Midterm Election Results 2026: Democrats Win the House and Senate

Democrats are projected to win control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate in the 2026 US midterm elections, held on Tuesday 3 November. Major US news organisations, including CNN, CBS News and NBC News, made the projections overnight. Two Senate races, in Alaska and Mississippi, were still too close to call on Wednesday 4 November.

This article explains the results so far, which seats changed hands, why Alaska and Mississippi are still counting, and what happens next. It will be updated as final results come in.

Key takeaways

• Who won: Democrats are projected to control both chambers of Congress from January 2027.
• Senate: Democrats are projected to hold at least 54 of 100 seats after flipping seven Republican seats, according to CBS News and NBC News.
• House: Democrats are projected to win well over the 218 seats needed for a majority. Network projections put them at roughly 250 to 259 seats, but dozens of races were still uncalled.
• Still uncalled: the Senate races in Alaska and Mississippi, both currently held by Republicans.
• What it means: President Donald Trump will face a Congress controlled by the opposing party for the last two years of his term.

Who won the 2026 midterm elections?

Democrats won the 2026 midterms, according to projections from the major US networks. Before the election, Republicans controlled both chambers: 53 of 100 seats in the Senate and 218 of 435 seats in the House. Democrats needed a net gain of four Senate seats and only a handful of House seats to take control, and the projections show them clearing both bars comfortably.

Commentators across the networks described the result as a strong rebuke of the Trump administration. Midterm elections often go against the president's party, but the size of the Senate swing makes 2026 one of the larger midterm shifts in recent decades.

Senate results 2026: which seats flipped?

Democrats are projected to have gained seven Senate seats previously held by Republicans: Texas, Ohio, Maine, North Carolina, South Carolina, Iowa and Kansas. CBS News projects Democrats at a minimum of 54 seats and Republicans at a minimum of 42, with the remaining two seats undecided.

Results in some of the most-watched races, based on NBC News figures with most votes counted:

State	Projected winner	Defeated	Approx. result
Texas	James Talarico (D)	Ken Paxton (R)	55% to 43%
Ohio (special)	Sherrod Brown (D)	Sen. Jon Husted (R)	50.0% to 45.2%
Maine	Troy Jackson (D)	Sen. Susan Collins (R)	53.8% to 46.1%
North Carolina	Roy Cooper (D)	Michael Whatley (R)	58.7% to 39.1%

Several of these results are historic. Talarico's win makes him the first Democrat to win statewide office in Texas in more than three decades, and Jackson's victory ends Susan Collins's nearly 30-year career in the Senate.

Why are Alaska and Mississippi still uncalled?

Both races are extremely close, and both states have counting rules that can delay a final result.

Alaska

Democrat Mary Peltola narrowly led Republican Senator Dan Sullivan, by about 48.2% to 47.9% with roughly three quarters of the vote counted, according to NBC News. Alaska accepts mail ballots that arrive up to 18 November, and the state uses ranked-choice voting, so the final result may not be known for about two weeks. If Peltola wins, she would be the first Democrat to win a Senate race in Alaska since 2008.

Mississippi

Mississippi is the closest Senate race of the night. The two candidates were separated by only a few dozen votes, with CNN reporting a gap of just 43 votes at one point. Mississippi has no runoff for this race, so the candidate with the most votes wins, and a recount requires a court order. That means the result could end up being decided by provisional ballots or in the courts.

What the two races mean for the final count

Because both seats are held by Republicans, the outcome only changes the size of the Democratic majority, not who controls the Senate. Depending on Alaska and Mississippi, Democrats will hold between 54 and 56 seats.

House results 2026: how big is the Democratic majority?

A party needs 218 of the 435 House seats for a majority. Democrats are projected to pass that comfortably, but the exact size of their majority is still unclear because dozens of races had not been called on Wednesday morning. CBS News projected Democrats could reach around 259 seats and NBC News at least 258, though both said the final number could be lower.

Gains came across the country, including two Republican-held seats in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania's 8th and 10th districts, according to CBS News. Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries is in line to become Speaker of the House when the new Congress meets.

What happens next?

• Counting continues: states will keep counting mail and provisional ballots over the coming days and weeks. Alaska's count runs to at least 18 November.
• Certification: each state certifies its own results, usually in late November or December.
• New Congress: the newly elected Congress is sworn in on 3 January 2027. Until then, the current Republican majorities stay in place.
• Divided government: from January, President Trump will need Democratic votes to pass legislation, and Democratic committee chairs will be able to launch investigations and hold hearings.

How did markets react?

Wall Street rallied on the results. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose about 1,240 points (2.4%) on 4 November, its best day since April, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each gained around 1.4%, according to CNN. Investors often welcome divided government because it makes big policy shifts less likely. AI and data centre stocks were the exception, falling on expectations of tougher scrutiny. We look at that in more detail in our analysis of what the new Congress means for AI and Big Tech.

Results in this article are projections from US news organisations as of 4 November 2026 and may change as counting finishes. For official results, check the Associated Press and state election offices.