Democrats Win Control of House and Senate in Midterms, Flipping Seats in Red States

Democrats won control of both the U.S. House and Senate in Tuesday's midterm elections, CBS News and the Associated Press projected, ending Republican control of Congress during President Donald Trump's second term. CBS said Democrats flipped Senate seats in North Carolina, Ohio, Kansas, Maine, South Carolina and Texas, with Mississippi and Alaska too close to call and Democrats holding 252 House seats so far. Zeteo counted seven flips, adding Iowa. Kansas elected its first Democratic senator since 1932, Methodist minister Adam Hamilton, who beat Sen. Roger Marshall. Former Sen. Sherrod Brown returned to Congress from Ohio, and former Gov. Roy Cooper was expected to win in North Carolina. In Texas, Democrats took the state House after winning the governor and U.S. Senate races, and they gained several other legislatures. Trump told the New York Times he would work with Democrats and told Fox he has veto power. Democrats can now open formal investigations.

The right-leaning Blaze and Newsmax narrow the focus. The Blaze acknowledges a sweeping blue wave and a rebuke of the administration, but its headline and host John Doyle credit a different electorate and demographic change, especially in Texas, rather than better candidates. Newsmax leads with Democrats taking the Texas House after historic wins for governor and Senate. On the left, CBS News leads with the national projection, a "blue wave" headline and a seat-by-seat tally. The Washington Post covers gains in state governments and legislatures. Both sides agree on the scale of the Democratic win and the Texas result; they differ on whether to emphasize national tallies or demographic and state-level explanations. Alternative outlets differ more sharply. Zeteo calls the result a repudiation of Trump's economic record, while Axios stresses that Trump made himself the campaign's face and is now distancing himself.