Democrats have won control of Congress in Tuesday’s 2026 midterm elections in a widespread repudiation of President Donald Trump and the Republican Party, a drubbing that reached deep into reliable GOP territory. The Associated Press called Alabama's Governor's race for Republican Tommy Tuberville just after midnight.
“Tonight, Alabama decided to win,” said Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who was elected Alabama governor.
“In the face of blue waves, which we’ve had tonight, unfortunately, this staff has stood up to the pressure and said, ‘not in my Alabama,’” Tuberville said at his victory party in Auburn, the city where he served as a college football coach.
He faced Doug Jones in a rematch of their 2020 Senate race. Jones ran an aggressive campaign And forced Tuberville into a tighter race than Republicans have seen in recent Alabama elections. Tuberville said he would not miss the “clown show” of the Senate. Alabama’s Governor-Elect promises smaller government, more jobs, and local control over whether data centers set up shop in their communities.
Democrats flipped at least seven Senate seats in ruby-red states and battlegrounds alike: Kansas, which hasn’t elected a Democratic senator in nearly a century, Iowa, Texas, Ohio, Maine, North Carolina and South Carolina. They held on to battleground seats in Georgia and Michigan. In the House, Democrats flipped more than two dozen districts, some that voted for Trump by double digits in 2024.
In Alabama, the Associated Press called the race for U.S. House a “race to watch.” Democrat Shomari Figures won in a voting district GOP lawmakers intended to favor conservatives following the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Louisiana v. Calais. APR news spent eight months investigating the issues surrounding the original District 2, which had previously ordered Alabama to create a “minority majority” voting map. Following Figure’s win in that older District, the Congress was interviewed on “APR Notebook.”
Democrats Keisha Lance Bottoms in Georgia, Amy Acton in Ohio, Rob Sand in Iowa and Gina Hinojosa in Texas won races for governor, flipping GOP-held offices.
Trump faces a profoundly reshaped Washington for the last two years of his presidency. Democrats will have the power to block his legislative agenda, reject his appointees and investigate his administration. After telling voters repeatedly to “pretend I’m on the ballot,” Trump tried to shift the blame away from himself, saying Democrats “did a good job” in their campaigns and blaming GOP candidates for losses. Most voters appear to blame his administration for high costs and want Congress to impose more checks on him, according to The AP Voter Poll.
How Trump and Republicans lost the 2026 midterm elections, according to The AP Voter Poll
After more than a decade with Donald Trump at the epicenter of U.S. politics, most voters appear exhausted and exasperated by him, according to The AP Voter Poll, a survey of midterm voters in all 50 states.
The president’s failure to deliver on key promises — most prominently, his vows to tame inflation, which has worsened instead — clearly weighed on his fellow Republicans in Tuesday’s midterm elections for the House and the Senate. The polling shows that voters generally saw Trump as being more focused on his own fortune and gold-leafed existence than their needs.
The president also helped elevate candidates with obvious flaws, amplifying their struggles in an already challenging year.
But the poll also contains a serious note of caution for Democrats. Many voters dislike the party — and while Democrats hold an advantage on key issues such as the economy, their edge is relatively slim. About 7 in 10 voters said that Congress isn’t doing enough to provide checks and balances for the president, setting the bar for Democrats who won back the Senate and the House.
‘A new era in world relations,’ South African leader says
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa says the Democrats taking control of the House and the Senate in the U.S. midterms is going to “introduce a new era in world relations.”
Ramaphosa says he hopes South Africa will be able to improve its bilateral relationship with the United States after his country became a target for criticism during President Donald Trump’s second term.
Trump’s Republican administration has made several moves against South Africa’s government, which he has baselessly accused of discriminating against its white minority. Those moves include excluding South Africa from meetings of the Group of 20 countries this year in the U.S. and suspending it from AGOA, a key U.S.-Africa trade program.
Democrat Aaron Ford wins election for governor in Nevada
Democrat Aaron Ford won election Wednesday as governor of Nevada, defeating Republican incumbent Joe Lombardo.
Ford, the attorney general, defeated the incumbent Lombardo in what was considered one of the country’s most competitive governor’s races.
Ford ran with the backing of the Democratic congressional delegation, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Vice President Kamala Harris.
He focused his winning campaign on affordability issues and blamed President Donald Trump and Lombardo for Nevadans’ economic woes. He easily dispatched a more progressive challenger in the primary, insisting the party’s left wing doesn’t represent all Democrats. Ford will be the state’s first Black governor.
Democrat Susie Lee wins reelection to U.S. House in Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District
Democrat Susie Lee won election Wednesday to the U.S. House of Representatives representing Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District, defeating Republican Marty O’Donnell.
Lee won a fifth term representing Nevada’s most competitive district that includes part of metro Las Vegas and rural Clark County and which President Donald Trump won in 2024.
First elected in 2018, Lee campaigned as a moderate and highlighted her bipartisan record. She has been frequently targeted by Republicans. O’Donnell is a retired composer best known for his work on the “Halo” video game series. He was endorsed by Trump in the Republican primary.
Democrat Tina Kotek wins reelection for governor in Oregon
Democrat Tina Kotek won election Wednesday as governor of Oregon, defeating Republican Christine Drazan. Kotek, the incumbent governor, previously served as Oregon’s House speaker and has frequently sparred with President Donald Trump’s administration.
She campaigned on a pledge to tackle homelessness, mental health and education. She defeated Drazan, a Republican state senator, for a second time; the two also faced off in 2022.
Tight race playing out in fight to lead Los Angeles City Hall
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and fellow Democrat Nithya Raman were tightly matched in early returns, as voters weighed whether to replace the embattled incumbent with a challenger backed by the Democratic Socialists of America.
The outcome will determine whether the nation’s second most populous city will follow the lead of New York, where democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani was elected mayor last year.
In a fiery speech to cheering supporters, a confident Bass shouted, “We will achieve victory. I love Los Angeles.”
A broadly smiling Raman told supporters “I’m very hopeful” and urged them to dance with her at an election night party.
The first votes counted after polls closed showed Bass with a slight lead. But in each of several small updates to the count, Raman gained ground and the candidates were nearly even by midnight, with a little more than half of the estimated votes counted.
Nevada’s last voter casts a ballot 5 hours after polls close
Nevada didn’t release its first batch of results until midnight — five hours after polls closed.
In accordance with state law, results are not released until the last voter has cast a ballot. The polls closed at 7 p.m. PST, but election locations saw longer than normal wait times due to a large turnout, as well as an extra step in the election process. The last voter finished before midnight, the Nevada secretary of state’s office announced.
Idaho voters reject abortion-rights ballot measure
Voters in Republican-heavy Idaho have rejected a ballot measure that would have created abortion rights in state law.
Current Idaho law bans abortions unless necessary to save the life of a pregnant woman, or during the first trimester of pregnancy in cases where rape or incest has been reported to law enforcement.
The ballot measure would have allowed abortions until fetal
viability, which is generally considered after 21 weeks of pregnancy.
It would have allowed later abortions for medical emergencies.
Voters in more than one-fifth of the states have approved abortion-rights ballot measures since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a nationwide right to abortion in 2022. But abortion measures have failed previously in some Republican-leaning states such as Florida and South Dakota.
Democrat Abdul El-Sayed wins election to US Senate from Michigan
Abdul El-Sayed, a former public health official, will succeed Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, who is retiring. El-Sayed will be the country’s first Muslim senator. El-Sayed had defeated Rep. Haley Stevens in a razor-thin primary despite her massive fundraising advantage and support from Democratic establishment figures who warned that El-Sayed was a risky bet in November.
His victory over Republican Mike Rogers, a former congressman, will likely embolden progressives by demonstrating success in a battleground state.
Alaska’s Mary Peltola sidesteps controversy in speech to supporters
Democrat Mary Peltola and Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan are the major candidates in the closely watched U.S. Senate race in Alaska.
The race’s final days were roiled by allegations Peltola’s campaign appeared to be involved in recruiting a second candidate named Dan Sullivan to run. Peltola denied involvement.
She seemed to allude to the controversy, telling supporters that she was looking out on a room of “smart people and know exactly who they’re voting for.”
While Democrats won control of Congress before polls closed in Alaska, Sullivan asked his supporters to be patient. Alaska accepts ballots from overseas voters up to 15 days after the election.
While there was a “blue wave” in the Lower 48, “we’re different, right?” Sullivan said.
,” he said.
