Even before election night had ended Tuesday, a new political reality was settling in across America. The 2026 midterm elections had become a referendum on U.S. President Donald Trump and his Republican Party. Trump had asked voters to go to the polls as if he were on the ballot.
And they did.
The scale of the Democrats’ victory was extraordinary. In the Senate, they flipped at least seven Republican-held seats, taking control of the chamber. In the House, they flipped more than two dozen Republican-held districts, reclaiming the majority. Democrats also gained four governorships, winning in Iowa, Georgia, Ohio and Texas, and secured a majority of governorships nationwide for the first time since 2010.
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