The Democrats have taken control of the US Congress after a string of historic midterm election victories against the Republicans, prompting Donald Trump to be branded a “failed lame duck president.”
In a sweeping series of results, the party won Senate seats in the former Republican strongholds of Texas, Kansas, South Carolina, Ohio, Maine and Iowa. They have also regained control of the House of Representatives, which they last held in 2023, after flipping numerous seats in states including Kentucky, New Jersey, Indiana and North Carolina.
Midterms seen as referendum on Trump
The midterm elections to Congress were widely seen as a referendum on the controversial Republican president. The Democratic victories represent a major blow to Mr Trump, who had previously urged people to pretend he was on the voting slip.
In the face of the crushing losses, 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!”
Democrats needed a net gain of four seats in the 100-member Senate to win a majority, while in the 435-member House, they needed three.
Trump admits surprise at results
Speaking to Fox News, Mr Trump admitted the results had surprised him. “I thought they’d do better, we had tremendous rallies,” he said. “I thought that I could transfer those people into candidates.”
He also congratulated the Democrats and said: “They did a good job. They worked very hard.” But while offering to work with opponents, he had also posted a picture of a red baseball cap emblazoned with the word “Veto,” suggesting he would block legislation they sought to take through Congress.
With the Democrats in the driving seat on Capitol Hill, Mr Trump faces having his domestic agenda frustrated as well as the threat of investigations into the conduct of his administration. However, the president still has executive authority in key areas, including foreign policy. The election outcome will also influence the debate and party strategies in the run-up to the 2028 presidential race.
Landmark victories across the states
Democrat US senator Jon Ossoff, who won re-election in Georgia which had been a top Republican target, 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.
“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.”
The scale of the Democrat victory reflects the deep voter discontent over the cost of living, tariffs and high energy prices fuelled by the Iran war, which Mr Trump launched with Israel earlier this year.
In Kansas, church pastor Adam Hamilton became the first Democrat to win a Senate seat in nearly a century. He said: “I think the people in Kansas, Republicans, independents and Democrats are saying what’s happening in Washington is not OK.” He added: “I got elected because Kansans were saying, ‘We’re tired of the bullies. We’re tired of the chaos.'”
James Talarico became the first Democrat to be elected a US senator for Texas in nearly four decades, defeating Republican Ken Paxton, who had been backed by Mr Trump. In Ohio, Democrat Sherrod Brown won a Senate seat held by vice president JD Vance just two years ago.
Democrat Annie Andrews beat Mr Trump’s hand-picked candidate Darline Graham to take the South Carolina Senate seat. Ms Graham was the sister of the late US senator Lindsey Graham, who had held the seat for more than 20 years, and was chosen by the president to fill his seat and contest it in the election.
Democrat Troy Jackson won election to the US Senate representing Maine, defeating Republican incumbent Susan Collins, who had held the seat for almost three decades. The Democrats also flipped the Senate seat in North Carolina from Republicans when governor Roy Cooper defeated Michael Whatley, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, who was supported by Mr Trump. Mr Cooper said: “I’m not going to Washington to be something, I’m going to Washington to do something.”
Democrats Keisha Lance Bottoms in Georgia, Amy Acton in Ohio, Rod Sand in Iowa, and Gina Hinojosa in Texas won races for governor, ousting Republicans from office. In California, long-shot Republican candidate Steve Hilton, a former top aide to David Cameron, lost to former state attorney general Xavier Becerra.
