Democrats make gains in US midterms and win projected House majority
Democrats are projected to take the House, while Senate results show shifts in several states that were not widely expected to change hands.
Key points
- BBC News reports Democrats have taken control of the Senate, with two seats still undecided.
- CBS News projected a Democratic win in the House shortly after 03:00 GMT on Wednesday.
- Democrats held Florida 14, Florida 25 and Florida 22, despite Republican redistricting.
- A poll suggests women voted mainly Democrat, and Hispanic voters in Texas backed the Democratic Senate candidate.
- Two-thirds of voters surveyed said Donald Trump's policies had made economic conditions worse.
According to BBC News, the Democrats have had a strong night in the US midterm elections. The party has taken control of the Senate and is projected to win the House of Representatives. Counting is still under way, so the final size of the House majority is not yet known.
Senate results surprise observers
The Senate results went further than many expected. North Carolina was seen as a likely gain for the Democrats. However, South Carolina, a state long considered deeply Republican, also moved sharply. Texas, Iowa, Ohio and Maine also turned to the Democrats, and Michigan was held by the party.
Read also: US Senate races to watch in the 2026 midterms
Kansas was also part of the shift. BBC News notes that the state had not returned a Democratic senator since 1932. Two seats, in Alaska and Mississippi, remain on a knife edge, so the final Senate picture is not yet clear.
The change was not limited to one region. Some of the largest swings since the 2024 presidential election took place in Texas. There, the Democrats won a Senate seat and the governor’s office. Several counties along the state’s southern border moved by more than 50 percentage points.
House races and Florida redistricting
CBS News, a BBC partner, projected the Democratic win in the House just after 03:00 GMT on Wednesday, which was 22:00 EST on Tuesday. The size of the majority will depend on how the rest of the count goes.
Florida districts 14 and 25 were among the important seats. Democrats held both. This is a setback for Republicans, who had redrawn the boundaries in their favour. Under the new lines, both districts changed from a majority of voters who backed Kamala Harris in 2024 to a majority who backed Donald Trump.
Florida 22 was also redrawn to help Republicans. The Democrats won that seat as well.
What shaped the vote
A large poll of voters suggests that women turned out in high numbers and mostly backed the Democrats. Men were evenly split between the two main parties, according to the same poll.
Hispanic voters appear to have been a key group in Texas. The poll suggests they backed the Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico by 68% to 30% over the Republican candidate Ken Paxton. That is a sharp change from 2024, when an estimated 50% of Hispanic voters backed Donald Trump.
Voters were asked which issues mattered most. Across the country, the economy ranked first, followed by the state of democracy. When asked whether Trump’s policies had affected economic conditions, the poll suggests that about two-thirds said they had made things worse.
Related: US stocks climb as Democrats win midterm control
Frequently asked questions
Have the Democrats won control of the House?
CBS News, a BBC partner, projected a Democratic win in the House shortly after 03:00 GMT on Wednesday. Counting was still continuing, so the size of the majority was not yet clear.
Which Senate seats are still undecided?
According to BBC News, two seats, in Alaska and Mississippi, were still on a knife edge. Their outcomes had not been confirmed in the report.
Why did the Florida districts matter?
Florida 14 and Florida 25 were held by the Democrats, which blocked a Republican effort to redraw boundaries in their favour. Florida 22, also redrawn, was won by the Democrats too.
Sources
- BBC News: How America voted in maps and charts
This article was written with the help of AI from reports by the outlets listed above. See our Editorial Policy. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
