Democrats win full control of Congress and a string of governorships in a sweeping 2026 midterm rebuke of Trump

Democrats won full control of Congress in the 2026 midterm elections, an outcome widely seen as a rebuke to President Trump and the Republican Party.

Democrats needed a net gain of four seats to take the Senate and won seven races that flipped from Republican to Democratic control, securing at least 53 seats in the 100-member chamber. They also won the House, returning the party to full control of Congress for the first time since 2023. The campaign was defined by voter frustration with the high cost of living, and the war in Iran was a factor, with Trump acknowledging it played a role in Republican losses.

Seven Senate seats flip to Democrats

Roy Cooper, the former governor of North Carolina, defeated Republican Michael Whatley, succeeding retiring Republican Thom Tillis. In Texas, James Talarico defeated Ken Paxton, making him the state’s first Democratic U.S. senator since 1988. Sherrod Brown defeated Republican incumbent Jon Husted in Ohio, returning to the Senate after a political comeback. In South Carolina, Annie Andrews, a paediatrician, defeated Darline Graham, the sister of the late longtime Senator Lindsey Graham, giving the state its first Democratic Senate win since 1998. Adam Hamilton, the Democratic pastor of a megachurch, defeated Senator Roger Marshall in Kansas, the first Democratic senator elected there since 1932. Josh Turek won in Iowa. And in Maine, Troy Jackson unseated Senator Susan Collins.

Jon Ossoff successfully defended his Senate seat in Georgia. In Mississippi, Scott Colom was leading Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith by 28 votes with 97% of ballots counted, a margin so thin the race remained too close to call. Colom would be Mississippi’s first Black senator since Reconstruction. Independent Ty Pinkins held just over two percent of the vote in that contest. In Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed was projected to win, up nearly 100,000 votes with 65% of the vote tallied, though no official call had been made.

House and governorships

In the House, Democrats secured at least three Florida districts that the state’s Republican legislature had redrawn to stymie Democratic candidates. Democratic candidates ousted four Republican incumbents in swing districts across Pennsylvania. In Iowa, Christina Bohannan unseated Mariannette Miller-Meeks in the first congressional district.

At the gubernatorial level, Gina Hinojosa unseated Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in Texas, becoming the state’s first Latina governor and ending more than three decades of Republican control of the office. Keisha Lance Bottoms won the Georgia governor’s race, becoming the first Black woman elected governor of a U.S. state. Amy Klobuchar won Minnesota’s governorship with over 55% of the vote, making her the first woman to serve as governor there. Wisconsin Democrats won a trifecta — governor, state Senate and state Assembly — for the first time since 2010.

Trump vows vetoes as power shifts

Trump said he would work with Democrats but would veto legislation he disagreed with. In an interview with the Pod Force One podcast published the day before the election, Trump said he would become Mr. Veto and suggested they would probably make deals at some point. He told Fox News the war on Iran played a role in Republican losses because voters probably weren’t ready for the short-term consequence of paying more for gasoline. On Truth Social, Trump distanced himself from the results, posting, “I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!”

The power shift carries immediate consequences for the remainder of Trump’s term. His Senate confirmation of judges will halt with Democratic control of the chamber, and any Cabinet nominees will need the support of at least a handful of Democrats to take their posts in a permanent capacity. Democrats have signaled potential investigations into the Justice Department, Homeland Security, and the business interests of the president and his family. Rep. Robert Garcia of California is expected to become chair of the House Oversight committee.

“From sea to shining sea, the American people have spoken and made clear they’ve had enough of the extremism, enough of the corruption,” said Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the New York Democrat poised to become the next Speaker.