Democrats win House and Senate majorities in sweeping midterm wave

Democrats won control of both the Senate and the House in the 2026 midterm elections, a result that marks a sharp rebuke to President Donald Trump and the Republican Party. Analysts say the House majority could be the largest for Democrats in nearly two decades, and the margins in several races went well beyond what many forecasts had projected.

The scale of the Democratic gains was most visible in Texas, a state Trump carried by double digits just two years earlier. Democrat James Talarico defeated Attorney General Ken Paxton in the Senate race, while Gina Hinojosa unseated Gov. Greg Abbott. A Fox News poll in October had shown the Talarico-Paxton contest nearly tied, and the Cook Political Report had rated the Senate race a toss-up with an advantage for Republicans. As of early Wednesday morning, Talarico held 53.9% of the vote to Paxton's 44.2%, a gap of 9.7 points. Hinojosa was ranked a lean Republican race by Cook but won by a margin of nearly 7 points by 3 a.m. Wednesday, according to the reporting.

The results followed a campaign in which Trump launched a series of rallies in the final weeks of the cycle to mobilize Republican voters. The effort did not stop the losses. A Fox News poll found Trump's approval at 36%, and 74% of voters rated the economy negatively, reflecting broad dissatisfaction that Democrats were able to convert into votes. Democrats also won Senate races in Kansas and South Carolina, states Trump had carried, and other upsets rippled across the map.

Trump himself acknowledged that the Iran war had contributed to Republican midterm losses, while maintaining that the military action was necessary. He also pledged to veto what he described as 'insane' Democratic bills. In Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed delivered a significant blow to the GOP after a bruising Senate race, and in Maine a fifth-generation logger defeated a Republican senator who had held the seat for about 30 years. In Florida, Byron Donalds was set to become the state's first Black governor, a historic milestone for the state.

Reaction across the political spectrum was swift. Conservatives described 2026 as a catastrophic year for the party, while commentators on the left framed the results as the end of the Trump era. Hillary Clinton warned that Democrats could squander the victory if they failed to act on it. Financial markets also reacted, with U.S. stock futures mixed as Democrats scored key election wins. The outcome sets up the remainder of Trump's term and the path toward the 2028 presidential election.

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Caroline Mercer

World News Correspondent

Caroline Mercer covers public affairs, politics, business, culture and daily news for Core Memo. The role focuses on verification, context, and clear explanations for readers.

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