Democrats take Congress, win sweeping victories on GOP turf

Waco, Texas; Detroit, West Bloomfield, and Dearborn Heights, Mich.; Kennebunk and Lebanon, Maine; and Bluffton, S.C. | Nov. 04, 2026, 1:28 a.m. ET | 9 min read A big blue wave lifted Democrats to victory across the nation on Tuesday night, delivering a decisive blow to Republicans in Congress and to President Donald Trump’s room for maneuver for the remainder of his term. Democrats picked up seats in swing states and districts – and in deep-red places that hadn’t been seen as competitive at all. They won control of the Senate and were on track to win a decisive majority in the House, the first time both chambers were flipped in a midterm election since 2006.The combination of an unpopular second-term president and an economy in which inflation is outstripping wages was always going to be an uphill battle for Republicans, who were defending a three-seat margin in the House. But few expected the GOP and its deep-pocketed donors to lose solidly red districts that had gone for Mr. Trump by double digits just two years earlier. Or Senate seats in states such as South Carolina, Kansas, and Texas.Broad antipathy to the party in power wasn’t necessarily a sign of enthusiasm for Democrats, though. Some swing voters who switched sides said they viewed the Democrats as the lesser of two evils. In exit polls, Democrats polled only five points higher on favorability than Republicans; neither party cleared the 50% bar. But on a night when 62% of voters said they disapproved of President Trump, Democrats were the clear beneficiary. To some party officials, it’s an opening they can’t waste. Democrats have a “massive opportunity to pick up disaffected Republican and independent voters who feel like they were lied to – but we have to deliver,” Mallory McMorrow, a state senator in Michigan who lost in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate, told reporters Tuesday night. She added: “People feel like the system is corrupt, and they’re going to want to see that Democrats are different.”For many voters, the cost of living was top of mind. On Election Day, gas prices averaged more than $4 per gallon, while diesel – a pressure point in rural America – was more than $6 per gallon. The costs of groceries, utilities, and other daily expenses were a yoke around the necks of Republican candidates who tried to pivot to other issues during the campaign but found little purchase among voters who blamed the party in power for their economic stresses. Patrik Jonsson/The Christian Science MonitorDhiresh Karkera, who works in real estate, talks about his decision to vote straight Democrat after voting straight Republican two years ago, outside his polling place in Bluffton, South Carolina, Nov. 3, 2026. “I think the biggest thing for me was the economy,” says Dhiresh Karkera, a business owner in Bluffton, South Carolina. “Everything is very expensive, and it’s hard to make ends meet.”Mr. Karkera, a registered Republican, decided to vote Democratic. “Last time I voted Republican all the way down, and that didn’t work out. This time I voted Democrat. So we’ll see,” he says.It’s the economyDuring the campaign, Republicans argued that the economy was robust and that a major tax-and-spending bill passed last year was stoking job-creating investments. Some supporters said the president just needed more time. “I think that two years is not long enough to decide what’s gonna happen. You know, things are expensive now because of certain events, but I feel like those events will calm down after this election,” says Tim Clark, a Republican who voted in Lebanon, Maine, on Tuesday. The biggest sector attracting investment, however, has been artificial intelligence companies and the data centers that serve them. Public opposition to data centers and to AI as a potential job destroyer was one of the sleeper issues this cycle, forcing candidates to backtrack on past support for the facilities. Measures to limit or stop data center construction were on the ballot in several states.Still, the tallest hurdle for Republicans, and a motif of virtually every Democratic ad, was Mr. Trump and his low approval ratings. Midterms typically serve as a referendum on the party in the White House, and a clear majority of independent voters told pollsters they disapproved of the job the president was doing. Exit polls suggested broad dissatisfaction with the economy. Charlie Riedel/APPresident Donald Trump greets incumbent Republican Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas at a campaign rally in Salina, Kansas, Nov. 1, 2026. Sen. Marshall was defeated by Democrat Adam Hamilton on election night. During the run-up to Election Day, Mr. Trump told supporters to imagine that he was on the ballot and to vote accordingly. He held multiple rallies in mostly Republican-leaning states, a strategy that might have lifted turnout among some voters but also put a spotlight on an undisciplined president who made off-topic remarks about male politicians’ physical appearances and claimed that concerns over affordability were a “hoax.”In exit polls released Tuesday, 62% of voters said that Mr. Trump prioritized his own interests, while only 38% said he prioritized the country’s interests. Nearly two-thirds of respondents said his policies worsened the country’s economic conditions.Late Tuesday, the president posted on Truth Social: “I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!” In an interview with The New York Times, he said he would accept the election results and that he would work with Democrats.On top of launching an ill-fated and inflationary war in Iran, Mr. Trump added to the GOP’s midterm woes by handpicking a number of candidates whose flaws proved difficult to overcome. Among them was Ken Paxton, the GOP nominee for U.S. Senate in Texas. Mr. Trump deemed the incumbent, Republican Sen. John Cornyn, insufficiently loyal, and he backed Mr. Paxton in the primary. That set up a tight general election against Democrat James Talarico, a breakout star on the left, forcing Republicans to spend millions of dollars trying to defend Mr. Paxton’s scandal-tainted candidacy. Eric Gay/APGubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa, left, and U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico greet supporters at a campaign rally in Austin, Texas, Nov. 2, 2026. Both Ms. Hinojosa and Mr. Talarico won their races on Tuesday, becoming the first Democrats to win statewide office in Texas since 1994. Richard Aviles, who handles drones for Amazon in Waco, Texas, said Mr. Talarico was the first Democrat he had ever voted for. He criticized Mr. Paxton, Texas’ attorney general, over a plea deal he offered to an accused child sex offender in Waco. “If he [Paxton] loses, it’s because of what he did,” said Mr. Aviles, who said he believed Mr. Trump was doing a good job.Jane Carter, a healthcare worker in Waco, said prices are too high and that the president, whom she voted for, wasn’t helping. “Building a ballroom while people can’t eat is the most offensive thing I’ve heard of,” she said. This year, she voted on “her moral compass” for change in Texas, which hadn’t elected a statewide Democrat since 1994. “If we have to turn blue for people to get scared, then so be it.”Texas wasn’t the only red state where Republicans unexpectedly had to play defense for nominees after being strong-armed by Mr. Trump.In South Carolina, Mr. Trump swooped in after the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham to back Mr. Graham’s sister, Darline Graham, as his interim replacement and then encouraged her to run for a full term against Democrat Annie Andrews. Some Republicans griped that Ms. Graham, a political novice, was unqualified and that the president had blocked rising GOP talents in the state. Yuki Iwamura/APVoters cast their ballots at the Brooklyn Museum in New York, Nov. 3, 2026. Republicans essentially gave up months ago on holding the Senate seat in neighboring North Carolina, where Mr. Trump’s handpicked nominee, Michael Whatley, lost by a wide margin to Democratic former Gov. Roy Cooper. The seat became vacant after Republican Sen. Thom Tillis opted not to seek reelection after clashing with the president.Running from TrumpIn other states, GOP candidates tried to distance themselves from Mr. Trump by criticizing administration policies, including tariffs on Canada that had a big impact in places with key Senate races, including Michigan, Minnesota, and Maine. Others called for an end to the war with Iran.In Maine, Sen. Susan Collins faced a stiff challenge from Troy Jackson, a former Democratic state senate leader. Late Tuesday night, news outlets reported that Ms. Collins had called Mr. Jackson to concede. Some voters appeared more motivated by a desire to oust the five-term senator, who selectively broke with Mr. Trump while in Congress, than to elevate Mr. Jackson as her replacement. “I voted for Troy Jackson, although I don’t particularly care for him,” says Alison Godburn, a Democratic-leaning independent in Kennebunk. “If this race wasn’t so important, I may have reconsidered that a little bit.”Democrats running for Congress faced some of their own self-imposed hurdles to victory. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/APAbdul El-Sayed, right, the Democratic candidate for a U.S. Senate seat in Michigan, visits a polling place at the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, Nov. 3, 2026. A new crop of untested left-wing candidates took on the party establishment’s handpicked recruits and swept many aside, setting up a test for their ideological tilt. In Maine, Mr. Jackson became the nominee after Democrats voted in the primary for controversy-laden Graham Platner, who later withdrew. A must-win Senate seat in Michigan also sparked fireworks within Democratic ranks: Progressive nominee Abdul El-Sayed narrowly defeated Haley Stevens, a moderate congresswoman, but the two fell out spectacularly in recent days.Bruce Schroeder, a retired railroad worker in Dearborn Heights, Michigan, who said he voted for Mr. El-Sayed, says his main concerns are the economy, healthcare costs, and getting money out of politics. He wasn’t happy with Mr. El-Sayed’s outspoken opposition to Israel. “I didn’t like El-Sayed. But I dislike the Trump administration more.”Another El-Sayed voter, recent college graduate Samantha Gervason, complained about a tough job market and said she had low expectations for the candidate – and for politicians in general. “I’d like for there to be a middle ground, but there isn’t,” she says.Other races also tested the nerves of Democrats hoping for clean victories. In Alaska, two Dan Sullivans were on the ballot; one was the Republican incumbent and the other was recruited by Democrats as a spoiler, The New York Times reported last week. Mary Peltola, the Democratic nominee, has denied involvement, but the race is likely to be bogged down in investigations and possibly litigation.The redistricting effectBy historical standards, the projected number of House seats that Democrats expect to flip overall is relatively modest. In 2010, Republicans riding a tea party backlash to bailouts for corporate America under President Barack Obama made net gains of 63 seats. During Mr. Trump’s first term, Democrats picked up 41 seats in 2018. In 1994, Republicans led by Newt Gingrich flipped the House and picked up 54 seats.The election this midterm most closely resembles might be 2006 – when Democrats gained 30 House seats and six Senate seats amid an unpopular U.S. occupation of Iraq under President George W. Bush. Big gains have become harder because of polarization among voters and partisan redistricting by politicians. Redistricting to reflect new census data used to happen every 10 years. Urged by Mr. Trump, some GOP-run states upended that practice last year, igniting a tit-for-tat battle with Democrats to squeeze more House seats from their strongholds.But some of those efforts might have backfired. Tuesday night, Republican maps designed to eke out extra seats fell short amid deep cracks in the coalition that elected Mr. Trump. In Florida, four seats redrawn to pull in more Trump voters appeared unlikely to yield a single Republican victory. In Texas, a rejiggered map failed to yield the GOP’s hoped-for five additional seats, mostly in Latino-heavy districts. Rebecca Blackwell/APCampaign signs stand outside a polling place in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Election Day, Nov. 3, 2026. A major swing among Latino voters toward Democrats proved decisive in Florida and other states. Among Latinos who had voted for Mr. Trump in 2024, polls showed high levels of dissatisfaction with his economic record, as well as anger over immigration enforcement that swept up authorized migrants and caused havoc in immigrant-dependent industries such as construction. In Texas, Democrat Gina Hinojosa became the first Hispanic person ever elected governor of Texas. Deepen your worldviewwith Monitor Highlights.Politics with respectGet political stories with respectful analysis.There‘s a world of new ideas in everyBooks newsletter.There‘s more to life, enrich yours withCulture & Learning weekly.Follow humanity‘s discoveries withScience & Nature stories in your inbox.Gain a spiritual perspectivefrom the stories in your inbox.Want to understand the deeper impact of critical events? Learn the Monitor‘s insight.Already a subscriber? Log in to hide ads. In the South, Republicans redrew some congressional maps after the U.S. Supreme Court gutted a key provision in the Voting Rights Act for minority representation. In Tennessee and Louisiana, Black voters were drawn into Republican-leaning districts, while other states considered but held off on similar maps. The backlash to racial gerrymandering might have juiced turnout among Democratic-voting Black residents across the South. In Georgia, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms was elected as the first Black woman governor in U.S. history.With reporting by Henry Gass in Waco, Texas; Sophie Hills in Detroit, West Bloomfield, and Dearborn Heights, Michigan; Victoria Hoffmann, Zachery Proctor, and Laina Gustafson in Kennebunk and Lebanon, Maine; and Patrik Jonsson in Bluffton, South Carolina. ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER? LoginReal news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.The Christian Science Monitor was founded in 1908 to lift the standard of journalism and uplift humanity. 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