2026 Midterm Elections Live Updates: Democrats Win Control of the House and the Senate

Latest PinnedUpdated Here’s the latest.Democrats seized control of the Senate and the House as voters delivered a blistering rebuke to President Trump in a midterm rout that reset the balance of power in Washington. The romp stretched from coast to coast, with Democrats flipping seats that had spent decades in Republican hands and taking House districts in corners of the country that had long seemed inaccessible.Mr. Trump told The Times in an interview that he was “absolutely willing to accept those results” and was prepared to work with Democrats. “We’ll, you know, look forward to working with them,” he said. “We’ll probably work something out.”Voters swept out Republican candidates who tethered themselves to Mr. Trump and those who sought a modicum of independence from him. Democrats flipped Senate seats in Maine, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, North Carolina, South Carolina and even Texas, according to The Associated Press. Many of those states had been longtime conservative strongholds. Republicans had held the Senate seats in Texas and South Carolina for decades. The Kansas seat had been red for nearly a century.Senator Susan Collins, a Maine Republican who across 30 years in Washington repeatedly foiled Democratic efforts to unseat her, conceded her race to Troy Jackson, a former state legislator whom Democrats anointed in July after their preferred nominee quit the race in scandal.In Texas, James Talarico, a state legislator who became a national fund-raising sensation, toppled Ken Paxton, the scandal-ridden Republican state attorney general whom Mr. Trump elevated to the nomination in the spring.“We just took back Texas,” Mr. Talarico said in his victory speech. “We just showed that a politics of division is no match for a politics of love.”In South Carolina, Dr. Annie Andrews prevailed over Senator Darline Graham, the sister of the late Senator Lindsey Graham. In Kansas, the Rev. Adam Hamilton stunned Senator Roger Marshall, a one-term Republican.And Dr. Abdul El-Sayed prevailed in Michigan even after his Senate campaign was rattled on Sunday when his defeated primary rival, Representative Haley Stevens, endorsed the Republican nominee and drew the scorn of her own party.Democrats could still widen their lead in the Senate: Ballots were still being counted in Alaska, where Republicans have complained that a potential spoiler candidate could unfairly siphon votes from their incumbent, and in Mississippi, an unlikely battleground where a couple dozen votes separated the two candidates.Democrats also notched major victories in races for governor. In Georgia, Keisha Lance Bottoms became the first Black woman to be elected governor in the country’s history. In Texas, Gina Hinojosa was the first Democrat elected governor since Ann Richards in 1990, by ousting Gov. Greg Abbott, a three-term Republican.In another race for governor, Dr. Amy Acton became the first woman elected to lead Ohio, emerging from a vicious campaign that included an ad by her Republican opponent that featured her estranged mother. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat ousted from his seat two years ago, will again represent Ohio in the Senate after flipping a Republican seat.The results came in a midterm election that is the first national mandate on Mr. Trump’s second term. They showed what polls have indicated for months — that voters are supremely dissatisfied with Mr. Trump and Republicans who have backed his agenda.Democrats flipped House seats across the map. And the redistricting effort Republicans undertook in hopes of protecting their majority failed to yield victories that they intended: Democrats won districts in Florida that Republicans redrew to be favorable for themselves, and a North Carolina seat Democrats flipped was also part of the Republican redistricting effort.Democratic candidates have blamed Mr. Trump, and the war he started this year in Iran, for the economic hardships that have driven a current of frustration across the nation. Republicans have focused on portraying their Democratic opponents as extreme on social issues and the economy as they played defense in reliably red states.Republicans fended off a significant challenge in a Senate race in Florida: Senator Ashley Moody defeated Angie Nixon, a progressive Democrat, in a tight contest to complete the term of Secretary of State Marco Rubio.The last polling places closed at 1 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday, in Alaska, and full results for some races may not be known for days or longer.Here’s what else we’re covering:A complicated landscape: More than 400 Times reporters, editors, data analysts, video journalists and photographers are covering the midterms, seeking to understand a large country with voters who are complicated — and sometimes contradictory. Read more ›Minor disruptions: A technical problem with voting machines in Westchester County, N.Y., outside New York City, led officials there to collect ballots by hand in a competitive House race. In Florida, flooding forced more than 20 polling stations across eight counties to be relocated. In North Carolina, technical problems at several precincts caused minor delays; state election officials said they would delay the release of election results to at least 8:15 p.m. from 7:30 p.m. Read more ›Election integrity: Many election officials and Democrats have said they fear that Mr. Trump’s attacks on the integrity of U.S. elections could lead to tensions during voting and baseless challenges to the outcome. The administration has sought to prove that many noncitizens have cast ballots, but few people have been charged with offenses related to voting fraud. Local and state officials say they are well prepared to run a secure election.Court rulings: A federal judge has turned down a request by Democratic lawmakers and party organizations to prohibit the Trump administration from coercing states into screening incoming ballots. And the Supreme Court issued what appeared to be an extraordinary rebuke to Mr. Trump, signaling that it was not interested in assisting his efforts to interfere with how states administer elections.It’s after midnight in Los Angeles. While the Associated Press has not yet called the city’s mayoral race, Nithya Raman, the D.S.A.-aligned challenger to Mayor Karen Bass, gave a speech that sounded a lot like a victory address. She told the crowd of supporters, who were buzzing about progressive wins across the country, that she was hopeful. “But I’m also really superstitious,” she said, “so we’re all just gonna be cool, OK?”Kurt Alme, a former federal prosecutor, won the Senate race in Montana, according to The Associated Press, allowing Republicans to hold on to an open seat in conservative territory. Alme, the former U.S. attorney for Montana, focused his campaign on reducing federal spending and bringing tax relief.He entered the race in March after Senator Steve Daines withdrew his candidacy just minutes before the filing deadline. Daines and Gov. Greg Gianforte, a Republican, quickly endorsed Alme, as did President Trump. Some Democrats backed the independent bid of Seth Bodnar over their own nominee, Alani Bankhead, believing he was more electable in the heavily Republican state, and Alme was able to capitalize on the rift.Analysis From Our ReportersBy Nate Cohn, Laura Bult, Nour Idriss, June Kim and Edward VegaBy Shane Goldmacher, Alexandra Ostasiewicz, Thomas Vollkommer and James SurdamBy Christine Zhang, Sutton Raphael, Brian Oh, Edward Vega and Stephanie SwartBy Shane Goldmacher, Alexandra Ostasiewicz, Jon Miller, Edward Vega and James SurdamBy Christine Zhang, Sutton Raphael, Brian Oh, Stephanie Swart and Edward VegaBy Evan Reynolds, Laura Bult, Nour Idriss, June Kim and Edward VegaBy Shane Goldmacher, Alexandra Ostasiewicz, Thomas Vollkommer, James Surdam and Edward VegaBy Christine Zhang, Sutton Raphael, Brian Oh and Stephanie SwartBy Evan Reynolds, Laura Bult, Nour Idriss, June Kim and Edward VegaAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTRepresentative Marcy Kaptur of Ohio, the longest-serving woman in Congress, defeated Derek Merrin, a Republican, according to The Associated Press, to win her 23rd term. Kaptur, 80, was first elected to the House in 1982. She edged out Merrin two years ago in an area that President Trump carried, and the Ninth Congressional District was redrawn to tilt more conservative. Kaptur prepared for the rematch by moderating her stances to defend her seat. She faced local Democratic backlash over an ad in which she said that “boys should not play in girls’ sports.”AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTIdaho voters reject a referendum to lift the state’s abortion ban.ImageThe Idaho State Capitol in Boise.Credit...Erin Schaff/The New York TimesVoters in Idaho, one of the country’s most conservative states, turned back an effort to repeal the state’s abortion ban, according to The Associated Press. Two years before the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to an abortion, Idaho lawmakers had already passed a ban, making it a crime for doctors or other health care professionals to terminate a pregnancy. The law went into effect when the high court reversed itself on Roe v.

Wade.