WASHINGTON — As the monumental midterm victories set in, Democrats began to talk strategy Wednesday on how to deliver what voters want: lower prices, attainable health care and an end to a stagnant and expensive conflict in the Middle East.

Starting in January, the party will control both chambers of Congress, giving them the upper hand over much of President Donald Trump’s agenda, including his judicial nominees, and the power to investigate the first two years of Trump’s second term, including his business ventures, war decisions and mass deportation campaign.

Democrats had gained 237 seats — well past the 218 needed — in the U.S. House as of Wednesday afternoon, according to The Associated Press, which also showed Democrats flipped 29 GOP House seats.

The party trounced conventional expectations in the Senate by flipping seven seats, giving Democrats and independents who caucus with them a total of 54 in the upper chamber, according to the AP, as of 4 p.m. Eastern.

Climbing inflation and record fuel prices followed Republicans on the campaign trail, fueling the groundswell for Democrats. Voters blamed Trump for higher prices in stores and at the pump as his war in Iran entered its ninth month, and as sweeping tariffs remained on imports.

Shawn Fain, leader of the United Auto Workers union, said “it’s not a massive win for anybody until these people go to work and deliver results.”

The union, which endorsed Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed in early June, has roughly 1 million active and retired members — 350,000 of them in Michigan alone, according to Fain.

El-Sayed won the Senate race in Michigan on Wednesday.

“I believe this election is a mandate for change, but it is up to the Democratic Party now to deliver. And if they don’t deliver, we’ll be the first ones to call them out on it,” Fain said.   

‘Legislative razor wire’

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said voters delivered “a generational remake of the Senate map that has huge consequences for history.”

The New York Democrat, who is poised to lead the upper chamber once again, told reporters Wednesday morning that Senate Democrats have three priorities: lower the cost of living, “clean up” corruption in government and “check on Trump’s chaos at home and abroad,” including the war with Iran.

“Whenever Trump defies the will of the American people or the law, we will launch investigations, take him to court, and entangle him in legislative razor wire,” Schumer said.

Giving brief answers to a barrage of questions, Schumer hinted that Democrats could end the war in Iran with the “power of the purse” and sidestepped a question about “nuking” the filibuster.

“I’ll have more to say in the coming days about how Democrats pulled off this victory, how our majority plans to deliver for the American people,“ Schumer said.

When asked if Senate Democrats will work with Trump, Schumer said, “We are going to work hard to drive costs down with the president or without him. Period.”

‘A dramatic change in direction’

House Democratic leaders celebrated the blue tsunami across the country while vowing to fight for an “affordable America” in the next Congress. 

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said “the American people have chosen House Democrats because they want to see a dramatic change in direction, and that’s exactly what House Democrats will deliver beginning on Day One,” during a press conference Wednesday afternoon. 

Jeffries got a step closer to becoming the next speaker of the House following Democrats’ dramatic win Tuesday night. If elected by a majority of House members, Jeffries would make history as the first Black person to hold the gavel. 

Jeffries was joined by Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Suzan DelBene of Washington state, House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, and the chair and vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus, Reps. Pete Aguilar and Ted Lieu, respectively, both from California. 

Meanwhile, the GOP’s mid-decade redistricting blitz to shore up several seats flopped Tuesday night following Democratic victories in several districts Republicans redrew. 

DelBene, who leads the Democratic Party’s campaign apparatus for House races, said “every single redistricted Frontliner will return to Congress,” using the committee’s term for its most endangered incumbents. 

“Simply put, their gerrymandering scheme absolutely backfired, and it should send a strong message to any Republican thinking of pursuing any more gerrymanders next year,” she said. 

Agenda items on tap

As Democrats plan to center their agenda on affordability, Lieu spelled out some of the party’s legislative priorities in the new Congress. 

For starters, Lieu said Democrats would pass a bill to reverse the GOP’s mega tax and spending cut law’s sweeping Medicaid cuts, which axe roughly $1 trillion in Medicaid spending over 10 years. 

He also said they would pass legislation to “restore” the enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits, which expired in December 2025 and were used by individuals who buy their own health insurance through the Affordable Care Act Marketplace. 

“We will pass a bill to stop the stupid Trump tariffs jacking up prices on Americans, and we will pass a bill to stop the Iran war,” the California Democrat added. 

Congressional Progressive Caucus

Members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus touted victories in the wave election.

Rep. Greg Casar, a Texas Democrat who chairs the caucus, said the group’s roughly 100 members will work with Jeffries on “a mandate for dramatic change” but warned that he and colleagues want significant transformation.

“Last night was not a sign that all of Democrats’ problems are solved,” Casar said on a virtual call with reporters. “The election is not an endorsement of returning to the status quo or tinkering around the edges. This is a message that people in this country are mad as hell, and are giving Democrats a shot to show them we can do something about it.”

Democrat Will Lawrence, who defeated incumbent GOP Rep. Tom Barrett in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District, said Congress needs “to set our foreign policy straight.”

“A huge cause for regret among Trump voters in this district is because he said he wasn’t going to start any new wars, and look at what he got us into now in Iran. So we have a mandate to pass a war powers resolution to restrain further hostilities in Iran,” Lawrence said.

Lawrence co-founded the Sunrise Movement, a climate-focused political action group, and received backing from congressional progressives. 

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., said despite the momentous wins, the Democratic Party is still “not particularly popular.”

“I think we’ve got a shot to show that we can deliver on the kind of bold populist change that people ran on and won on,” Jayapal said. “And I think that is going to be our task going forward for the next two years.”

WASHINGTON — In a stunning upset, Democrats ousted Republicans and flipped control of the U.S. Senate Tuesday night, effectively establishing a barricade for President Donald Trump’s agenda for the last two years of his term.

Democrats will now have the power to block many of Trump’s nominees, both executive and judicial, including if a spot opens on the U.S. Supreme Court bench.

The decisive rebuke of Trump became apparent just after 11:30 p.m. Eastern, when The Associated Press called the Iowa Senate race for Democrat Josh Turek, who clinched the open seat over Republican candidate Ashley Hinson.

By Wednesday morning, Democrats held 54 seats in the Senate, with results in Mississippi and Alaska still outstanding. Republicans were at 44. Seven of the Democratic seats, like Iowa, were flips from Republicans.

In Michigan, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed bested former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, the AP projected early Wednesday.

 

Voters increasingly grew dissatisfied as the midterms approached with high gas and diesel prices, and overall inflation, driven up by Trump’s stalled war in Iran and erratic tariff policies. The economic woes, which also include increasing food prices and skyrocketing healthcare costs, hung over Republican candidates as they campaigned in recent months.

As election results rolled in, Trump posted on Truth Social, “I’m going to become a Political Pundit, both good and bad, on the reasons these Candidates won and lost!”

During a live phone interview with Fox News early Wednesday, Trump chalked up the widespread losses to him not being on the ballot and to high gas prices.

“If I was on the ballot, they would have gotten out. Look, they got out for the rallies. You never saw rallies that big,” he told the Fox hosts.

When asked whether he thought the prolonged war in Iran factored into the results, he said, “I don’t think it’s the war.”

“I think it’s the gasoline prices. People agree with what I’m doing on Iran, but they really probably weren’t willing to do the short-term consequence of paying more for gasoline. And that you know, I understand that,” he said. 

He ended the relatively brief call by congratulating the Democrats.

“Well, I say this: congratulations to the Democrats. They did a good job. They’ve been looking for this one for 11 years, and they finally got it. But I don’t view it as a hit on me. I think we’ve done a, we’ve had the greatest two years in the history of the presidency in terms of the economy, in terms of all the things that we’ve done.”

Earlier in the evening a White House official said on background that Trump’s mood remained “defiant.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called the results Tuesday night “a generational remake of the Senate map.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said his party will continue “to stop the worst impulses of Democrat extremism.”

In an early morning post on X, the South Dakota Republican touted Republicans’ “strong record of accomplishments,” citing closing the southern border and passing tax cuts, among other items.

“As we head into 2027, Senate Republicans will not stand idly by as the far-left, socialist wing of the Democrat Party attempts to unwind everything we’ve done,” he wrote.

Kansas shocker

A political earthquake rattled Kansas, where Democratic candidate Adam Hamilton sailed past incumbent Republican Sen. Roger Marshall, marking the first time Kansans have elected a Democrat in nearly a century.

Marshall, an OB-GYN, had released his closing argument Sunday in a brief video during which he defended his former medical practice for sending clients who carried unpaid balances to collection agencies. 

Speaking directly to the camera, Marshall said during the one-minute ad, “To ensure that 40,000 Kansans would still have access to care, we did have to keep the lights on. So we occasionally handed some accounts over to a collection agency, just like nearly every private medical practice does.” 

The issue had dogged Marshall’s campaign since the New York Times reported in September that the Kansas doctor had filed lawsuits against more than 700 patients with unpaid bills. Patients were arrested in 81 of the cases for missing court dates.

The patients filed a class action lawsuit against Marshall Thursday, Kansas Reflector reported.

 

In Iowa, Democratic state legislator Turek defeated Hinson, a GOP member of the U.S. House, to win the open Senate seat — delivering another massive setback for Republicans. 

Turek will now be the first Democratic senator to represent Iowa in more than a decade. 

The two-time Paralympic gold medalist and state representative received an early endorsement in July from former President Barack Obama. The two appeared in a campaign ad playing basketball. 

Iowa was Trump’s next-to-last in-person campaign stop on his whirlwind schedule to support midterm candidates in several reliably Republican states.

And in Michigan, El-Sayed kept the the Senate post for Democrats in an open race that the Cook Political Report shifted from “toss-up” to “lean Democrat” on Monday. 

In an unexpected move Sunday, El-Sayed’s primary opponent, Rep. Haley Stevens, endorsed Rogers, a former member of the U.S. House. Stevens told reporters in a joint press conference with Rogers Sunday she changed her mind because “we have to stand with country.”

“We can’t stand with hate, we can’t stand with Hasan Piker,” she said, referring to the far-left influential streamer and known Israel critic who appeared at El-Sayed’s primary campaign events.

The shake-up reportedly shocked many Democrats. 

Schumer called Stevens’ flip a “despicable betrayal” in a post on X Sunday.

The race has been among the ugliest of the 2026 midterm cycle. El-Sayed detractors have accused the former Detroit public health official of antisemitic statements.

Trump and other Republicans, including Rogers, have repeatedly hurled Islamophobic attacks at El-Sayed. Rogers described El-Sayed during an Oct. 26 campaign event as “the most radical extreme candidate in the country” and said he is “pretty close” to the nearly century-old political Islamist group the Muslim Brotherhood, which El-Sayed denies.

Upsets all over the map

In another major upset, Dr. Annie Andrews, a Democrat, won the Senate race in South Carolina, defeating Republican Sen. Darline Graham. 

Graham had been appointed in July to serve out the remainder of her late brother Lindsey Graham’s term.

Andrews will be the first Democratic senator to represent South Carolina in more than 20 years.

Texas voters also delivered another staggering upset in electing Democrat James Talarico by a wide margin over Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. The flip of deep red Texas to blue signified a major blow for Trump, who backed Paxton in the GOP primary over four-term Sen. John Cornyn.

Paxton, who has served as Texas attorney general since 2015, was impeached by the Texas House in May 2023 on charges of bribery, disregard of duties and several other articles of impeachment. The Texas Senate acquitted Paxton of all charges the following September.

Paxton was indicted on state fraud charges in 2015. He reached a $300,000 settlement deal to end the state probe in 2024.

Veteran Republican senator ousted

In an early-morning statement, longtime Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins conceded her Senate seat to a newcomer, Democrat Troy Jackson.

Collins called her nearly 30-year run in the Senate “the honor of my life.”

Jackson entered the race as a late candidate after the Democrats’ initial choice, Graham Platner, ended his campaign in July following multiple allegations of sexual assault.

Jackson was mobbed by national press at his final campaign stop in South Portland. He told reporters he’s very hopeful given “the amount of people turning out, the way things are going, the way people are talking.” 

“In the end, people want change and I think people see me as a change candidate, for what’s going on in this country, I feel really good about it, I really do.”

In North Carolina, in yet another upset that had been predicted in polling, Democratic former Gov. Roy Cooper won the Senate race in the Tar Heel State, flipping the open seat held by retiring Republican Sen. Thom Tillis.

Cooper had faced GOP candidate Michael Whatley, who previously chaired the Republican National Committee and the North Carolina Republican Party. 

Tillis announced in June 2025 he would not seek reelection after Trump vowed to primary him because he voted “no” on the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” the president’s major tax and spending cuts package.

In the Buckeye State, Democratic former Sen. Sherrod Brown won his Senate seat back, defeating incumbent GOP Sen. Jon Husted in another major upset for Republicans.

Brown spent 18 years in the Senate but lost his reelection bid in 2024 to Ohio Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno. 

Husted’s seat was formerly held by Vice President JD Vance before Vance was elected on the Republican presidential ticket with Trump in 2024. 

Trump and Vance headlined multiple rallies throughout Ohio in support of Husted. Trump’s campaign stops for Husted drew attention last month for his repeated remarks about Husted’s physical appearance, with a focus on his backside.

More races

Democratic Sen. Mark Warner retained his seat in Virginia, according to a race call by The Associated Press just after 7 p.m. Eastern. 

Georgia Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff also kept his Senate seat, the AP called shortly before 8 p.m. Eastern.  

Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Ed Markey also kept his Senate spot, the AP called, as did Democratic Sens. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, Chris Coons of Delaware, Cory Booker of New Jersey, John Hickenlooper of Colorado, Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico and Jeff Merkley of Oregon. 

Juliana Stratton, a Democrat, also won the Senate race in Illinois. 

In Minnesota, Peggy Flanagan, a Democrat, won her Senate bid, AP called early Wednesday. 

New Hampshire Democrat Chris Pappas won the Senate race there, keeping a seat that was held by Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the AP called. Pappas ran against Republican John Sununu. 

Republican seats

In Florida, incumbent Republican Sen. Ashley Moody pulled ahead of Democratic candidate Angie Nixon, according to an AP race call, after precincts in the Florida panhandle tallied results. 

The race between Moody and the progressive state representative was unexpectedly close in the Republican stronghold. Progressives flocked to Florida to stump for Nixon, including independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Democratic U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York City. Nixon’s platform was closely aligned with but not identical to the national Democratic Socialists of America.

West Virginia GOP Sen. Shelley Moore Capito won the Senate race in the Mountain State, AP called shortly before 9 p.m. Eastern. 

In another expected win for the GOP, Wyoming Republican U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman cruised to victory for a seat in the upper chamber.

Kentucky GOP U.S. Rep. Andy Barr won his Senate race in the Bluegrass State, AP called.  

In Oklahoma, Republican U.S. Rep. Kevin Hern won a Senate seat in the reliably red state.

In Arkansas, GOP Sen. Tom Cotton won his Senate race, AP called. 

Alabama GOP U.S. Rep. Barry Moore won his Senate bid in the ruby red state.  

In Tennessee, Republican Sen. Bill Hagerty won his Senate race. 

In South Dakota, GOP Sen. Mike Rounds won his Senate race, AP called early Wednesday. 

In Louisiana, GOP U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow won her Senate bid in the Pelican State.

In Idaho, Republican Sen. Jim Risch was reelected.

And in Nebraska, Republican Pete Ricketts prevailed over independent challenger Dan Osborn.

Ahead of Election Day, the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter had identified close contests in Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Ohio and Texas. 

Trump’s Republican party vied to hold on to its narrow majority in the House and maintain control in the Senate, where the party currently holds 53 Senate seats. Tuesday’s results delivered Democrats the majority in the upper chamber.

In Alaska, which remained to be called Wednesday morning, former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola is up against incumbent GOP Sen. Dan S. Sullivan in Alaska. 

Trump’s Department of Justice preemptively sued the state’s election officials to try to block them from certifying the Senate election results if Dan S. Sullivan loses by a smaller margin than the number of votes cast for Dan J. Sullivan.

A federal judge in Alaska dismissed the case Sunday, citing the federal government’s failure to explain how it had the authority to bring the case.

Dan J. Sullivan’s candidacy was challenged earlier in the year in state court, and Alaska’s Supreme Court ruled in June he could remain on the ballot.

The Trump administration vowed to appeal.

The New York Times reported Oct. 28 that Democratic operatives recruited Dan J. Sullivan to be a spoiler candidate. States Newsroom has not independently verified the allegations. 

Peltola denied any knowledge of the alleged scheme, according to Alaska Beacon.

Jennifer Shutt , Jonathan Shorman and Eesha Pendharkar contributed to this report.