Democrats Take Back House and Senate as Trump Approval Falls
James Talarico wins Texas Senate race, and Keisha Lance Bottoms becomes the first Black woman governor in U.S. history.
By Tessa Cooper ·
Democrats secured control of both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate in the 2026 midterm elections held Tuesday. CNN projected the Senate flip at 11:35 p.m. ET, citing a tally of at least 51 seats for the Democratic Party. NewsNation had predicted the same outcome about 15 minutes earlier. The House victory was first called by MS NOW just before 10 p.m. ET, followed shortly by CNN, NBC News, and CBS News. The Associated Press had not yet called either chamber at the time of reporting.
The decisive result in the Texas Senate race marked a major shift in the country’s political balance. Former state representative James Talarico, a Democrat, was projected to win the seat against Ken Paxton, the state’s Republican attorney general. This contest became the most expensive U.S. Senate campaign in history, with an estimated $573.2 million spent on political ads. Elon Musk contributed an estimated $168 million of that total to support Paxton, according to CNN data.
In his victory speech, Talarico declared that his win proved financial power could not overcome the will of voters. "We just took back Texas," Talarico said. "We just proved that all the money in the world is no match for the people of Texas. … And we just sent a message to every billionaire megadonor, every trillionaire megadonor, every corrupt defender of this broken political system: In this state, in this country, power belongs to the people."
Other key Senate races saw strong Democratic performances. Roy Cooper defeated Michael Whatley in North Carolina, and Annie Andrews beat Darline Graham in South Carolina. Adam Hamilton won in Kansas, becoming the state’s first Democratic senator in nearly 90 years. In Ohio, Sherrod Brown defeated Republican incumbent Jon Husted, while Josh Turek, a Democratic state representative, won Iowa’s open seat against Rep. Ashley Hinson. Troy Jackson also defeated Republican incumbent Susan Collins in Maine.
The race in Michigan between Dr. Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers remained too close to call. Meanwhile, political observers described the results as a broad rejection of the current administration. Van Jones, a CNN political commentator and former Obama adviser, called the outcome the repudiation of Trumpism that voters had hoped for. Rachel Maddow of MS NOW described the House win as a seismic change in Washington.
With the Democratic Party retaking the House, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York’s 8th District is in line to become Speaker. Jeffries, who currently serves as House minority leader, won reelection on Tuesday night. The shift in power aligns with a sharp drop in President Donald Trump’s approval ratings throughout the year. As of Nov. 3, just 37% of U.S. voters approved of Trump, near his lowest level ever of 36% recorded two weeks prior, according to a New York Times analysis of multiple polls.
Trump had stumped for Republican candidates at rallies across the country in recent weeks. On Tuesday evening, he posted on his Truth Social platform that he was not on the ballot and that he would have won in a landslide if he had been. He also placed responsibility for the losses on Fox News, claiming the network consistently featured the opposition. Trump told the New York Times that he was absolutely willing to accept the results and that he looked forward to working with the Democrats.
In gubernatorial races, Democrats achieved notable victories. Keisha Lance Bottoms won the Georgia race, becoming the first Black woman governor in the United States. Amy Acton defeated former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy in Ohio. In Texas, Gina Hinojosa beat incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott.
