Democrats win control of Congress, reshaping Trump's final two years

Explainer

Democrats have won control of both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives in the midterm elections, delivering a decisive rebuke of Republican governance. The results will deeply reshape President Donald Trump's final two years in office and hamstring his legislative agenda. Party leaders have signaled they will use their new power to launch investigations of top members of his administration. The victories included stunning Senate wins in Texas and South Carolina, states that have not elected a Democrat to the Senate in decades.

Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer called the results a "generational remake of the Senate map." In celebratory remarks, he said the results were a victory against all odds. Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries said "the American people are crying out for transformational change." The election laid bare voters' deep frustrations over high prices, the Iran war and concerns over government corruption.

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Which Senate seats did Democrats flip?

Democrats routed Republicans across the map, flipping states that have voted Republican for decades. James Talarico won a Senate victory in Texas, where no Democrat had won statewide office in more than 30 years. Annie Andrews scored an upset victory over Sen. Darline Graham in South Carolina, a state that had not elected a Democratic senator in 38 years. In Kansas, Adam Hamilton ousted Sen. Roger Marshall to become the state's first Democratic senator since 1932.

Other surprising Democratic victories included Sherrod Brown topping Sen. Jon Husted in Ohio and Roy Cooper taking an open North Carolina seat. In Michigan, progressive Abdul El-Sayed defeated Republican Mike Rogers. Even Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine lost to Democrat Troy Jackson. Democrats also held seats considered vulnerable, with Jon Ossoff winning reelection in Georgia and Chris Pappas winning a Senate race in New Hampshire.

How will Democratic control affect Trump?

Democratic control of Congress will give the party powerful new leverage over Trump for the remainder of his presidency. They will have the ability to hold up not just his legislative agenda, but also any appointments he makes to his cabinet or the federal judiciary. Party leaders have signaled they will ensure Trump's final two years are dominated by investigations of top members of his administration and deeper scrutiny of how he has enriched his family. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and tech titan Elon Musk, a former top Trump adviser, are among possible targets for investigations. Impeachment of Trump and his Cabinet officials is not off the table. Schumer said Democrats would focus on issues like costs, chaos and corruption. He said he hoped Republicans would learn to listen to the American people.

What role did Trump play in the results?

Trump played an outsized role in many of the races, and his meddling in Republican primaries appeared to backfire. He endorsed the scandal-plagued Ken Paxton in Texas, helping him defeat incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in the primary, which gave Democrats an opening. He backed Darline Graham in South Carolina despite doubts within the party about her candidacy. He also sharply criticized North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, who opted not to seek reelection.

Trump spent nearly every day of the last month holding rallies to energize his supporters but was unable to stop a wipeout. He immediately sought to shift blame for his party's losses, posting on his social media site that he wasn't on the ballot. "I wasn't on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!" Trump wrote. In a late-night phone interview with Fox News, Trump said he didn't consider the elections a personal defeat, claiming voters "didn't like the candidates."

What was the mood of the electorate?

Voters were sour heading into Election Day, deeply unhappy with the country's direction and pessimistic about the future, according to The AP Voter Poll. Most said they felt frustrated, with about three-quarters saying they felt "angry" or "dissatisfied" with the country's current trajectory. The results marked a fundamental unraveling of the coalition that returned Trump to the White House two years ago, with young people and Latinos moving away from Republicans. Only about one-third of Hispanic voters said they backed the Republican in their local U.S. House races. Trump's approval ratings slumped over time, particularly on his handling of the economy and immigration. His decision to attack Iran and send federal agents to conduct immigration raids, which resulted in the killings of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis, further alienated voters. Republicans had originally expected their Senate majority was safe, but Democrats marched through some of the most conservative states in the nation.

What happens next?

One outstanding Senate battleground is Alaska, where the Trump administration filed a lawsuit to block certification of Senate results if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan loses the race. Mississippi's Senate race remained too early to call. Republicans now have less than two months remaining with unified control of government, and there has been speculation they could quickly try to confirm a new conservative appointment to the Supreme Court if a justice retires. Despite the results, Senate Majority Leader John Thune wrote on X that "Senate Republicans will not stand idly by as the far-left, socialist wing of the Democrat Party attempts to unwind everything we've done." He said they will work with Trump "to stop the worst impulses of Democrat extremism." The new Congress will be seated in January, giving Democrats their first period of full control since 2022.

With files from CityNews, Global News and The Guardian