Democrats have won control of both houses of the US Congress in Tuesday’s midterm elections, according to projections by US media, taking a string of Senate seats in Republican strongholds halfway through President Donald Trump’s second term.
ABC News, CNN and CBS News projected that Democrats would win at least the 218 seats needed for a majority in the 435-member House of Representatives. Senior Democrats expect to reach at least 230 seats and possibly 240, though Republicans said such estimates were premature with counting still under way.
In the Senate, Democrat Josh Turek, a two-time Paralympic gold medallist in wheelchair basketball, defeated Republican Congresswoman Ashley Hinson in Iowa, taking his party to the 51 seats needed for a majority, NBC News projected. Iowa has not been represented by a Democrat in the Senate for more than a decade, and Trump won the state by double digits in 2024.
Greek-American Democrat Chris Pappas won the Senate race in New Hampshire.
Upsets in Republican strongholds
In Texas, Democrat James Talarico beat Republican Ken Paxton to become the state’s first Democratic senator since 1988, ending 38 years of Republican victories in Senate races there. Texas is the most populous state that traditionally votes Republican.
In Kansas, Democrat Adam Hamilton defeated Republican Senator Roger Marshall, who was backed by Trump, according to US media projections. Hamilton becomes the first Democrat elected to the Senate from Kansas in 94 years, in a state Trump won by more than 16 points in 2024 and where Marshall’s re-election had been considered almost certain at the start of the campaign.
In South Carolina, Democrat Annie Andrews beat Republican Darline Graham, NBC News projected, giving Democrats their first Senate win in the state since 1998.
In Illinois, Democrat Juliana Stratton’s election means that, for the first time, three Black women will serve in the Senate at the same time. She will join fellow Democrats Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware and Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland, whose seats were not up for election this year.
Earlier results showed Democrats winning in Virginia, Georgia, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Illinois, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Colorado and New Mexico, and leading in Ohio and Michigan.
Republicans held Senate seats in Florida, Kentucky, West Virginia, Oklahoma and Wyoming. Republican Senator Tom Cotton was projected to win re-election in Arkansas against Democrat Hallie Shoffner.
Trump’s reaction
Trump told the New York Times on Tuesday that he was willing to accept the results and would work with the Democrats. “We’ll probably work something out,” he said.
Later, as Republican losses mounted, he wrote on his Truth Social platform that he had not been on the ballot, adding: “If I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!” During the campaign, Trump had urged supporters to vote as if he were on the ballot.
A US official told the French news agency AFP that the White House appeared undaunted and was trying to clear Trump of any responsibility for the defeat. The official said Trump had not been on the ballot, that his voters turned out when he was, and that the “quality” of Republican candidates had not been what was wanted. Trump had himself played a significant part in choosing the party’s candidates.
Members of Trump’s cabinet, senior White House staff and political advisers gathered in the White House East Room to watch the results, and were later joined by Trump and Vice President JD Vance, according to a White House official and people familiar with the arrangements.
What changes
The House result opens the way for Democrat Hakeem Jeffries, 56, of New York, to become the first Black Speaker of the House. He would need to win a vote of the full House once the new Congress convenes on 3 January.
A House majority will allow Democrats to set the chamber’s legislative agenda, chair its committees and step up oversight of the Trump administration in the final two years of his presidency.
Congressman Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, responded to the House projections with a two-word post: “Lawyer up.” He is expected to launch a series of investigations into Trump, his family and the administration’s handling of the Epstein files.
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