(OpGov Global) - Two years ago, Donald Trump carried Texas by nearly 14 points. On Tuesday, the state sent a Democrat to the U.S. Senate by 12.
Note: Shading shows the 2026 winner's margin. Where a margin had not been reported by Nov. 5, the state is shaded mid-tone for the winning party. 15 states had no Senate race in 2026.
That 26-point reversal was the biggest of the night, but it was no outlier. In 17 of the 18 decided Senate races with reported margins, the non-Republican candidate ran ahead of Kamala Harris's 2024 showing. The median swing was 16 points. Republicans, meanwhile, had not flipped a single House, Senate or governor's seat as of Wednesday.
The result is a Congress in Democratic hands. The party picked up seven Senate seats, in Texas, North Carolina, Ohio, Kansas, South Carolina, Iowa and Maine, and now holds at least 54. In the House, the latest count gave Democrats 240 seats, with races still being tallied. In Iowa alone, Republicans lost three of four House seats.
The flips came in places the party had all but written off. Roy Cooper won North Carolina by nearly 20 points in a state Trump took by 3, the first Democratic Senate win there since 2008. Kansas, which has not sent a Democrat to the Senate in nearly a century, elected Adam Hamilton. In South Carolina, Annie Andrews beat Sen. Darline Graham in a race rated Lean Republican going in. Jon Ossoff, the only Democratic incumbent defending a Trump state, won Georgia by 18.
Even Republican wins came with a warning. Tennessee's Bill Hagerty won by 12 in a state Trump carried by 30. Shelley Moore Capito held West Virginia by 20, less than half of Trump's 42-point margin.
The one place the map stood still was Maine. Troy Jackson unseated Susan Collins by 6.9 points, almost exactly Harris's 2024 margin. For decades Collins survived by outrunning her state's Democratic lean. This year she stopped outrunning it.
Republicans spent Wednesday looking for someone to blame. Vice President JD Vance pointed to the war with Iran. Ted Cruz called Talarico to congratulate him and described the results as a "blue tsunami." House Speaker Mike Johnson said he would not run for minority leader.
Three Senate races remain open. In Mississippi, a few dozen votes separate the candidates. Alaska is nearly as close. In Nebraska, Pete Ricketts leads by about 7 points with ballots outstanding, in a state Trump won by 20.
Whatever those counts produce, the verdict is in. Two years after handing Republicans full control of Washington, voters took Congress back.
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