New Delhi: The Democratic Party has taken control of the US Senate as the American electorate strongly rebukes President Donald J. Trump and the Republican Party.
The Democrats flipped at least six seats in the Senate—long-considered to be Republican strongholds—including Texas and Kansas, according to the Associated Press. The party is also in pole position to take control of the House of Representatives, as its candidates win across the country, flipping seats long held by Republicans.
The party’s success is also seen across the ballot, with Democratic candidates for the positions of governor winning in Texas, Ohio, Iowa and Georgia, underlining the anger against Trump’s policies—from the war with Iran, to affordability and immigration. The Democratic Party last held both the House and Senate between 2021 and 2023.
Trump, who has in the past refused to recognise election outcomes, told The New York Times that he is willing to “accept those results”. The White House, however, remained defiant, with Trump’s first public comments highlighting that he “wasn’t on the ballot” and that if he was, the Republican Party would have won in a “landslide”.
The US President later posted an image of a red cap with the word “veto” on Truth Social, highlighting the possible showdown between the Congress and the White House in the next two years.
Big wins in Texas
The night of 3 November has seemingly brought the biggest success for the Democrats in Texas, where they have long dreamt of winning a Senate seat. The second-most populous state in the US has long been held by the Republican Party. The last Democratic candidate to win Texas was Lloyd Bentsen in 1988.
Bentsen’s victory had come months before James Talarico, the new Democrat Senator-elect for Texas was even born. Talarico defeated Ken Paxton, the Republican scandal-ridden Attorney General of the state, who was backed by Trump.
In another flip, Gina Hinojosa became the first Democrat to win the race for the governor’s mansion in Texas, ousting incumbent three-time Republican governor Gregg Abbott. Trump blamed Abbott for becoming a “Republican in name only (RINO)” for his loss in Texas.
The mid-term elections are the first major elections faced by the Republican Party since they won the tri-fecta—control of the House, Senate and White House in 2024. Holding 53 seats in the Senate going into the elections, the Democrats had to flip at least six Republican-held seats to win a majority, which had seemed challenging at the start of the year.
However, the rise of gas prices across the country, coupled with an affordability crisis has frustrated voters. Trump’s war with Iran has caused global energy prices to rise, which has had an impact on the American electorate.
The Democrats focused on the rise in prices, while the Republican Party focused its messaging on highlighting the extremist positions of their opponents in their bids to win control of Congress. The former’s messaging has convinced voters to choose its candidates, despite the dissatisfaction felt against the party just a couple of years ago, when the party in control of White House and Senate had lost control of both to the Republicans.
Other key gains for Democrats
In other major victories, Democratic candidate Adam Hamilton has been projected to win the Senate seat in Kansas by the Associated Press. Hamilton will be the first Democrat to win a senate seat from Kansas since 1932. Trump had won the state by over 16 points in 2024, and was considered to be a safe Republican seat.
Similarly, Sherrod Brown, the former Democratic Senator from Ohio, defeated Republican Jon Husted to make a comeback to the Senate. Husted had been appointed to the Senate in 2025, following a vacancy in the seat after J.D. Vance was elected as the Vice President of the US.
Brown was a three-term senator from Ohio, who was defeated in 2024, as the Republican Party had flipped a number of blue seats red. Reacting to his victory, Brown thanked the voters of Ohio, posting on X, “Let’s get to work.”
With the current results as projected by AP, the Democrats have control of 51 seats in the Senate, while Republicans are in control of 40. Another eight races are to be called as counting continues.
Ohio also saw another big Democratic victory, with Amy Acton winning the race for the next governor of the state. Acton defeated Vivek Ramaswamy, the Indian-origin candidate for Republican Party. Ramaswamy, who was a part of Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and a former Republican Presidential candidate, has conceded to Acton.
The race had witnessed some controversy as Ramaswamy had released an advertisement featuring Acton’s mother calling the Democratic nominee a “liar” over sexual assault allegations against her step-father. Acton’s step-father Cledith Arthur was charged in the case, but had fled to a different state and died in 2004. The advertisement was met with anger from large parts of the political space in the US. Trump had, however, doubled down on the advertisement, defending Ramaswamy’s use of it during the campaign.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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