This year’s midterm elections are among the most influential midterms in the history of the United States. Polls indicated a blue wave and were met with a tsunami—the size of Texas.
Democrats won in nearly every battleground state and overturned seven seats. Democratic candidate James Talarico flipped Texas blue, becoming the only Democrat to do so in 32 years. He defeated Republican candidate Ken Paxton in the process. In addition, Gina Hinojosa (D-Texas) flipped the governor seat, making her the first Latina to be elected governor of the state.
Just north of Texas, the state of Kansas elected its first democratic senator since the Great Depression. Democratic candidate, Adam Hamilton, defeated GOP incumbent Roger Marshall. This win for Democrats is detrimental to the Republican party, who held the seat for almost a full century.
Both North and South Carolina went blue. South Carolina’s democratic candidate Annie Andrews defeated the state’s incumbent, Darline Graham and sister of late-senator Lindsey Graham. North Carolina saw Democratic candidate Roy Cooper defeat Republican candidate Michael Whatley by a difference of nearly 20%.
In Maine, Democratic candidate Troy Jackson ousted the state’s longest-running incumbent senator (since 1997), Susan Collins.
Georgia re-elected incumbent Democratic senator Jon Ossoff.
Iowa saw the first democratic Senate win since 2008 with Josh Turek defeating Republican candidate Ashley Hinson. This is yet another red seat flipped blue in this year’s midterm elections.
Democratic candidate Chris Pappas defeated Republican candidate John Sununu in New Hampshire.
In Minnesota, Democratic candidate Peggy Flanagan beat Republican Michele Tafoya.
Republican incumbent Jon Husted was beaten by Democratic candidate Sherrod Brown in the Ohio special election senate race. This was a huge Democratic victory in Vice President JD Vance’s home state.
Nebraska was the only race that resulted in a Republican victory in battleground states thus far. Republican Senator and incumbent Pete Ricketts retained his seat in the senate, defeating independent candidate Dan Osborn.
Mississippi and Alaska are both still too close to call as the final votes are counted in the two states. Scott Colom, the Democratic candidate for Mississippi, is currently ahead of Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith by 2,493 votes. Democratic candidate Mary Peltola is ahead of Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan (not to be confused with the independent Alaskan candidate Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.) by 637 votes with just 74.1% of expected votes in.
While complete results from the 2026 midterms are still filing in as votes are counted, the Democrats currently have complete control over both the house and the senate. Swinging violently from the entirely Republican-controlled Senate and House after the 2022 midterm elections,the Democrats have 54 seats in the Senate and 259 estimated seats in the House. The Republicans have 44 seats in the Senate and 176 seats in the House.
These midterms also saw quite a few firsts for the nation as well. Colorado’s first district saw Melat Kiros as the first Black Gen Z congresswoman to be elected—a race Kiros won by 195,087 votes.
Florida elected Republican Byron Donalds who will serve as the first Black governor. Donalds was heavily endorsed by President Trump. Donalds is set to take over former right-wing governor Ron DeSantis’ role after defeating Democratic candidate David Jolly by 107,110 votes as of Nov. 7.
In Georgia, Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms is set to be the first Black and the first female governor elected to the position in the state. Bottoms, who was the former Mayor of Atlanta during the COVID-19 pandemic, defeated Republican Rick Jackson by about 362,000 votes.
New Mexico elected Deb Haaland, the first female Native American governor. Haaland was the former interior secretary under Joe Biden from 2020 to 2024.
In addition to Haaland being the first Native American woman elected governor, Peggy Flannagan of Minnesota became the first female Native American elected to the Senate.
In New Hampshire, Democratic candidate Chris Pappas became the first openly gay man elected to the Senate. Pappas was also the first openly gay man from New Hampshire elected to the House of Representatives in 2018. Pappas defeated the former Republican Sen. John Sununu by 87,380 votes.
Democrats saw several major victories across the nation in the 2026 midterms. The Democrats, who flipped “untouchable” states like Texas and Kansas blue, relied on Trump’s low approval rating, unpopularity surrounding the Iran war and high gas prices to take complete control of the House and Senate for the remainder of Trump’s presidency.
