Democrats take both chambers of Congress in a midterm sweep that reaches deep into Trump country

Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress on Tuesday, as Republicans lost deep-red Senate seats in South Carolina, Kansas and Texas as well as House seats nationwide, according to Associated Press projections¹. Republicans lost all of their tossup Senate races¹⁰. Democrats will have at least 54 Senate seats, with two more races still to be settled².

In Iowa, Democratic state Rep. Josh Turek defeated Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, becoming the first Democrat elected to the Senate from the state since 2008 and sealing Democratic control of the chamber³. In Texas, James Talarico defeated Republican Ken Paxton, becoming the first Democrat elected to the Senate from Texas since Lloyd Bentsen in 1988 and giving the party its first statewide win there since 1994⁴. Trump carried Texas by nearly 14 points in 2024⁴. Democrat Gina Hinojosa will move into the Texas governor’s mansion in the new year⁶.

In North Carolina, former two-term governor Roy Cooper defeated Michael Whatley, Trump’s handpicked candidate and a former Republican National Committee chair, flipping one of the state’s two Republican-held Senate seats⁵. Cooper’s campaign focused on lowering the cost of food and groceries¹⁴. In Michigan, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed won election to the Senate¹.

Why it matters to investors

The results amount to a repudiation of Trump’s second-term agenda¹¹ and set the stage for two years of corruption investigations and legislative frustration for a lame-duck president². Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Elon Musk, a former top Trump adviser, are among possible targets for investigations¹⁵.

In the House, Democrats are poised to claim a majority bigger than they had hoped, large enough to insulate party leaders against unruly blocs in the caucus, particularly on the left¹². House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the likely next speaker, is set to preside over a commanding majority after his party swept districts Trump carried by double digits⁷. Rep. Greg Stanton, a leader of the center-left New Democrat Coalition, said the size of the victory “allows him to govern without worrying about being leveraged by anyone”⁷.

Senate Republicans had started the cycle thinking they could expand their majority, counting on a wall of incumbents in Trump-friendly states, on Sen. Susan Collins in Maine and on a vulnerable Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in Georgia⁸.

What to watch

Trump made himself the face of the Republican campaign and is now distancing himself from the outcome¹. On Truth Social he wrote that “I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!” and said he would become “a Political Pundit” on why candidates won and lost⁹. He also said Democrats “did a good job” and blamed Republican candidates for the losses¹⁶.

Former President Obama wrote that voters “want a politics that brings people together rather than divides them”¹. Vice President JD Vance appeared to go quiet on election night¹³. The open questions for markets are how a divided government handles spending and oversight, and which of Trump’s officials and allies the new majorities choose to investigate first^2,15.