Democrats claim House control and gain Senate seats in midterm results

Democrats secured a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives and won their first Senate pickup in South Carolina on Tuesday night. Annie Andrews defeated Darline Graham in the South Carolina Senate race, a victory that gave Democrats one of the four seats they need to take control of the chamber. Graham had been appointed to the seat following the death of her brother, Senator Lindsey Graham. Analysts had considered that seat safe for Republicans just months prior.

In North Carolina, former Governor Roy Cooper won the open Senate seat against Michael Whatley, a Republican Party insider. This result marked the second of the four Senate flips required for Democratic control. Attention now turns to vote counts in Texas, Kansas, and Ohio, where Democrats hold Republican-held seats. CBS News, the BBC's US partner, rated the Texas and Kansas Senate races as leaning Democrat.

The shift in power was driven by high Democratic turnout, particularly among Black voters in the South and Hispanic voters in Florida. In majority Black counties in South Carolina, Andrews outperformed the 2024 presidential numbers of Kamala Harris. In Miami-Dade County, a district President Donald Trump carried in 2024, Democratic candidates are leading.

Florida Republicans lost three House seats they had redrawn to favor their party. The state legislature had adjusted boundaries to make those races easier for Republicans, but Democrats took all three. Other House races in Florida that were expected to be comfortable Republican wins are now close contests. Democrats also flipped open House seats in western North Carolina and Kentucky and are positioned for gains in Virginia and Indiana.

Republican Senator Ashley Moody won re-election in Florida, and Congressman Byron Donalds won the governor's race. The Texas governor's race, where incumbent Greg Abbott was a heavy favorite last year, is now a toss-up. Early results from the American heartland suggest the trend seen on the East Coast may extend further inland.

The Democratic gains represent the first House majority for the party since 2022. The results indicate a shift in voter sentiment against President Trump and the Republican Party. The specific extent of the Democratic wave in Republican-leaning areas remains to be determined by final vote counts in key states.