Democrats have secured a Senate majority and are projected to regain control of the House of Representatives in the US midterm elections, prompting President Donald Trump to be branded a "failed lame duck president."
In a sweeping result, the party gained seats in traditional Republican strongholds including Texas, Kansas, South Carolina and Ohio. Multiple major US media organisations have reported that Democrats are also forecast to reclaim the House, which they last controlled in 2023.
Historic Gains Across Republican Bastions
The midterms determine which party controls Congress and were widely seen as a verdict on the divisive Republican leader, who had previously encouraged voters to imagine he was on the ballot. Democrats needed a net gain of four seats in the 100-member Senate to secure a majority, while in the 435-member House they required three.
Speaking to Fox News after the Republicans lost control of the Senate, President Trump acknowledged the outcome caught him off guard. He said: "Well, I'm a little bit surprised. I thought they'd do better, we had tremendous rallies. I thought that I could transfer those people into candidates."
Key Races and Reactions
Potential 2028 presidential contender and Democratic senator Jon Ossoff secured re-election in Georgia, a key Republican target. He told supporters: "In sweeping and decisive victories, the American people have rebuked the depravity, corruption, and incompetence of the failed lame duck president Donald J Trump."
Senate candidate James Talarico became the first Democrat to secure a statewide office in Texas since 1994. The party also seized a number of House seats across states including Kentucky, New Jersey and North Carolina. Democrat former senator Sherrod Brown claimed the upper house seat in Ohio, defeating Republican incumbent Jon Husted.
Democrats Hold New Hampshire and California
The Democrats also held onto New Hampshire, with Chris Pappas fending off Republican John Sununu. Mr Pappas will succeed retiring senator Jeanne Shaheen, a three-term Democrat who defeated Mr Sununu in 2008. He told supporters: "This has been a long campaign against the backdrop of chaos, corruption and costs coming out of Washington."
In California, Steve Hilton, a rank outsider Republican candidate and former senior adviser to David Cameron, was defeated by former state attorney general Xavier Becerra.
Confronted with the defeats, Mr Trump posted on his Truth Social platform: "I wasn't on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!" He added: "And if, at times these last two years, amidst the ceaseless onslaught of brutality and indecency, you doubted whether our republic would survive, let tonight's results give you courage that the first light of dawn is on the horizon."
