Midterm voters rebuke Trump, handing Democrats both chambers of Congress

Democrats won control of both the House and the Senate in the 2026 midterms, a broad repudiation of President Donald Trump and the Republican Party that leaves him a lame duck facing the biggest Democratic majorities in decades. Some races, including Senate contests in Alaska and Mississippi, remain uncalled, so the final makeup of each chamber is not yet settled, according to PBS NewsHour.

Vice President J.D. Vance blamed the Iran war, saying it pushed prices up and turned voters against the GOP. Trump, speaking afterward, named prices rather than the war as the main factor, said he would have changed nothing about the conflict, and insisted that results would have differed had he been on the ballot. He also said he would collaborate with Democrats, though he kept the option of vetoing legislation. Hakeem Jeffries, positioned to become the first Black House speaker, said Democrats would talk if Republicans wanted to pursue bold change.

Democrats flipped Texas statewide for the first time in nearly 40 years through James Talarico and Gina Hinojosa. Abdul El-Sayed defeated Mike Rogers in Michigan, and Troy Jackson unseated Susan Collins in Maine. Several candidates also set historic marks, among them Chris Pappas, Keisha Lance Bottoms and Deb Haaland.

Summarized by PolitiKool from PBS NewsHour’s reporting. Read the full story at PBS NewsHour →