Democrats flip dozens of Republican seats in historic midterm rout
Democrats delivered one of the most sweeping midterm victories in modern U.S. politics, flipping seven Senate seats, at least 24 House districts, five governorships and 12 state legislative chambers by Wednesday afternoon. Republicans had not taken a single Democratic-held congressional seat, governorship or state legislative chamber, leaving nine House races, two Senate contests and two governors’ races uncalled.
The results overturned Republican advantages across all levels of government. Democrats won the first U.S. Senate seat in Kansas for the party since 1932, captured a Texas Senate seat that Republicans had held since 1988 and defeated three-term Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. They also gained Senate seats in Iowa, South Carolina, Ohio, Maine and North Carolina.
Democrats won governorships in Georgia, Iowa, Ohio and Nevada—states carried by Donald Trump in 2024—giving the party its first majority of the nation’s governorships since 2010. In state politics, they took the Texas House, both chambers in Wisconsin and the North Carolina House after 16 years of Republican control. They also won Pennsylvania’s state Senate, ending Republican control there dating to before 1994, and regained lower chambers in Michigan and Minnesota. Unofficial results indicated possible Democratic control of both Arizona legislative chambers for the first time in about 60 years.
The scale of the defeat came despite Republican efforts to protect their majority through mid-decade redistricting in Texas, Florida and North Carolina at Donald Trump’s urging. Those changes did little to stop the Democratic wave, with Republican losses potentially still mounting in Alaska, Mississippi and several House races.
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