Democrats have won control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate in a record-breaking victory, handing Republicans a string of historic defeats. Democrats are projected to win around 225 seats in the House, comfortably surpassing the 218 needed to secure a majority. The party needed to flip just four seats to secure control of the Senate, but seven ultimately changed hands, giving the party 54 seats compared with Republicans' 44. According to the University of Florida’s Election Lab, Americans cast more than 61.7 million ballots before Election Day, marking a new record for early voting in US midterm elections. Midterm election spending hit a record $11.9 billion, up sharply from $8.9 billion in 2022, according to the research group OpenSecrets. Democrats made historic gains in Republican strongholds, including Texas, where James Talarico flipped a Senate seat for the first time since 1988. In Kansas, Adam Hamilton became the first Democrat to win a Senate race in the state in 94 years, defeating Republican opponent Roger Marshall. In Michigan, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed became the first Muslim elected to the upper chamber of Congress after defeating Mike Rogers in the Senate race. The result represents a significant setback for President Donald Trump, with voters expressing concern over key policy issues, including tariffs and the war with Iran.
In a day of historic firsts, Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms of Georgia will become the nation's first Black woman governor, and Hakeem Jeffries is in line to be the first Black Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, due to Democrats' dramatic wave of victories Nov. 3.
