According to the AP news agency, in the congressional elections in the USA, the opposition Democrats won not only the majority in the Senate but also the majority in the House of Representatives. Before the election, it was already expected that the Democrats would be able to take the majority in the House of Representatives from the Republicans.
Winning the majority in the Senate, however, is a surprise, especially in this clarity. According to figures from the AP news agency, the Democrats now hold at least 54 of the 100 seats in the smaller chamber of Congress.
The Democrats won at least 224 seats in the House of Representatives, the larger chamber of the US Congress. The majority has been achieved with 218 seats. The House of Representatives has a total of 435 seats. All seats were up for election.
Party leader Jeffries: “Enough of extremism and enough of corruption”
The Democratic faction leader Hakeem Jeffries from New York could now go down in history as the first black person to serve as Speaker of the House. Jeffries said on election night: "America is back." He would succeed Republican Mike Johnson in this post.
“We will hold accountable those who have inflicted unprecedented corruption on this country,” Jeffries told supporters during the count. "The American people have spoken and made it clear that they are fed up with extremism and fed up with corruption."
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has already congratulated Jeffries. With their decision, the Americans had broken the Republican monopoly of power in Washington and restored Congress' control over President Trump, she said.
The previous Democratic minority leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, also celebrated his party's election victory. Last year, many would have smiled at the idea of regaining the majority in the Senate. Now the voters have clearly rejected the Republicans. “We listened, they didn’t,” Schumer said. Addressing the people, he promised: "Relief is on the way."
House of Representatives: Successes in contested electoral districts
According to AP forecasts, several seats that were previously held by Republicans will go to Democrats. Accordingly, in a constituency in the state of North Carolina, Democrat Jamie Ager won a seat that was previously held by Republicans.
In the US state of New Jersey, Democrat Rebecca Bennett will replace Republican Congressman Tom Kean. The former soldier prevailed against the representative, who had already served two terms in the House of Representatives. The constituency changed parties in the previous two midterm elections and was therefore considered contested this time too.
In the state of Florida, Democrats Kathy Castor and Jared Moskowitz defended their seats in the House of Representatives. Democrat Pia Dandiya defended her constituency in South Florida. This is notable because Republicans redrew the boundaries of all three constituencies in their favor this year. They wanted to capture several seats that had previously been held by Democrats in order to compensate for expected losses in other parts of the country.
Pennsylvania Republicans Ryan Mackenzie, Scott Perry, Brian Fitzpatrick and Rob Bresnahan lost their re-election to the House of Representatives. Democrats also won a vacant seat in Kentucky. Several Democratic candidates were also able to win seats from Republicans in California, Texas, Iowa, Ohio and Wisconsin.
According to an analysis by the AP news agency, more than 59 million people had already cast their votes before Tuesday. The turnout for early voting was therefore higher than in 2022.
“Blue Wave” also in the Senate
The Democrats took several seats from the Republicans in the Senate - including in Texas, Kansas, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, North Carolina and South Carolina.
In Texas, James Talarico defeated Republican Ken Paxton and won a Senate seat for his party in the state for the first time in more than 30 years. In Michigan, Democrat Abdul El‑Sayed won a Senate seat in a high-profile race. He becomes the first Muslim senator in US history.
In Ohio, Democrat Sherrod Brown won against Republican Jon Husted. In Iowa, Josh Turek defeated Republican Ashley Hinson. In South Carolina, Democrat Annie Andrews won. Democrat Adam Hamilton won the Kansas state Senate seat that had been held by Republicans for more than 90 years.
Trump has so far ruled largely bypassing Congress
In the House of Representatives, government bills can be blocked or investigative committees can be started. However, it is also clear: US President Trump has so far relied heavily on decrees anyway. The President of the USA is endowed with comparatively much power and can implement his policies by order without the approval of Congress.
The constitution also grants the chamber the right to initiate impeachment proceedings. The Senate then decides on the actual impeachment - but this requires a two-thirds majority, which is difficult to achieve.
The Democrats had recently shown little ambition to start impeachment proceedings against Trump again. In his first term, the impeachments failed in the Senate.
The loss of the Senate majority is a bitter defeat for Trump - politically and personally. He announced that he would recognize the results. But he now pushes some responsibility away. On his Truth Social platform, he wrote: "I was not on the ballot."
Democrats also successful in gubernatorial elections
Many state governors were also up for election in the midterms. Here too, the Democrats celebrated notable successes: Gina Hinojosa defeated Republican Governor Greg Abbott in Texas, making her the first Latina to govern the conservative state. Abbott is considered a close supporter of Trump.
