Democrats are on the verge of taking control of both chambers of the US Congress after securing major victories in Senate races across South Carolina, Texas and Ohio, dealing a significant political setback to President Donald Trump.
The party also made substantial gains in the House of Representatives, flipping at least eight Republican-held seats in states including Kentucky, New Jersey and North Carolina, while making inroads in traditionally conservative districts.
In Ohio, Democrat Sherrod Brown secured a return to the Senate after defeating Republican incumbent Jon Husted. In Texas, Democratic State Representative James Talarico overcame heavy outside spending to defeat Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, whose political career has been dogged by controversies.
Both states voted for Trump by double-digit margins in the 2024 presidential election.
In South Carolina, another traditionally Republican stronghold that Trump won by nearly 18 percentage points in 2024, Democrat and paediatrician Annie Andrews defeated Republican Senator Darline Graham.
Graham was appointed to the seat following the death of her brother, Senator Lindsey Graham.
Trump had backed Paxton and Graham over more established Republican candidates despite the controversies surrounding them. Paxton faced scrutiny over his 2023 impeachment and securities fraud charges, while Graham’s admitted lack of experience attracted negative attention during the campaign.
The president had campaigned extensively for Paxton, Graham and Husted as part of a late election push that included more than two dozen rallies.
He repeatedly urged supporters to “pretend I’m on the ballot” to mobilise voters behind Republican candidates.
However, as results showed Republicans facing the prospect of losing their congressional majorities, Trump took to social media on Tuesday night to defend his record.
“I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE! Thank you for your attention to this matter,” he wrote.
The Democratic gains reflected widespread voter dissatisfaction with Trump’s handling of the economy and his decision to launch a war against Iran in February, which sent petrol prices sharply higher.
Several opinion polls had shown voters increasingly concerned about the cost of living and critical of the administration’s economic policies.
With Roy Cooper’s victory in North Carolina’s Senate race, Democrats have now flipped the four seats needed to secure a Senate majority, provided they retain their own seats in Michigan and Minnesota.
The party also held on to Senate seats in Georgia and New Hampshire, two contests previously considered competitive but which became increasingly difficult for Republicans as Trump’s approval ratings declined.
In Georgia, incumbent Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff, who was projected to win re-election, told supporters at his victory party: “In sweeping and decisive victories, the American people have rebuked the depravity, corruption and incompetence of the man named President Donald J. Trump.”
In Florida, Republican Senator Ashley Moody defeated Democrat Angie Nixon but secured victory by only about three percentage points in a state Trump won by 13 points in 2024.
The figures, based on vote counts compiled by Reuters and USA Today, provided further evidence of Democratic gains in traditionally Republican territory.
Democrats also retained three Florida House districts that Republican lawmakers had redrawn earlier this year. All three constituencies had backed Trump by at least nine percentage points in the 2024 presidential election.
Exit polls conducted by SSRS on behalf of a consortium of US media organisations, including major television networks and the Associated Press, highlighted widespread dissatisfaction with the direction of the country.
Half of voters nationwide said they viewed the 2026 midterm elections as an opportunity to rebuke Trump, while three-quarters said they were “angry” or “dissatisfied” with the direction of the country.
The survey also found that 70 per cent of voters wanted Congress to provide greater checks and balances on the president.
Meanwhile, legal observers and Democrats have raised concerns that Trump could challenge Tuesday’s election results if Republicans lose their congressional majorities.
The president has repeatedly made false claims that US elections are rigged.
The US Justice Department said it had deployed 1,000 election monitors and observers across all 50 states in what it described as the largest Election Day monitoring operation in American history.
Democrats criticised the deployment, warning that it could intimidate voters.
A Reuters analysis found that voters in roughly two-thirds of the jurisdictions identified by the Justice Department had supported Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris over Trump in the 2024 election.
Election officials in several states, however, reported no problems with the monitoring exercise.
New Mexico’s secretary of state’s office said it had received reports of federal monitors asking “unusual questions” in one county.
The Justice Department subsequently assured the office that the reported conduct would be addressed.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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