Democrats won control of the U.S. Senate and appeared poised to take the House of Representatives in a sweeping midterm-election victory, according to projections. The results marked a sharp rebuke of President Trump, whose policies and endorsement of Republican candidates shaped many of the races.
Democrats flipped Senate seats in Republican strongholds including Texas, South Carolina, Ohio, Iowa and Kansas, where the party won for the first time in more than 90 years. In Texas, state legislator James Talarico defeated Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, despite Paxton’s endorsement from Trump. Democrats also captured the Texas governor’s race for the first time in more than 30 years.
The party made gains in the House as well, including in Kentucky, and had more than a 95 percent chance of winning a healthy majority, according to projections.
Democratic candidates tied economic hardship and the war in Iran to Trump’s leadership. Republicans, defending seats in traditionally conservative states, portrayed Democrats as extreme on social issues. Trump had urged supporters to treat the election as a referendum on him. As Democratic wins emerged, he wrote on social media: “I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!”
In an interview with The New York Times, Trump said he was “absolutely willing to accept those results” and prepared to work with Democrats.
Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, lost her seat of three decades on Wednesday to Troy Jackson, a Democratic former state legislator, according to a New York Times projection. The defeat ended the run of the sole sitting Republican member of Congress from New England.
In Michigan: Dr. Abdul El-Sayed will become the nation’s first Muslim senator. He triumphed in one of the country’s most bitter and expensive races, keeping his party in control of a crucial seat.
In Michigan: Dr. Abdul El-Sayed will become the nation’s first Muslim senator. He triumphed in one of the country’s most bitter and expensive races, keeping his party in control of a crucial seat.
The races also produced several historic firsts. Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former Atlanta mayor, became the first Black woman elected governor in U.S. history. Chris Pappas’s victory in New Hampshire will make him the first openly gay male U.S. senator, and Deb Haaland will become the first Native American woman to serve as a governor.
Some results remained outstanding, with Alaska’s last polling places scheduled to close at 1 a.m. Eastern time Wednesday. Full results could take days or longer, though turnout appeared strong nationwide.
Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia, who won re-election, said voters had delivered “sweeping and decisive victories” and “rebuked the depravity, corruption and incompetence” of Trump’s administration.