WASHINGTON (The Thursday Times) — Democrats won control of both the US Senate and the House of Representatives in Tuesday’s midterm elections, a decisive rebuke to President Donald Trump that returns the party to full control of Congress for the first time since 2023.
Democrats took seven Senate seats from Republicans: North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Kansas, Iowa and Maine. James Talarico beat Ken Paxton in Texas, Sherrod Brown won back a seat in Ohio, Roy Cooper took North Carolina, Josh Turek won Iowa, Adam Hamilton beat Senator Roger Marshall in Kansas and Annie Andrews beat Darline Graham in South Carolina. In Maine, Troy Jackson defeated Susan Collins, ending her nearly 30 years in the Senate.
Democrats also kept Georgia, where Jon Ossoff won re-election, and New Hampshire, where Chris Pappas beat John Sununu. Abdul El-Sayed won Michigan, becoming the first Muslim elected to the Senate, while Alaska was still being counted. Results across the House are also still coming in.
In the House, Democrats ousted Republican incumbents including Tom Kean in New Jersey, Mariannette Miller-Meeks in Iowa, Derrick Van Orden in Wisconsin and four in Pennsylvania. Hakeem Jeffries, the party’s House leader, is now poised to become the first Black Speaker. “From sea to shining sea, the American people have spoken and made clear they’ve had enough of the extremism, enough of the corruption,” he said. Senate leader Chuck Schumer called it a “generational remake of the Senate map”.
Voters’ frustration over high prices, the war with Iran and corruption drove the result. Trump had urged them to “pretend I’m on the ballot”, and spent weeks at rallies in conservative states. Democrats won in several states he carried by double digits two years ago.
The new Congress takes its seats in January. Democrats will gain the power to investigate the administration and to block Trump’s nominees, including to the courts. “Lawyer up,” wrote Robert Garcia, the congressman expected to lead the House Oversight Committee. Trump keeps his veto, which Democrats lack the numbers to override, so their legislation will still need his signature.
The result also matters well beyond Washington. US officials warned last month that Trump might order a major strike on Iran if Republicans lost, a claim a White House official rejected. Asked about the war on election night, Trump said it would be over “when I say it’s over”.
