Democrats Deliver Political Shock, Seize Control of US Congress in Major Blow to Trump

Democrats have taken control of both the Senate and House of Representatives following sweeping victories on Tuesday, defeating Republicans in several strongholds for the first time in generations, as millions of voters delivered a strong rebuke to President Donald Trump.

Voters in traditionally conservative areas, which had supported Trump’s return to office two years ago, shifted significantly towards the Democrats. The change was driven by widespread frustration over the unpopular war with Iran, concerns about the rising cost of living and dissatisfaction with Trump’s leadership.

Kansas elected its first Democratic senator since the Great Depression nearly a century ago. In South Carolina, a state Trump won by almost 18 percentage points in 2024, Democrats defeated his preferred Senate candidate.
In Texas, the largest Republican state, Democrats ended a decades-long losing streak in a historic victory, securing a Senate seat and defeating three-term Governor Greg Abbott.

The results are expected to usher in a new era of divided government in Washington after two years during which the Republican-controlled Congress rarely used its powers to check Trump’s administration.

Once seated in January, Democrats are expected to use their majority to investigate Trump’s administration, family and associates while demanding concessions on major legislation. The Democratic-controlled Senate will also have the power to block Trump’s nominees, including potential US Supreme Court justices if a vacancy emerges.
“There is now a generational remake of the Senate map that is going to change America,” said Chuck Schumer, the party’s Senate minority leader.
“Americans voted for change, and now Democrats must deliver.”

Trump, who is constitutionally barred from seeking a third presidential term, has maintained a firm grip on the Republican Party for most of the past decade. However, the new political balance in Washington could accelerate his lame-duck status as attention shifts towards the 2028 presidential election and potential successors begin positioning themselves for influence in a post-Trump political era.

Despite concerns among Democrats that Trump might attempt to overturn the election results, as he did in 2020, the president accepted the outcome and congratulated Democrats during an interview with Fox News.

He also expressed willingness to work with Democrats on issues such as immigration but warned that he would veto any “insane” bills they introduced.
Democrats centred their campaign on corruption and affordability, blaming Trump’s tariff policies and the war with Iran for increasing living costs. They also highlighted the billions of dollars the Trump family has reportedly made since his return to the White House.
Republicans, led by Trump, focused their attacks on cultural issues, including transgender rights, while portraying Democrats as radical and extreme. However, opinion polls consistently indicated that voters were more concerned about economic and household financial issues.

The Democratic wave swept across large parts of the country. According to vote tallies compiled by Reuters and USA Today, Republicans lost ground in all but a handful of the approximately 1,700 counties where most votes had been counted on Tuesday night.

Democrats recorded gains in both wealthy and poor counties, as well as areas with high and low levels of college education. Their progress was particularly significant in heavily Latino counties, including Texas border communities that had shifted towards Trump in 2024 and agricultural towns across the Kansas prairie.

In Seward County, Kansas, home to one of America’s largest beef-processing plants, where approximately half of eligible voters are Hispanic, Democrat Adam Hamilton led incumbent Republican Senator Roger Marshall by 13 percentage points. This was a dramatic shift from two years earlier, when Trump won the county by 39 points.

Democrats also secured victories in all 20 of the closely contested House races decided so far. Meanwhile, an unprecedented Republican effort to redraw several congressional districts to improve their electoral prospects largely failed, with Democrats retaining most of the targeted seats.

Midterm elections are traditionally viewed as a referendum on the sitting president, and Trump did little to change that perception. During the final weeks of the campaign, he held dozens of rallies and repeatedly urged supporters to “pretend I’m on the ballot.”

He also intervened in several contests to ensure his preferred candidates secured nominations, despite concerns among some Republicans that those candidates had significant political weaknesses.

In Texas, Trump supported scandal-hit state Attorney General Ken Paxton against incumbent Senator John Cornyn. In South Carolina, the president endorsed Darline Graham, a political newcomer, following the sudden death of her brother, Senator Lindsey Graham, earlier this year. Both candidates lost.
Even Republican candidates who attempted to distance themselves from Trump could not escape voters’ dissatisfaction.

In Maine, incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins saw her 30-year Senate career come to an end on Tuesday, despite emphasising her willingness to disagree with the president during the campaign.

Progressive Democrat Abdul El-Sayed won Michigan’s open Senate seat, becoming the first Muslim elected to the chamber. He defeated Mike Rogers, a former congressman and FBI agent who had Trump’s backing and sought to falsely portray El-Sayed, an Egyptian-American born in Michigan, as a religious extremist.

“You chose hate, and Michigan chose hope,” El-Sayed told cheering supporters on Tuesday night, referring to Rogers.
Meanwhile, competitive Senate races in Mississippi and Alaska had yet to be called early Wednesday.

As it became increasingly clear on Tuesday night that Republicans were at risk of losing their congressional majorities, Trump took to social media to insist that his absence from the ballot was responsible for the outcome.
“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,” he wrote.

According to exit polls conducted by SSRS on behalf of a consortium of US media organisations, including major television networks and the Associated Press, half of voters nationwide said they viewed the 2026 midterm elections as an opportunity to rebuke the president.

The polls also showed that three-quarters of voters were either “angry” or “dissatisfied” with the direction of the country, while 70 per cent wanted Congress to provide stronger checks and balances on the president.

“In sweeping and decisive victories, the American people have rebuked the depravity, corruption and incompetence of the man named President Donald J. Trump,” incumbent Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia told supporters at a victory celebration.

The election night also produced several historic firsts for both political parties.

In Georgia, Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms became the first Black woman elected governor of any US state, while Byron Donalds won Florida’s gubernatorial race, becoming the first Black Republican governor in the United States.

Democrat Gina Hinojosa is set to become the first Latina governor of Texas, while Democrat Xavier Becerra will become California’s first Latino governor.

Reuters