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US midterm elections 2026 live updates: Democrats win control of Congress as voters punish Trump

Democrats flip Senate seats in Texas, Iowa, Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina and Ohio; voters reject Trump’s agenda in ‘blue wave’ Track live results from all 50 states Full report: Democrats win control of Congress in ‘blue wave’ Tell us: how do you feel about the US midterm election results?

✦ Extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting•From 12 sources•1 min read•Updated November 4, 2026, 11:42 AM UTC
Key points
  • In a stunning string of victories in Iowa, Texas, and North and South Carolina, Democrats delivered a midterm thrashing repudiating President Trump.
  • In an outcome seen as a backlash to President Donald Trump, Democrats decisively won control of the U.S.
  • midterm elections on Wednesday, flipping key Republican-held seats in Congress.

Donald Trump's Republicans will no longer control the US Congress after the Democrats flipped both chambers in the midterm elections.

Additional details
  • Senate and the House of Representatives in the 2026 midterm elections.
  • 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.
  • Elon Musk's spending may have become a liability as voters in exit polls raised concerns about government corruption and the growing influence of billionaires.
  • The BBC's North America editor Sarah Smith explains how Democratic control of both chambers could affect the last two years of Donald Trump's presidency.

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 — 31 articles from 12 outlets