North Carolina, states that had not elected a Democrat to the chamber since 2008. In Michigan, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed won a closely watched race, the outlet reported.

The results followed months of weak ratings for Trump. His approval fell from 48% to as low as 36% in an average of polls after the Iran war, according to NPR. A voter poll commissioned by broadcast networks and the Associated Press found that 62% of voters disapproved of his performance. Three-quarters said they were angry or dissatisfied with the country’s direction, and two-thirds said his policies had worsened economic conditions.

Immigration enforcement also drew opposition. NPR reported that roughly 60% of respondents disapproved of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, including 68% of Hispanic respondents. The outlet said Latino voters had moved away from Republicans after Trump lost the group by just five points in the 2024 presidential election.

Trump had urged supporters to vote as if he were on the ballot, The Guardian reported. After the losses, he wrote: “I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!” He told The New York Times he was “absolutely willing” to accept the results.

Democrats now face expectations to deliver. Sen. Chuck Schumer promised that “relief is on the way,” NPR reported. But the same voter poll found that Democrats, while viewed more favorably than Republicans, still had a 53% unfavorable rating. Shortly before midnight, Trump posted an image of a red hat bearing the word “VETO.”