Democrats won control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives in Tuesday’s midterms, according to CNBC, CBS News and CBC, ending Republican control of Congress. Before the vote, Republicans held the Senate by 53 seats to 47, and the House by 218 to 214 with an independent who normally caucuses with them.

The Associated Press has called Senate races in Texas, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio and South Carolina, all Republican-held seats that CBS News counted among the competitive contests. Voters were weighing a president whose approval sat near record lows.

Republicans Defended an Unusually Wide Map

CBS News listed eight Republican-held Senate seats as competitive going into Tuesday: Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas.

Three Democratic-held seats in Georgia, Michigan and New Hampshire were also in play.
In Maine, Republican Susan Collins faced Democrat Troy Jackson, and in Alaska both Senate candidates were named Dan Sullivan, with ranked-choice voting available if no one won a majority. Republicans could have lost three seats and kept control, because Vice President JD Vance would break a 50-50 tie.

Texas stood out on that list. ABC News noted that no Democrat had won a statewide Texas election in more than 30 years, and its results page said Democrats were projected to win both the Senate and governor’s races.
The Washington Post reported that Democrat James Talarico won the Senate seat against Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, who had kept Trump’s support despite several controversies. Republican Greg Abbott, who had won his previous three elections by double digits, faced Democrat Gina Hinojosa for governor.

Prices Dominated the Campaign

An AP-NORC poll found that 65 per cent of US adults said Trump’s policies, rather than factors outside his control, were mainly responsible for persistently high costs. Only 17 per cent approved of his handling of the cost of living, and 26 per cent approved of his handling of the economy, a new low.
Among Republicans, 67 per cent still said outside factors were more to blame.

A later AP-NORC survey put Trump’s overall approval at 35 per cent, with about seven in 10 people saying the country was on the wrong track.
Gallup found that 50 per cent of registered voters called the economy and healthcare extremely important, and 47 per cent said the same about the war in Iran. The New York Times said Trump’s approval could be the second lowest heading into a midterm since 1946, behind only Harry Truman.

Turnout Pointed to an Energised Electorate

An AP analysis found that nearly 10 million more people had voted early than at the same point in 2022. Among early voters in 27 states that report party registration, 43.1 per cent were registered Democrats and 31.4 per cent Republicans.
Registration is not vote choice, and early voting does not always predict the final result.

Hispanic voters were a particular focus in Texas, where they make up more than 30 per cent of the eligible electorate. Trump won a majority of Texas Hispanics in 2024, and Democrats said before the vote that they saw signs of a shift back.
Detailed breakdowns of the Latino vote were not yet available at the time of writing.

Forecasts and Insiders Saw It Coming

CBS News’ Battleground Tracker estimated on 25 October that Democrats were on track for 229 House seats, within a range of 215 to 237.
A majority in the 435-seat chamber requires 218, so the range ran from just short of control to a comfortable margin. The tracker was an estimate, not a result.

A senior Republican official told Politico before the vote that it “could be quite a brutal evening”.
Trump’s own comments to Axios were more guarded: “One way or the other, we will do something, but there is no rush.” Gallup, AP-NORC and the early-voting figures all pointed the same way, although none of them can say which seats will change hands.

What a Majority Can and Cannot Do

Control of Congress lets Democrats block legislation, hold up nominees in the Senate and open investigations into the administration. It does not give them the White House. Trump keeps the veto, which Congress can override only with two-thirds majorities in both chambers.

Democrats will also share responsibility for governing through the final two years of Trump’s term.
Voters who blamed the president for prices will probably expect the new majorities to do more than oppose him, and polls show how little patience many already had with him. A strong midterm result is not a permanent realignment, because midterm electorates often punish the sitting president’s party.

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