Democrats win big in midterm elections

Updated November 03, 2026 at 23:11 PM ET

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In his pre-election blitz of rallies, President Trump repeatedly told his crowds: "Pretend I'm on the ballot." 

If that's what voters did in this year's midterm elections, the results thus far appear to be a rebuke of him and the party he has reshaped over more than a decade.

Thus far, Democrats have picked up two Senate seats - including a shocker in South Carolina - and a tightly contested governorship, and have even won multiple House seats that had been redrawn to favor Republicans.

And while key races have yet to be called, Democrats have managed to put up a fight even in places Trump won by double digits in 2024, signaling a changing of the guard in Washington, where Republicans have controlled the White House and Congress for nearly two years.

Key races

Democrats have flipped two Senate seats thus far. In deep-red South Carolina, where Democrat Annie Andrews ousted incumbent Republican Sen. Darline Graham, who this year took over the seat after the death of her brother, longtime Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham. 

The win represents a major upset for Democrats in a state that the president won by nearly 18 points in 2024.

In addition, North Carolina Democrat Roy Cooper has defeated Republican Michael Whatley in that state. Cooper, the former Democratic governor, was expected to win the race against the former RNC chairman and Trump ally.

Democrats need a net gain of four seats to take control of the Senate. Votes are still being counted in six Senate races considered to be toss-ups.

In the House, Democrats have also flipped at least three Republican seats, including in a tight race in Kentucky's 6th district. They also thus far have managed to win three House districts in Florida that Republicans in that state drew to be more favorable to their own party.

Democrats need a net gain of three seats to gain control of the House, but with many race results outstanding, it's not yet possible to definitively say Democrats will control the House.

Trump fares particularly badly on the economy. Roughly two-thirds of Americans said that Trump was to blame for higher-than-usual prices, according to a September AP-NORC poll.

And while presidents generally can neither be directly blamed or credited for the economy's performance, many higher prices are directly affected by Trump's policies – including tariffs and a war in Iran that made gas, diesel, and fertilizer more expensive.

However, the president insisted late Tuesday night that Republicans lost not because of him but in spite of him. As results rolled in, he posted on social media, "I wasn't on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE! Thank you for your attention to this matter."

Democrats have flipped two Senate seats thus far tonight. One is in deep-red South Carolina, where Democrat Annie Andrews ousted incumbent Republican Sen. Darline Graham, who this year took over the seat after the death of her brother, longtime Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham. 

The win represents a major upset for Democrats in a state that the president won by nearly 18 points in 2024.

In addition, North Carolina Democrat Roy Cooper has defeated Republican Michael Whatley in that state. Cooper, the former Democratic governor, was expected to win the race against the former RNC chairman and Trump ally.

People cast their ballots at the Metro Headquarters polling station in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

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Etienne Laurent/AFP via Getty Images

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Ballots to be counted

While it may become clear tonight which party will soon control the House or even the Senate, it may still be days or even weeks until all races are called. In Alaska in 2024, it took 15 days to call a statewide House race.

Alaska's tight Senate race is already in the national spotlight after Trump's Department of Justice filed a lawsuit to block the certification of results there if the Republican incumbent loses, saying voters could be confused by two Dan Sullivans on the ranked-choice ballot (one is the incumbent, and one is not affiliated with a party). A federal judge threw out that lawsuit last week, though the DOJ has said it plans to appeal.

Trump has been sowing election distrust for months.

Republicans pushed that narrative Tuesday, after there were problems with the ballot scanners in Westchester County, N.Y. (Election officials plan to scan voters' paper ballots later.)

Ballots are counted at the Los Angeles County Ballot Processing Center in City of Industry, Calif., on Tuesday.

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William Liang

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AP

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Katie Miller, a conservative podcaster and the wife of White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, posted on social media: "This is how the left steals elections." And Claudia Tenney, a Republican member of Congress from New York, posted: "The Democrats in NY will do anything and everything to cheat."

However, Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, who represents part of Westchester County, told CNN that "There's no shenanigans going on here."

—Domenico Montanaro and Miles Parks contributed to this report.

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