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Politics

Democrats Win South Carolina Senate Seat

Our national political correspondent Shane Goldmacher explains why this wasn’t a surprise, and why it’s one of at least four seats the party needs to win to secure a majority in the Senate.

✦ Extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting•From 4 sources•1 min read•Updated November 4, 2026, 2:53 PM UTC
Key points
  • This is the first time in 20 years that a Republican president has lost both houses of US Congress.
  • The Democrats flipped their first Senate seat of the night.
  • Former Representative Elaine Luria won back her seat in the state’s tidewater region from Representative Jen Kiggans, the Republican who beat her four years ago.

The Democratic Party gained control of the House and Senate, delivering a stinging rebuke to US President Donald Trump and his Republican Party.

Treasury yields moved lower on Wednesday as investors weighed big wins from Democrats in the U.S.

Additional details
  • In the first big surprise of election night, Senator Darline Graham, a Republican, lost her seat to a Democratic challenger in South Carolina.

How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →

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Every article behind this summary — 6 articles from 4 outlets

CNBCNovember 4, 2026, 2:53 PM UTC → DW NewsNovember 4, 2026, 12:45 PM UTC → Al JazeeraNovember 4, 2026, 10:39 AM UTC → NYT PoliticsNovember 4, 2026, 5:27 AM UTC → NYT PoliticsNovember 4, 2026, 5:13 AM UTC → NYT PoliticsNovember 4, 2026, 3:34 AM UTC →

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