Democrats are on track to make big gains in gubernatorial elections; They achieved victories in Ohio, Texas, Iowa, Georgia and Wisconsin, according to American media estimates, while it is still too early to determine the results of a number of other races until Wednesday morning.
Two female candidates made history. In Georgia, Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms became the first black woman elected to the position of governor in the country. In Texas, Democrat Gina Inhosa became the first female governor of Latin origin in the state's history, after defeating the current Republican governor, according to what Reuters reported.
The election included 36 gubernatorial races in all, with President Donald Trump's unpopularity and the cost of living at the top of voters' concerns, along with domestic issues ranging from water rights to data centers to cancer rates.
If Democrats can achieve a net gain of at least two seats, they will lead a majority of states for the first time since 2010. Here are eight key elections for governor:
Texas
Inhosa, a member of the Texas House of Representatives, defeated Governor Greg Abbott to become the first Democrat elected to the position since 1990, and also became the first Hispanic governor in the state's history.
Enohosa was an unexpected challenger for one of the country's best-known and best-funded Republican governors. According to the Texas Tribune, Abbott spent nearly eight times as much on his campaign as Inhosa.
Georgia
Bottoms, the former Atlanta mayor, defeated Republican Rick Jackson, a billionaire health care executive, in the race to succeed Republican Governor Brian Kemp. Thus, she became the first black woman to be elected governor in the United States and the first Democrat to be chosen as governor of Georgia in more than a quarter century.
Both parties viewed the gubernatorial election as an early test of voter morale in a state that is likely to be a crucial battleground in the 2028 presidential election.
Jackson, who spent more than $100 million of his own money on the campaign, has generally supported Trump's agenda, while Bottoms has sought to rally the diverse Democratic coalition that helped Biden win the state in 2020.
Bottoms gained nationwide fame in 2020 when she served as mayor of Georgia's largest city during protests, civil unrest and the Covid-19 pandemic. Its electoral base is in the Atlanta metropolitan area, whose rapid growth has reshaped Georgia's political landscape.
Ohio
Democratic doctor Amy Acton defeated Republican businessman Vivek Ramaswamy after a race that attracted national attention for a controversial ad that featured Acton's estranged mother. In a video released by Ramaswamy's campaign, Donna Arthur denied Acton's account of a childhood marked by homelessness and sexual abuse, and urged Ohioans not to vote for her.
Acton, the former director of the Ohio Department of Health who led the state's response to the Covid-19 pandemic, said she was sexually assaulted by her stepfather, who fled the state after being accused of raping his stepdaughter, but was never tried. He died in 2004.
The state's reputation as a perennial swing faded after 2016, when Trump won it with strong support from working-class voters, who helped turn it into a reliable GOP state. Democrats have won only one of the last nine gubernatorial elections.
Iowa
Auditor Rob Sand, the only Iowa Democrat currently holding statewide elected office, defeated Republican businessman Zach Lane in the first election for a gubernatorial vacancy since 2006; The current Republican governor, Kim Reynolds, did not seek re-election.
Cancer rates in the state, which rank second in the nation after Kentucky, have been a major campaign issue along with other issues, such as the cost of living. Voters' concerns have been dominated by concerns that exposure to nitrates, pesticides, and other environmental pollutants may cause higher cancer rates.
The competition also focused on education and government accountability. Sand campaigned as an independent observer criticizing Republican financial management and a private school enrollment program in the state. As for Lan, he embraced lower taxes, free school choice, and a more conservative approach to social issues.
wisconsin
The central question in the Wisconsin gubernatorial race was whether voters, who supported Trump in 2024 and Biden in 2020, want a governor who is compatible with a Republican president? Republican Tom Tiffany, a three-term congressman who has received Trump's support, downplayed the importance of this connection. But his Democratic rival, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, won the race after seeking to link Tiffany to Trump's agenda.
In Congress, Tiffany supported issues such as the right to bear arms and lower taxes, and co-sponsored a federal bill that would ban most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy. As for Crowley, he focused his election campaign on supporting the right to abortion. Wisconsin prohibits abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and requires a 24-hour waiting period.
Nevada
In a contest focused on affordability, Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo is locked in a close race with Democratic challenger Aaron Ford, the state's attorney general.
Nevada residents expressed concerns about tariffs, a slowdown in the tourism sector, and high fuel prices; This gave Ford an opportunity to beat Lombardo despite the current governor's fundraising advantage being doubled.
Data centers emerged as a central issue in the election campaign. Ford has proposed halting new tax deductions for data centers, and wants to require developers to protect residents from rising energy costs. He also called for strict regulations to protect jobs from the impact of artificial intelligence.
As for Lombardo, he generally defended data centers as an engine of the economy while simultaneously seeking to impose new restrictions on some of the tax incentives that attracted the sector to the state.
Arizona
Water has become a major election issue in drought-stricken Arizona, where Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs is seeking re-election against Republican Congressman Andy Biggs. Other major issues include the cost of living and immigration, and Hobbs seeks to portray herself as tougher on border security than many Democrats nationally.
Abortion rights have figured prominently in the election race, and Hobbs supports them while Biggs has a long record of opposing them. Arizona voters approved a constitutional amendment protecting abortion rights in 2024.
Michigan
Michigan is one of the most competitive gubernatorial races, with Democrat Jocelyn Benson running against Republican Rep. John James. The two candidates are competing to succeed Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer, whose term has expired. Which makes this election among 19 races for vacant seats in this election cycle.
Michigan is a closely divided swing state that Trump won in 2016 and 2024, while Biden won in 2020.
US President Donald Trump adopted a surprisingly conciliatory tone after the Democrats' landslide victory in the midterm elections made him lose much of his political influence. But how long will this tone last?
From resuming military operations against Iran to using his veto power against bills passed by Democrats, the 80-year-old president can still use his remaining powers to cause major unrest in the last two years of his term.
Director of the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University, Peter Logue, told Agence France-Presse: “The more Trump is pushed into a corner, the more he raises his voice and responds with attacks.”
Veto power
Trump congratulated the Democrats on Tuesday on their election victory and expressed his willingness to work with them. He may find himself forced to do so, especially if the Republicans turn against him after a defeat that many of them attribute to the war on Iran.
However, at the same time, Trump has repeatedly boasted of his presidential authority to veto any bill pushed by the Democrats that reaches his desk in the White House. He even posted a photo of a red baseball cap with the word “Veto” written on it.
It was reported that his administration had prepared a plan to pass his tough immigration policies by executive orders, similar to what he did during the first 100 days of his second term.
Trump, who has faced impeachment proceedings twice and is the first US president elected after being convicted of a criminal offense, confirmed that he is also prepared to confront investigations led by Democrats.
Iran
Foreign policy is an area in which American presidents retain broad powers even as their influence declines late in their term.
Trump may resume large-scale military operations against Iran, although he indicated on Tuesday that he is still seeking an agreement to end the war he launched in February. “Otherwise, I will simply complete the mission,” he told Fox News.
“I don’t think he wants to go down in history as a warmonger,” said Ryan Haass of the Brookings Institution. “He wants to be remembered for leaving America stronger.”
As the war on Iran continued, Trump also ruled out reports that he might dismiss Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth as part of a cabinet reshuffle.
Ukraine and relations with Moscow and Beijing
Trump has long wanted to be seen as a peacemaker, and will likely continue to pressure Ukraine to accept a settlement with Russia. A new round of tripartite talks is scheduled to be held next week.
But his defeat in the midterm elections may weaken his ability to influence Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, whom he sees as his rivals at the head of two superpowers.
This electoral setback comes less than two weeks before a possible meeting between the three leaders during a summit in China later this month.
Landmarks that immortalize his name
The former real estate mogul may choose to stay away from confrontation and devote himself to what he loves more than anything else, which is leaving a mark on Washington's landmarks.
In his final midterm campaign speech, Trump barely touched on political issues, talking about renovations to the reflecting pool at the Lincoln Memorial and other plans to beautify the capital.
This basin is one of the most prominent historical sites in the American capital, and it gained its fame because it witnessed Martin Luther King deliver his famous speech, “I Have a Dream” in 1963, from the steps of the adjacent Lincoln Memorial.
What he is most proud of is the huge ballroom he is building in the White House at a cost of $400 million. It is scheduled to be completed in late 2028, shortly before he leaves office permanently.
The Democrats' control of the US House of Representatives and the Senate opens a new phase of the confrontation with President Donald Trump, after the period of unified Republican control over the White House and Congress ended, which gave the president a wide space to pass his political and legislative agenda during the first two years of his second term.
Bloomberg expected that the Democrats' victory would subject the Trump administration to more stringent parliamentary oversight and impose political and legislative restrictions on his ability to pass draft laws.
What does Democratic control of Congress mean for Trump?
Disrupting Trump's agenda and obstructing legislation
According to Bloomberg, the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives and the Senate gives the party the ability to block legislation that it opposes, but it does not necessarily mean that it has the ability to pass all of its own projects, as the majority of legislation in the Senate requires the approval of 60 members out of 100 to end the stalled discussions for a vote, which is a threshold that the Democrats do not possess despite their electoral gains.
The agency explained that Democrats can overcome this obstacle in some files through the “financial reconciliation” mechanism, which allows the passage of draft laws related to spending, taxes, and the debt ceiling by a simple majority, provided that they are linked to the budget decision that sets the general objectives for spending and revenues.
Republicans used the same procedure to pass tax cuts during Trump's first term in 2017, and again in 2025.
On the other hand, Trump has presidential veto power against any legislation passed by Congress, and he has indicated his willingness to use it repeatedly.
But overriding the presidential veto requires the approval of two-thirds of the members of the House of Representatives and the Senate, a majority that the Democrats do not have, which makes passing legislation that the president opposes extremely difficult.
However, Bloomberg warned that Trump's repeated use of the veto against projects that enjoy popular support, especially those related to alleviating the burden of living, may increase political pressure on him, in light of the decline in his popularity.
Among the issues that Democrats may seek to address are canceling the cuts that affected spending on the Medicaid health care program directed to the poor, and re-providing expanded subsidies to help citizens afford health insurance.
Parliamentary investigations
The repercussions of the shift in the balance of power are not limited to the legislative side, as the Trump administration is expected to face a new wave of investigations led by parliamentary committees under the control of Democrats.
Possible files include an investigation into the Trump family's dealings in stocks and cryptocurrencies, the sources of funding for the White House Ballroom project by private companies, the administration's policies related to enforcing immigration laws, as well as its handling of files related to the late businessman convicted of sex crimes, Jeffrey Epstein.
Parliamentary committees have the power to subpoena officials, citizens, and companies to provide documents or testify, and they can refer those who fail to comply with subpoenas to contempt of Congress proceedings, which may be punished by a fine and imprisonment for up to 12 months.
But these powers do not give Congress the power to bring criminal charges directly, as this task remains within the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice, which is part of the executive branch.
Trump has previously expressed his willingness to grant a preventive presidential pardon to his aides who may be targeted by Democratic investigations, citing the step taken by former President Joe Biden in the final hours of his administration in 2025, when he pardoned a number of his family members and officials for fear of being subjected to retaliatory prosecution.
Presidential impeachment
Regarding the possibility of impeaching Trump, Bloomberg indicated that the Democrats’ control of the House of Representatives allows them to begin accountability procedures for the president for a third time, although this possibility was not a primary focus of their electoral speech.
Impeachment procedures begin with the House of Representatives approving the articles of impeachment by a simple majority, before moving to the Senate for trial. Convicting the president requires the approval of two-thirds of the members, which makes completing his removal extremely difficult in light of the current balance of power.
Trump was previously impeached twice during his first term. The first was in December 2019, on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, against the backdrop of his accusation of linking the provision of military aid to Ukraine with its government opening investigations related to Biden and his son Hunter, and the second in January 2021, on charges of incitement to rebellion, following the storming of the Congress building on January 6.
Neither trial resulted in his conviction in the Senate.
Freeze presidential appointments
Among other files that may be affected by the shift in control of Congress are Trump’s appointments to government and judicial positions, as the Senate has the power to approve or block the president’s nominations, and this includes members of the government, federal judges, US ambassadors, and heads of government agencies and institutions.
The Republican majority in the Senate helped Trump pass controversial appointments, including Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Kash Patel as Director of the FBI.
A transfer of control to Democrats would reduce the president's room for maneuver to fill vacant positions within his administration.
Executive decisions... Trump's weapon to confront Congress
In light of the possibility of legislation faltering, the American network CNBC suggested that Trump would increase his reliance on executive orders and presidential procedures to pass his policies, away from the need for Congressional approval.
The network indicated that the president has already used these powers in multiple files, including issuing broad executive orders, imposing customs duties and canceling some of them, laying off large numbers of federal government workers, and withdrawing from the World Health Organization and the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.
It also indicated that Trump ordered military strikes against Iran without obtaining authorization from Congress, in addition to the operation that targeted former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his transfer to the United States.
The network pointed out that legislative restrictions may not prevent the president from continuing to move on issues of trade, border security, foreign policy, and national security, but they may increase legal and political confrontations over the limits of his executive powers.
