Tuesday 3 November 2026
Democrats stand one seat short of a Senate majority on the races called so far, and three networks project that they have won the House
The Associated Press has called 24 of the 35 Senate races as of 9:30 p.m. Colorado time, 16 for Democrats and 8 for Republicans. With the seats that were not on the ballot, Democrats hold 50 Senate seats and Republicans hold 39, and 11 races are still uncalled. Democrats need 51 seats to control the Senate, and the Associated Press has not called control of either chamber. In the House, the Associated Press had called races for 143 Democrats and 86 Republicans as of 11 p.m. Eastern, and NBC News, CBS News and CNN have each projected that Democrats will win a majority. Speaker Mike Johnson, speaking in Shreveport, Louisiana, acknowledged that Republicans had lost the House.
Five Republican Senate seats have changed hands. The Associated Press called North Carolina for former Governor Roy Cooper early in the evening and South Carolina for Annie Andrews at 8:39 p.m. Colorado time, and late in the evening it called Texas for James Talarico, Kansas for Adam Hamilton and Ohio for Sherrod Brown. Each of those seats was held by a Republican when the day began. Democrats defended every seat of their own that the Associated Press has called, including Jon Ossoff in Georgia, the one seat Republicans seriously targeted.
The Senate now turns on a short list. Michigan, Maine, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, Montana, Alaska, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi and South Dakota are still uncalled in the Associated Press results as of 9:30 p.m. Colorado time. Decision Desk HQ and NBC News have projected Iowa for Democrat Josh Turek over Republican Representative Ashley Hinson. The Associated Press has not called Iowa. If the Iowa projection holds, Democrats reach 51 seats and take the Senate. Michigan election officials have said the state's results are not expected until Wednesday, and Alaska counts mail ballots over 10 to 15 days, so a final Senate call may not come tonight.
The House moved faster. NBC News projected that Democrats will win at least 244 seats, well past the 218 needed for a majority, and CBS News and CNN made the same projection. The Associated Press calls House control only when one party reaches 218 called seats, and neither party is there in its count as of 9:30 p.m. Colorado time. Johnson told supporters in Shreveport that the loss was not enough to defy history, and he thanked President Trump and Vice President JD Vance for their work to keep the majority. Trump told the New York Times on Tuesday night that he will accept the results of the midterm elections.
Republicans went into the night holding the House 218 to 214 and the Senate 53 to 47. A Democratic House gains subpoena power and control of the spending bills for the last two years of Trump's second term, and a Democratic Senate would control confirmations, including any Supreme Court nomination. The White House has been preparing since April for governing under a Democratic Congress, as this site reported on Sunday, working out which parts of the president's program can move on executive power alone.
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