Democrats won full control of the US Congress in a sweeping midterm rout Tuesday with a landslide of upsets that delivered a crushing rebuke of President Donald Trump and his Republican Party.
The victory handed Democrats both the House of
Representatives and Senate, giving them power to block Trump’s agenda and
investigate alleged corruption for the last two years of his presidency.
The vote reflected deep anger over living costs, tariffs and
Trump’s war against Iran, which has sent fuel prices soaring and compounded
dissatisfaction with an already deeply unpopular president.
Trump struck a conciliatory note despite his history of
questioning election results, telling The New York Times: “I am absolutely
willing to accept those results” and promising to “work with the Democrats.”
But minutes later on social media the 80-year-old signaled
how he intends to deal with Democratic attempts to pass laws, posting a picture
of a red baseball cap emblazoned: “VETO.”
The Democrats’ decisive Senate breakthroughs came in Kansas
and Iowa, the fifth and sixth Republican-held seats to fall in the
extraordinary “blue wave” election night.
In Kansas, Methodist minister Adam Hamilton defeated
Republican incumbent Roger Marshall, becoming the first Democrat elected to the
Senate from the reliably conservative state since 1932.
Iowa had not elected a Democratic senator since 2008, again
illustrating the scale of party’s inroads into Republican strongholds.
The upsets followed victories in Texas, South Carolina,
North Carolina and Ohio, where voters rejected Republican candidates despite
Trump’s intensive efforts to rally his supporters.
Texas was a political bombshell.
Democrat James Talarico ousted a Trump-backed Senate
candidate, while Gina Hinojosa unseated Republican governor Greg Abbott, ending
decades of Republican control of the state’s top office.
Democrats also protected key Senate seats of their own,
including Jon Ossoff’s in Georgia and an open seat in New Hampshire.
Republicans had held a 53-47 Senate majority.
The six-seat Democratic gain proved sufficient for networks
to project a takeover despite some races remaining unresolved.
– Republican heartland –
Democrats also captured the House after flipping
Republican-held districts in states stretching from Pennsylvania and New Jersey
to Kentucky, Arizona and North Carolina.
Some victories came in territory Trump had carried
comfortably in 2024, despite Republican attempts to shore up House seats by
redrawing electoral boundaries.
One bellwether was Indiana, where Democrat J.D. Ford
defeated Republican congresswoman Victoria Spartz in a district Trump won by 17
points. Analysts had identified an upset there as a warning of a much wider
Democratic advance.
In Georgia, former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms became
the first Black woman elected governor in US history, while other Democratic
gains extended to statehouses across the country.
Republicans had some bright spots in Florida, where
Trump-backed Byron Donalds won the governorship, becoming the state’s first
Black governor, and Ashley Moody kept a Senate seat.
George Washington University professor Todd Belt called the
Democratic advance “a big wipeout and a strong repudiation of Donald Trump and
his policies,” citing voters’ concerns about the economy, corruption and the
Iran conflict.
– Trump on defensive –
Democrats will now be able to block Trump’s legislation,
investigate his administration over corruption allegations, the Iran war and
immigration enforcement, and use Senate control to thwart judicial appointments
and senior nominations.
Robert Garcia, a Democrat expected to lead the powerful
House Oversight Committee, warned Republicans on social media: “LAWYER UP.”
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries declared Trump’s
MAGA movement “on the run from sea to shining sea.”
Jeffries is also positioned to become the first Black
speaker of the House when the new Congress convenes in January, if elected by
his colleagues.
For many voters, the central concern was Trump’s stewardship
of the economy.
“Rent, groceries, utility bills, and property taxes keep
climbing,” 24-year-old Los Angeles voter Taylor Cook told AFP.
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