Democrats Win Both Chambers: Seven Senate Flips, 14 House Republicans Ousted, and the First Party Switch in the Senate After One Cycle Since 1954

Democrats won control of both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House in Tuesday's midterm elections, ending two years of unified Republican control of Washington, according to race calls by The Associated Press tallied by NPR and other outlets overnight.

The result returns Democrats to full control of Congress for the first time since 2023 and sets up divided government for the final two years of President Donald Trump's term, NPR reported.

The numbers so far

As of 1:30 a.m. Eastern time, Ballotpedia's count showed Democrats with at least a 54-44 majority in the Senate, including two independents who caucus with them, and at least a 231-141 majority in the House, with results still being reported. The Guardian's results tracker showed Democrats at 228 House seats, a gain of 25, with 367 of 435 House races called, and 33 of 35 Senate races called.

The two Senate races still outstanding Wednesday morning were in Alaska and Mississippi, according to the BBC, which reported from Anchorage that Alaska was still counting votes and that the Senate race there remained close.

Seven Senate seats changed hands

Democrats won Senate races in seven states that Trump carried in 2024, according to Ballotpedia: Iowa, Kansas, Maine, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas. Four Republican senators lost reelection.

In Kansas, Adam Hamilton defeated Sen. Roger Marshall, the first time Kansas has elected a Democratic senator since 1932, Ballotpedia reported. In Maine, Troy Jackson defeated Sen. Susan Collins, whom Ballotpedia described as the first senator since 2000 to lose a general election while seeking a sixth term. In Texas, James Talarico defeated Ken Paxton; Ballotpedia said he is the first Democrat to win a statewide election in Texas since 1994.

Former Sen. Sherrod Brown defeated Sen. Jon Husted in Ohio's special election for the remaining two years of the term Vice President JD Vance won in 2022. Roy Cooper won North Carolina's open seat over Michael Whatley. In South Carolina, Annie Andrews defeated Sen. Darline Graham, and in Iowa, Josh Turek defeated Ashley Hinson, according to Ballotpedia.

In Michigan, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed claimed victory and would be the first Muslim to serve in the Senate, the BBC reported.

Ballotpedia said a seven-seat loss places 2026 in the top 20 percent of election years for seat swings against the president's party, its threshold for a wave election, and that it is the first time since 1954 that the party that won the Senate in one even-year election lost it in the next.

The House

Fourteen Republican House incumbents and no Democrats lost reelection, according to Ballotpedia's count. NPR reported that Democrats flipped at least three Florida districts that the state's Republican legislature had redrawn and ousted four Republican incumbents in Pennsylvania. In Kentucky, Democrats won a Lexington-area district that Trump carried with 57 percent in 2024, NPR reported.

Nine states redrew congressional maps between the 2024 and 2026 elections, according to Ballotpedia, which said those changes would have produced a net of nine districts more favorable to Republicans based on 2024 presidential results. If current leads hold, Ballotpedia said, Democrats will have gained a net of 15 seats across those states.

What changes in January

NPR reported that Trump's final two years are now certain to be hampered by congressional investigations in both chambers. Rep. Robert Garcia of California, expected to chair the House Oversight Committee, posted on X: "LAWYER UP." Democrats have signaled investigations into the independence of agencies such as the Justice Department and Homeland Security and into the business interests of the president and his family, according to NPR. Both parties will still need to agree on the 12 annual appropriations bills that fund the government.

"It's a new day in America. Democrats have remade the Senate map. Our candidates have won in places previously thought impossible," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is positioned to become majority leader, wrote on X, according to NPR. "Now we must deliver for the American people. And we will."

Senate Majority Leader John Thune wrote on X that "Senate Republicans have put up a strong record of accomplishment that's created safer streets, more money in Americans' pockets, and new opportunities for families and businesses to get ahead," NPR reported. House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday night that keeping the House would have required defying "more than a century of midterm history," adding, "it looks like history will be kept tonight."

Trump, in an interview with Fox News, said he was "a little surprised" by the outcome and said he would veto legislation he considered "insane," according to the BBC. He told The New York Times he was "absolutely willing to accept" the results, the BBC reported. Before the election, Trump said on the Pod Force One podcast that if Democrats won, "I'll become Mr. Veto," adding, "and then at some point we'll probably make deals," according to NPR.

What is still unsettled

Final margins in both chambers depend on dozens of uncalled House races and on the Alaska and Mississippi Senate contests. The figures above are counts of projected winners, not certified results.