Democrats Win Control of House and Senate in 2026 Midterm Elections, Flipping Seats in Red States
Photo: AxiosDemocrats won control of both the U.S. House and Senate in Tuesday's midterm elections, according to Associated Press projections cited in the coverage, ending the Republican governing trifecta that has lasted the first two years of President Donald Trump's second term. Democrats flipped Republican-held Senate seats in Iowa, Kansas, Maine, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas, and were expected to win a significant House majority. In Kansas, Methodist minister Adam Hamilton beat Republican Sen. Roger Marshall, making him the state's first Democratic senator since 1932. In Ohio, former Sen. Sherrod Brown, who lost his seat in 2024, won a return to Congress, and former Gov. Roy Cooper had long been expected to win in North Carolina. With both chambers, Democrats can open formal investigations and block legislation. Trump told the New York Times on Tuesday evening that he would work with Democrats and accept the results, and told Fox he has veto power. He again said Republicans would have won had he been on the ballot, saying voters could not transfer their affection for him to other candidates.
The Guardian US, on the left, leads with Democrats' takeover as a major setback for Trump and foregrounds his insistence that Republicans would have won if he were on the ballot, despite what it calls historic losses. The Blaze, on the right, accepts the same result, a sweeping blue wave that flipped seats in Texas, Kansas and South Carolina and rebuked the administration. But its headline and BlazeTV host John Doyle's commentary attribute the outcome to a different electorate and demographic shift, especially in Texas, rather than better Democratic candidates, and it centers analysis rather than Trump's reaction. The two sides agree on the scale and the red-state flips; they differ on the cause and on whose voice leads. Alternative outlets add little distinct from the left: Zeteo uses sharply critical language about Trump and the economy, while Axios stresses that Trump made himself the face of the campaign and is now distancing himself from the outcome.
How the sides differ Left sources stress Trump's claim he would have won if on the ballot; right sources attribute the result to demographic change; alternative sources call it a repudiation.
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The Guardian US leads with Democrats taking Congress as a major setback for Trump, featuring his claim that Republicans would have won had he been on the ballot, despite historic losses.
Axios calls it a GOP wipeout and notes Trump distancing himself from the results; Zeteo calls it a repudiation of Trump, listing flipped Senate seats, Kansas's Adam Hamilton and Trump's remarks on working with Democrats.
The Blaze acknowledges a sweeping blue wave in red states but argues, through BlazeTV host John Doyle, that a demographic shift and different electorate explain it, not better candidates.