Democrats have regained control of the US Senate, routing Republicans nationwide with historic victories that will give them powerful new leverage over Donald Trump for the remainder of his presidency.
Democrats will soon have the ability to hold up not just Trump’s legislative agenda, but also any appointments he makes to his cabinet or the federal judiciary – including the supreme court, where conservatives have a 6-3 majority.
Together with their likely triumph in the House of Representatives, Democrats are expected to have full control of Congress beginning next year, for the first time since 2022.
The party regained control of the Senate after their candidates won in a host of states where they hadn’t had success in years, if not decades, including South Carolina, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Iowa and Kansas, according to the Associated Press.
Vote counting is ongoing in Minnesota and Michigan – where the party hopes to hold seats vacated by retiring Democrats – as well as Maine, where Susan Collins is the last Republican senator representing a blue state. Democrats also hope to unseat two-term Republican Dan Sullivan in Alaska, but the result in that race may take days to be decided.
Republican also failed to unseat Democrats in New Hampshire and Georgia, which had backed Trump in 2024.
Democrats lost control of the Senate in 2024, when voters sent Trump back to the White House and gave his allies a 53-seat majority.
In the wake of that election, it seemed unlikely that Democrats would be back in charge anytime soon – most states scheduled to hold Senate elections in 2026 were strongholds of one party or another, and the tendency of voters to split their tickets between parties in congressional elections has declined in recent years.
Democrats initially named as their Senate targets Republican-held seats in North Carolina, Ohio, Alaska and Maine. The GOP, meanwhile, hoped to claim Democratic-held seats in Georgia and Michigan – both of which voted for Trump – as well as New Hampshire and Minnesota, which Harris carried by relatively weak margins.
Circumstances appeared to move in Democrats’ favor as Trump’s second term got underway. His approval ratings slumped over time, particularly on handling of the economy and immigration, which were previously two of his best issues.
His decision to attack Iran and send federal agents to conduct highly public immigration raids, which resulted in the killings of two US citizens in Minneapolis, further alienated voters. As gas prices rose due to the conflict in the Middle East, Democrats became confident about winning Senate elections in Texas, Kansas and Iowa.
Kansas has not sent a Democrat to the Senate since 1932, and Texas since 1988. In South Carolina, it’s been 38 years since a Democrat won a Senate race, while in Iowa and North Carolina, it’s been 18 years
Trump’s meddling in the Republican primaries also appeared to backfire. He condemned North Carolina’s Republican senator Thom Tillis for opposing his main domestic policy legislation, leading him to announce his retirement. The Democratic nominee, former governor Roy Cooper, easily won the race to replace him.
Trump also endorsed scandal-plagued Texas attorney general Ken Paxton over the state’s longtime US senator John Cornyn, causing the incumbent to lose his primary, and giving Democrats what they believed to be a rare opening in one of the country’s most influential Republican strongholds. Democratic state representative James Talarico won that seat by a double-digit margin, according to the AP.
