Democrats Take Control of House and Senate in 2026 Midterm Elections

Democrats secured control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate in the 2026 midterm elections held on November 3, according to projections from NBC News, ABC News, Decision Desk HQ, and other outlets as counting continued into November 4.

The outcome delivers a clear check on President Donald Trump midway through his second term. Democrats needed to flip four Senate seats to claim the majority and achieved at least six, with several more races still outstanding. The party also crossed the 218-seat threshold in the House of Representatives.

Key Senate flips included Texas, where Democrat James Talarico defeated Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton by a substantial margin. In Ohio, Sherrod Brown beat Senator Jon Husted. Annie Andrews won South Carolina against Darline Graham, sister of the late Lindsey Graham. Roy Cooper took the open North Carolina seat from Republican Michael Whatley. Adam Hamilton unseated Roger Marshall in Kansas, a state that last elected a Democrat to the Senate nearly a century ago. Josh Turek defeated Representative Ashley Hinson in Iowa. Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff held his Georgia seat against Mike Collins, and Chris Pappas won in New Hampshire.

House gains for Democrats included the defeat of Republican Tom Kean in New Jersey and losses for Ryan Mackenzie, Scott Perry, and Rob Bresnahan in Pennsylvania. Open seats in North Carolina and Kentucky also went Democratic. With roughly 320 of 435 House seats called early on November 4, Democrats held a clear path to the majority.

Voters listed the cost of living, the war in Iran, and questions about the administration’s handling of federal agencies as top concerns. Exit polls and surveys conducted in the days before Election Day showed dissatisfaction with prices for food, fuel, and housing. Trump, in a phone call with Fox News on Election Day, said Democrats “did a good job” and added that he was “a little surprised” by the scale of the results. He also announced that the United States would stop providing roughly $4 billion in annual aid to Israel after the end of 2026, stating that Israel no longer needed the assistance and that the payments had become a political talking point.

The midterms included races for 35 Senate seats, all 435 House seats, and 39 governorships. Democratic wins in gubernatorial contests included Georgia, where Keisha Lance Bottoms defeated the Republican candidate, and other states that had been held by Republicans. Early voting numbers were high across the country. Officials reported isolated problems with voting machines in a few districts, but no widespread disruptions that altered the overall count.

Control of Congress gives Democrats the ability to set the legislative calendar, hold hearings, and block or reshape administration proposals for the next two years. Hakeem Jeffries of New York is expected to become Speaker of the House when the new Congress convenes in January 2027. The Senate majority will allow Democrats to confirm or reject nominees and advance their own bills, though the filibuster remains in place for most legislation.

Outstanding Senate races as of the morning of November 4 included Michigan, Maine, and Alaska. Additional House seats remained uncalled, particularly in Western and Midwestern districts where mail ballots were still being processed. The final margin in both chambers will determine how much room Democrats have to advance priorities without Republican support.

The results end a period of unified Republican control of the White House and both houses of Congress that began after the 2024 elections. For the remainder of Trump’s term, any major legislative initiative will require Democratic cooperation or face procedural obstacles in both chambers.