Democrats Win Senate and House in Midterms, Flipping Seats in Texas, Kansas and South Carolina

Democrats won control of the U.S. Senate and were projected to win the House on Tuesday, Nov. 3, ending two years of unified Republican control in Washington. Counting was still underway Wednesday morning, Nov. 4.

The new Congress convenes in January.

The Senate

Democrats flipped Senate seats in Iowa, Kansas, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas. The New York Times, citing the Associated Press, also lists Maine, where Republican Sen. Susan Collins conceded to Democrat Troy Jackson.

Several of those states had been out of Democratic reach for a long time. CNN notes Kansas had not elected a Democratic senator since the 1930s. The South Carolina seat had been Republican since Strom Thurmond switched parties in the 1960s.

In Texas, state Sen. James Talarico beat Attorney General Ken Paxton, whom Trump had backed for the nomination. "We just took back Texas," Talarico told supporters Tuesday night.

In South Carolina, Dr. Annie Andrews defeated Sen. Darline Graham, sister of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham. In Kansas, pastor Adam Hamilton, a registered Republican until this year, ousted Sen. Roger Marshall. In Iowa, state Rep. Josh Turek, a former Paralympian, beat Rep. Ashley Hinson.

Sen. Jon Ossoff held his Georgia seat, easily beating Rep. Mike Collins. Dr. Abdul El-Sayed won in Michigan and becomes the first Muslim elected to the Senate, the Times reports.

Alaska is still being counted. In Mississippi, fewer than 50 votes separated the two candidates as Wednesday began.

The House

NBC News and Decision Desk HQ projected Democrats will flip the House, gaining more than 30 seats. The outgoing chamber had 218 Republicans, 214 Democrats, one independent (Kevin Kiley of California, who caucuses with Republicans) and two vacancies.

National Review put Democrats at 208 House seats early Wednesday, short of the 218 needed for a majority. The final margin is not yet known.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader expected to become speaker, posted: "Victory for America!"

In Virginia, preliminary results show Democrat Shannon Taylor leading Rep. Rob Wittman 50.48% to 49.28%. Former Rep. Elaine Luria led Rep. Jennifer Kiggans 52.11% to 45.53% with all eight localities reporting.

Redistricting did not save the House

Trump pushed a mid-decade redistricting campaign to protect the House majority. Texas drew five districts more favorable to Republicans. California answered with five more favorable to Democrats.

Virginia's attempt to add Democratic seats was rejected by the state supreme court. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Missouri's new map more than once. Louisiana and Tennessee passed maps that each removed a majority-Black district.

Republicans still lost ground in redrawn territory. The Times reports Democrats won districts in Florida that Republicans had redrawn and flipped a North Carolina seat that was part of the GOP map effort. Before the election, Cook Political Report had rated Texas' 9th District likely Republican and the 34th lean Democratic. The Texas House results were not yet in the reporting available Wednesday morning.

How big was it?

The Times estimates the national House vote margin at about 13 percentage points. By its estimate that is the largest for either party in a congressional election in at least half a century. The paper reports gains for Democrats among young voters and Hispanic voters, and inroads with voters without college degrees.

National Review attributed the losses to voter anger over tariffs, the war in Iran and the cost of living. It points to high diesel prices and farm input costs in Iowa. It also says weak nominees hurt, naming Paxton and Graham.

Blame is already moving inside the GOP. Fox News reports that Trump, candidate quality and Sen. Tim Scott, who runs the Senate Republican campaign arm, are all under scrutiny.

Not every loss was a bad nominee. National Review notes that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who won in 2022 by double digits, lost his race to Democrat Gina Hinojosa. CNN reports Republican Vivek Ramaswamy also lost the Ohio governor's race.

Trump's response

Trump had urged supporters to vote as if he were on the ballot. He has given two different reactions.

On Truth Social late Tuesday he wrote: "I wasn't on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!" He also blamed Abbott, saying: "If Greg Abbott, the Governor of Texas, hadn't become a RINO in the last six months of his Political Life, he wouldn't have lost."

Trump told The New York Times he is "absolutely willing to accept those results" and is prepared to work with Democrats. On Fox News' election broadcast he said he was surprised by the outcome and noted he holds the veto.

The GOP does have one fair point. Midterms have historically gone against the president's party, as National Review acknowledges. Republicans expected a rough night. The dispute is over scale, and the 13-point margin estimate is far beyond ordinary midterm drift.

What comes next

The immediate open questions are the Alaska and Mississippi Senate counts and the final House seat total.

Trump warned Republicans over the past year that impeachment and investigations could follow if they lost the House. Democratic leaders have not said in these accounts whether they will pursue either. They take control in January with Trump's veto standing between them and any legislation he opposes.