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Democrats secured control of the Senate with 53 seats and the House with at least 215 seats following the November 3, 2026 midterm elections, according to projections compiled by The Economist from Associated Press data. The party flipped at least seven Senate seats in states that had backed Republican candidates in recent cycles, including Texas, Ohio, Kansas, Iowa, South Carolina and North Carolina. CNN’s analysis of House district results identified swings toward Democrats of 20 to 40 percentage points in numerous districts that former President Donald Trump carried by double digits in 2024, contributing to a net gain exceeding 25 House seats.
A Washington Post tracker of county-level voting patterns found that counties in nearly every state moved away from Trump’s 2024 margins, with particularly pronounced shifts in rural areas of the Midwest and South. In Texas, Democrat James Talarico defeated Republican Ken Paxton in the Senate race while Gina Hinojosa ousted Governor Greg Abbott, delivering the state’s first Democratic statewide wins in more than 30 years, Reuters reported. These outcomes in traditionally conservative territory underscored the breadth of the Democratic gains mapped across multiple news outlets.
CNN’s preliminary voter poll showed that roughly six in 10 voters disapproved of President Donald Trump’s job performance, while three-quarters described themselves as dissatisfied or angry with the state of the country. About nine in 10 respondents identified the cost of living as a crucial or major factor in their vote, with the economy ranking as the top issue followed by concerns over democracy. The poll indicated that only one in five voters cast their ballot explicitly in support of Trump, with many others saying they voted in opposition to him or that he was not a factor.
Early voting data compiled by CNN prior to Election Day had already signaled a Democratic edge in several battleground states, with Democrats comprising a higher share of ballot requests than in 2024 in Iowa, Pennsylvania and North Carolina. More than 59 million Americans had voted early, surpassing 2022 midterm levels, according to an Associated Press analysis that attributed smoother Election Day operations in many areas to the heavy advance participation. A limited number of disruptions occurred, primarily from weather in the Southwest and isolated voting machine issues, the AP reported.
The scale of the Democratic victories exceeded pre-election expectations in several deep-red states, WIRED noted in its coverage of the results. Democrats held seats that Republicans had attempted to fortify through redistricting in Florida and North Carolina while flipping additional districts, according to CNN maps comparing 2026 House outcomes against 2024 presidential results. Political scientists cited in Reuters coverage observed that the Republican strategy of expanding the map had left more seats vulnerable when voter sentiment turned against the party in power.
Exit polls and county analyses continued to fill in details of the night’s shifts well into November 4, with The Economist updating its interactive results as additional races were called. President Trump acknowledged the outcome in remarks to Fox News, stating that Democrats had done a good job while citing external factors such as an Iran conflict and fuel prices as contributors to the Republican losses, according to the BBC. The new congressional majorities will shape the final two years of Trump’s term, multiple outlets reported based on the certified tallies and projections.
