Photo credit: Keisha Lance Bottoms for Governor
By BallotWire
11/06/2026
Democrats Win Historic Midterm Victories, Taking Control of Congress and 28 Governorships
Democrats won sweeping victories in Tuesday’s midterm elections, taking control of both chambers of Congress and expanding their share of governorships nationwide. The party has secured 54 U.S. Senate seats, 249 U.S. House seats and 28 governorships, with several races still uncalled and additional gains possible.
The victories marked a historic shift in the nation’s political landscape, with Democrats winning races in traditionally Republican states and breaking decades-long losing streaks nationwide from Kansas to South Carolina.
Republicans failed to flip a single Democratic-held Senate seat or governorship and gained just two House seats. The party entered the election with 53 Senate seats and 219 House seats but has fallen to 44 in the Senate and is on track to finish with fewer than 180 in the House.
Why It Happened
Cost of living drove the election cycle. A CNN exit poll found it a crucial factor for roughly 90% of voters, and in the final NPR/PBS/Marist survey, 34% named it their top issue, ahead of preserving democracy at 33% and immigration at 12%. Thirty-eight percent said their personal finances were worse than a year ago, while 15% said they were better. About 60% disapproved of Trump’s job performance, and early exit polling put his approval at 38%, the lowest for any president heading into a midterm.
Democrats led the generic congressional ballot all fall, and by late October the RealClearPolitics average had them ahead 51.4% to 43.2%. An environment that lifts candidates in places the models treat as out of reach, as happened in Kansas, South Carolina and Mississippi.
Democrats Flip the U.S. Senate
Democrats have secured 54 seats, up from 47 before the election, while Republicans hold 44, with two races still uncalled in the U.S. Senate. Democrats flipped seven Republican-held seats in Iowa, Kansas, Maine, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas to win control of the chamber.
The Seven Flips
Josh Turek beat Republican U.S. Representative Ashley Hinson 50.5% to 46.4% in Iowa, clinching the Democratic majority and giving the state its first Democratic senator in 11 years.
Adam Hamilton beat Republican U.S. Senator Roger Marshall 51.0% to 46.0% in Kansas, becoming the first Democrat the state has sent to the U.S. Senate since 1932, a gap of 94 years.
Troy Jackson beat Republican U.S. Senator Susan Collins 53.4% to 46.5% in Maine, ending a Senate career that began in 1996 and unseating the last Republican in Congress from New England.
Roy Cooper beat Republican Michael Whatley 58.7% to 39.1% in North Carolina, a 19.6-point margin and the largest of any flipped U.S. Senate seat. He is the first Democrat to win a North Carolina U.S. Senate race since Kay Hagan in 2008.
Sherrod Brown beat appointed Republican U.S. Senator Jon Husted 50.0% to 45.1% in Ohio’s special election, returning to the U.S. Senate two years after losing his seat there.
Annie Andrews beat appointed Republican U.S. Senator Darline Graham 51.1% to 46.7% in South Carolina. She is the first woman the state has elected to the U.S. Senate and the first Democrat to win a South Carolina U.S. Senate race since Fritz Hollings in 1998.
James Talarico beat Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton 55.1% to 43.0% in Texas, a 12.1-point margin. He is the first Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate from Texas since Lloyd Bentsen in 1988.
The Holds That Mattered
Democrats also defended four seats Republicans targeted this cycle, and all four came in wider than the polling suggested.
Jon Ossoff beat Republican U.S. Representative Mike Collins 59.0% to 40.9% in Georgia, by 18.1 points.
Abdul El-Sayed held Michigan’s open Democratic seat by seven points against former Republican U.S. Representative Mike Rogers, becoming the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate.
Chris Pappas beat Republican John E. Sununu by 13.7 points in New Hampshire, becoming the first openly gay man elected to the chamber.
Peggy Flanagan beat Republican Michele Tafoya by 10.1 points in Minnesota, becoming the first Native American woman ever elected to the U.S. Senate.
Still Counting
Two U.S. Senate races remain uncalled. In Alaska, Democrat Mary Peltola took a narrow lead over Republican U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan on Wednesday after trailing earlier, with the margin running near 0.3%. Alaska will update its count on November 10 and 13. If no candidate clears 50%, the state runs its ranked-choice tabulation on November 18, and it aims to certify by November 25.
In Mississippi, Democrat Scott Colom led Republican U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith by 28 votes on Tuesday night and by 1,936 votes as of Friday morning. If the lead holds, he becomes Mississippi’s first Black senator since Reconstruction.
See the chart below for the scale of the shift behind the Democratic U.S. Senate wins, with several battlegrounds moving more than 20 points from 2024.
Democrats Flip the U.S. House
Democrats won control of the U.S. House, clearing the 218 seats needed for a majority. As of Friday morning, the count stands at 249 Democrats to 158 Republicans, up from 214 Democratic seats in the current Congress, with 28 races still uncalled.
The Notable Losses
Richard Hudson chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee and ran his party’s entire effort to hold the House. He lost his own seat in North Carolina’s 9th District to Democrat Richard Ojeda, an Army veteran.
Scott Perry, a seven-term Republican and founding member of the House Freedom Caucus, was defeated in Pennsylvania’s 10th by Janelle Stelson.
Mike Lawler, who held one of the country's most-watched swing seats, conceded New York’s 17th District to Democrat Cait Conley.
Mike Turner, a longtime Dayton-area Republican and former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, lost Ohio’s 10th to Kristina Knickerbocker.
Other Republican incumbents unseated: Juan Ciscomani in Arizona; James Gallagher and David Valadao in California; Jeff Crank and Gabe Evans in Colorado; Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Zach Nunn in Iowa; Victoria Spartz in Indiana; Tom Barrett and Bill Huizenga in Michigan; Ann Wagner in Missouri; Brad Knott, Addison McDowell and Tim Moore in North Carolina; Tom Kean Jr. and Jeff Van Drew in New Jersey; Mike Carey and Max Miller in Ohio; Rob Bresnahan, Brian Fitzpatrick and Ryan Mackenzie in Pennsylvania; Monica De La Cruz in Texas; Jen Kiggans and Rob Wittman in Virginia; Bryan Steil and Derrick Van Orden in Wisconsin.
Still Counting
Several races remain uncalled, and Louisiana’s 6th District does not finish until a December 12 runoff, so the final size of the Democratic majority remains unsettled. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries is positioned to become the first Black speaker in the chamber’s history.
The Governors
Democrats flipped five governorships: Georgia, Iowa, Nevada, Ohio and Texas, unseating Republican incumbents Greg Abbott and Joe Lombardo. Governorships now stand at 28 Democratic to 20 Republican, with Alaska and Kansas uncalled.
The Five Flips
Keisha Lance Bottoms won Georgia 54.3% to 45.7% over Republican Rick Jackson, an 8.6-point margin, becoming the first Black woman elected governor of any state in American history and Georgia’s first woman elected governor.
Gina Hinojosa beat three-term Governor Greg Abbott 52.8% to 45.7%, a margin of 7.1 points, becoming Texas’ first Latina governor and its first Democratic governor since Ann Richards lost reelection in 1994.
Amy Acton beat Vivek Ramaswamy 52.3% to 44.4% in Ohio, a 7.9-point margin, becoming the state’s first woman elected governor.
Rob Sand won Iowa 55.4% to 44.5% over Republican Zach Lahn, an 11-point margin, flipping a governorship Republicans had held since 2011.
Aaron Ford unseated Republican Governor Joe Lombardo 51.5% to 44.2% in Nevada, a 7.3-point margin, becoming the state’s first Black governor.
Other Notable Races
David Crowley won Wisconsin 54.0% to 46.0% over Republican Tom Tiffany by 8 points, becoming the state’s first Black governor.
Deb Haaland won New Mexico 57.3% to 42.7% over Republican Gregg Hull by 14.6 points, becoming the first Native American woman elected governor of any state.
Amy Klobuchar won Minnesota 55.5% to 42.6% over Republican Lisa Demuth by 12.9 points, becoming the state’s first woman governor.
Kelly Ayotte held New Hampshire 51.2% to 47.3% over Democrat Cinde Warmington, a 3.9-point margin, in a state Kamala Harris carried in 2024 and where Democrat Chris Pappas won the U.S. Senate race by nearly 14 points the same night.
Xavier Becerra won California 64.6% to 35.4% over Republican Steve Hilton, by 29.2 points, becoming the state’s first Latino governor.
Byron Donalds won Florida 50.0% to 48.7% over Democrat David Jolly, by 1.3 points, becoming the state’s first Black governor.
Jocelyn Benson won Michigan 54.5% to 43.8% over Republican John James, a 10.7-point margin.
Marsha Blackburn won Tennessee 45.5% to 43.0% over Democrat Jerri Green by 2.5 points, becoming the state’s first woman governor.
Hannah Pingree won Maine 54.5% to 37.4% over Republican Robert Charles, with independent Rick Bennett taking 8.1%.
Tina Kotek held Oregon 52.9% to 44.4% over Republican Christine Drazan, an 8.5-point margin, in a rematch of their 2022 race.
The Mayors
Three big-city races, one incumbent unseated and two landslides.
Los Angeles: Raman Unseats Bass
Councilmember Nithya Raman defeated Mayor Karen Bass, 52.7% to 47.3%, by 5.4 points. It is the upset of the municipal cycle. Bass finished first in June’s nonpartisan primary with 34.3% to Raman’s 29.0% and carried endorsements from Kamala Harris, Gavin Newsom, and four of the five county supervisors.
Raman becomes the first Asian American elected mayor of Los Angeles and is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.
Oakland: Lee Re-elected in a Rout
Mayor Barbara Lee won a full term with about 84.3% of first-choice votes in early returns, against roughly 6% for Julius Robinson, 4.7% for Brenda Grisham and 4.7% for Mindy Pechenuk. Lee first won the office in a 2025 special election held after the recall of Sheng Thao, so this is her first full four-year term.
Washington, DC: Lewis George Succeeds Bowser
Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George won 84.3% to independent Rhonda Hamilton’s 10.1% and Green Party candidate Robert Gross’ 3.5%, winning outright in the first round of ranked-choice voting. She succeeds Muriel Bowser, who did not seek a fourth term after eleven years in office.