US midterms: Democrats retake the Senate in sweeping rebuke of Trump
The United States Capitol building in Washington, shown in a file photograph. (NOT election night — a file photograph of the Congress building.)
Washington: Democrats have retaken control of the United States Senate in the country’s midterm elections. As results from Tuesday’s voting came in on Wednesday, the picture was unmistakable — the party flipped seven Republican-held seats and lost none of its own. It is a result that will shape the rest of Donald Trump’s presidency, because his party has now lost its majority in both chambers of Congress. Reuters reports that Democrats captured majorities in the Senate and the House alike.
Where did the seven seats flip?
According to CNN, Democrats beat Republican candidates in Iowa, Kansas, Maine, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas — several of them candidates Trump had personally backed. In Texas, James Talarico defeated Ken Paxton, the Trump-endorsed state attorney general, in what is being described as the most expensive Senate race in American history. In Kansas, Adam Hamilton beat Senator Roger Marshall, giving Democrats their first Senate win in the state since 1932. In Maine, Troy Jackson ousted five-term Senator Susan Collins.
A Texas double, and a historic win in Michigan
Texas did not stop at the Senate. Democrat Gina Hinojosa also defeated three-term Governor Greg Abbott, the party’s first statewide win in Texas since 1994. In Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed beat Republican Mike Rogers; he is widely reported as the first Muslim elected to the Senate. South Carolina, too, delivered one of the night’s biggest surprises, with Democrats taking a Senate seat there after decades. These were not marginal states drifting blue — they were Republican strongholds, and that is what makes the scale of the night so striking.
What decided it?
Exit polls point to a blunt answer: a large majority of voters were unhappy with the direction of the country, and blamed Trump for stubbornly high prices. That turned the election from a routine midterm into something closer to a referendum on his presidency. Counting is not entirely finished — the Mississippi Senate race remains razor-thin and uncalled, so the final margin may shift slightly. But control itself is settled: for the remaining two years of Trump’s term, no major law, appointment or budget will move forward without Democratic consent.
