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Democrats win House and Senate in historic midterm defeat for Trump

Summarised from 16 outlets · 27 reports · Updated 4 Nov, 07:42 · Archive

Democrats have won control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate in midterm elections held on 3 November 2026. The party flipped multiple Republican strongholds, including Senate seats in Texas, Kansas, South Carolina, Ohio, Iowa and North Carolina, along with House seats in Kentucky, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Indiana.

Democrats needed a net gain of four seats in the 100-member Senate to win a majority of 51, and three seats in the 435-member House to reach 218. They exceeded these thresholds by a significant margin. Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York is positioned to become Speaker of the House, the third person in line for the presidency. Senator Chuck Schumer will lead the Senate.

The results represent a generational defeat for Republicans, who have held majorities in both chambers for the past two years. In Texas, Democrat James Talarico won a Senate seat, the first Democrat to win statewide office in Texas in three decades, defeating Trump-backed attorney general Ken Paxton. Governor Greg Abbott also lost his seat. In Maine, Democrat Troy Jackson defeated Republican Susan Collins, the longest-serving female Republican senator in US history.

An AP exit poll showed that 62 per cent of voters blamed Trump's policies for higher prices, and 71 per cent said Congress must do more to check the president. The White House had braced for significant losses amid surveys showing public anger over inflation and cost of living rises, much of it linked to the war with Iran, which has increased the price of oil.

Trump had spent the month before the election travelling across the country to support Republican candidates, repeatedly telling voters to 'pretend I'm on the ballot' to boost turnout. After the results came in, he posted on Truth Social: 'I wasn't on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!'

In a telephone interview with Fox News later that night, Trump took an unusually conciliatory tone. 'Congratulations to the Democrats. They did a good job. They've been looking for this one for 11 years and they finally got it. But I don't view it as a hit on me,' he said. He acknowledged that the Iran war 'probably' contributed to Republican losses because of higher petrol prices, though he said people agreed with his Iran policy but were unwilling to pay the short-term cost. He pledged to work across the aisle during the remainder of his presidency and said he would use his veto power against Democratic legislation, posting an image of a red baseball cap emblazoned with the word 'VETO'.

Trump also insisted that Cabinet changes had nothing to do with the election results and said he would not let any more members of his administration go. Some commentators described the results as marking 'the beginning of the end of the Trump era'. Democratic leaders said relief was on the way after two years of Republican control of Congress.

Democrats win House and Senate in historic midterm defeat for Trump
Image: The Mirror

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In this story: Donald Trump · Hakeem Jeffries · Chuck Schumer · James Talarico · Democratic Party · Republican Party · United States · Texas

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem · Corrections log