U S Midterm Elections 2026

Democrats win Senate

50 seats midpoint
Democrats. 54 seats. 7 seats gained.
Republicans. 44 seats. 7 seats lost.
33 out of 35 seats counted

Democrats win House

218 seats to win
Democrats. 228 seats. 25 seats gained.
Republicans. 139 seats. 25 seats lost.
367 out of 435 seats counted
Content closed.

Summary

  1. Trump says he is 'willing to accept' midterm elections resultspublished at 04:17 GMT

    As Democratic candidates have now won in some races considered Republican strongholds, President Trump has given some fresh reaction to the New York Times.

    In an interview with the Times, the president says that he is “absolutely willing to accept those results” and was prepared to work with the opposing party.

    “We’ll, you know, look forward to working with them,” he says.

    “We’ll probably work something out.”

  2. Postpublished at 04:13 GMT
    Breaking

    Results card showing that the Governor race in Iowa has been projected to have been flipped to the Democrat candidate Rob Sand.
The locator map on the card shows Iowa is in the Midwestern region of the United States, medium-sized and roughly rectangular, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River to the west.
  3. Democrat projected to win Ohio Senate seat, CBS News sayspublished at 04:13 GMT
    Breaking

    The Ohio Senate seat is projected to go to the Democrat Sherrod Brown, CBS News says.

    Bar chart showing in the Senate race in Ohio Democrat candidate Sherrod Brown is on 48.6% and Republican candidate Jon Husted is on 46.5% after 87% of the vote has been counted.
  4. Postpublished at 04:10 GMT
    Breaking

    Results card showing that the Senate race in Ohio has been projected to have been flipped to the Democrat candidate Sherrod Brown.
The locator map on the card shows Ohio is in the Midwestern region of the United States, medium-sized and shaped a bit like a heart but with a long straight border to the west. Lake Erie is to the north.
  5. Analysis

    Texan Democrats have wanted to turn the state blue for decades - but never got over the humppublished at 04:09 GMT

    Anthony Zurcher
    North America correspondent in Washington DC

    Supporters celebrate while watching early results at an election party in TexasImage source, Reuters

    Texas Democrats have been hoping to turn the state blue for decades and decades.

    Every time, they may come close but they never get over the hump.

    It's difficult to overstate how atrophied the Democratic Party had become because of all these losses, they were really hopeless for a number of years.

    But when I was in Texas just last week talking to Democrats, they felt that this time was different, that Talarico had the potential.

    They thought this because of the political wins on Talarico's back, because Republican nominee Ken Paxton was - in their view - a flawed, scandal-ridden candidate, but also that something fundamental had changed among Texas voters, that this would be when they would break through.

    Lo and behold, it turned out that way.

    I don't think there were very many Texas Democrats who were willing to fully admit it up until just now, but this has been taking shape for a while.

  6. Democrat projected to win Texas governor's seat - CBSpublished at 04:09 GMT
    Breaking

    The Texas governor’s seat is projected to go to Democrat Gina Hinojosa, CBS News says.

    Texas governor
  7. More polls close in the US as results continue to come inpublished at 04:05 GMT

    Polls are now closed in Oregon, California and North Dakota.

    Alaska and Hawaii are the only ones that still have polls open.

    Results are continuing to come in, but you can head over to our live results page to track them all in real time.

  8. Postpublished at 04:04 GMT
    Breaking

    Results card showing that the Governor race in California has been projected to have been held by the Democrat candidate Xavier Becerra.
The locator map on the card shows California is in the west coast of the United States, large, long and narrow along the coast with a border with Mexico to the south.
  9. Texas governor's race is now likely Democratic - CBSpublished at 04:01 GMT
    Breaking

    The Texas governor's race has just been moved to likely Democratic, CBS News rates.

    The contest between Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Democrat Gina Hinojosa was previously rated as leaning Democratic.

  10. Analysis

    Trump distances himself from his own partypublished at 03:57 GMT

    Daniel Bush
    Washington correspondent

    President Donald Trump's first public comment of the night won't go down well with Republicans around the country.

    In his Truth Social post Trump noted that he wasn’t on the ballot tonight, and "if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!"

    With those brief words Trump appeared to distance himself from his own party and pass the blame for the mounting election losses to Republican candidates. Many Republicans were already frustrated with Trump for his approach to the midterms.

    This won't help heal the divides within the party as Republicans start grappling with the consequences of losing the House and likely losing the Senate as well.

  11. Democrat James Talarico projected to win Senate seat in Texas - CBSpublished at 03:55 GMT
    Breaking

    The Texas Senate seat is projected to go to Democrat James Talarico, CBS News says.

    As a reminder, this is one of the key Senate races that may prove crucial in determining which party controls the Senate.

    Bar chart showing in the Senate race in Texas Democrat candidate James Talarico is on 59.6% and Republican candidate Ken Paxton is on 38.9% after 66% of the vote has been counted.
  12. Democrat projected to win Ohio governor's seat, CBS projectspublished at 03:53 GMT
    Breaking

    Ohio flip
  13. 'I wasn't on the ballot' - Trumppublished at 03:51 GMT
    Breaking

    President Donald Trump has just posted on his Truth Social platform in his first comments as his Republican Party suffers losses in the midterm elections.

    "I wasn't on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!," he says.

  14. Ohio Senate race moves to likely Democratic - CBSpublished at 03:51 GMT

    Sakshi Venkatraman
    Reporting from Washington DC

    The Ohio Senate race has just moved to likely Democratic, CBS News rates. The contest between Republican Senator Jon Husted and Democrat Sherrod Brown was previously rated as leaning Democratic.

    We're still waiting on results from other Senate toss up races, but here's the latest on those contests:

    Iowa: The close challenge between Republican Ashley Hinson and Democrat Josh Turek is still being rated as a toss up by CBS.

    Kansas: CBS News has rated this race as leaning Democratic. The state has not elected a Democratic senator in 94 years.

    Maine: This race is still a toss up, CBS rates. It could be a while before we know the results of this race as Maine is usually one of the slowest states to count.

    Texas: CBS has updated its race rating for Texas, saying it now likely Democratic. James Talarico is trying to become Texas' first Democratic senator in 38 years.

    Michigan: The tight, highly-watched race between Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rodgers is still a toss up, CBS rates.

    Alaska: Polls have not yet closed in Alaska, so we won't know this result for some time.

    Map
  15. In Ohio, only the music helps mood at Republican watch partypublished at 03:44 GMT

    Tom Bateman
    Reporting from Columbus, Ohio

    "Ohio" written in white against a purple background.

    Here at the main Republican watch party in Ohio, one activist in the Vivek Ramaswamy camp tells me he's "still optimistic", despite the candidate for governor trailing his Democratic rival Amy Acton all night as votes are counted.

    In the race for US Senate, the big margin Democrat Sherrod Brown had against Republican Jon Husted has narrowed.

    But overall, as the crowd watches the national picture unfold on the big Fox News screens, the mood is being held up only by the thumping 1970s hits on the PA system.

    Showing largely empty watch party
  16. As Mississippi Senate race now a toss up, here's what you need to knowpublished at 03:43 GMT

    Donald Trump embraces with Cindy Hyde SmithImage source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    President Donald Trump rallied alongside incumbent Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith earlier last month

    We've just told you that the Senate race in Mississippi is now considered a toss up, according to CBS projections.

    The race was not among the Senate contests we were watching for Democrats to potentially pick up, but their strong showing in the heavily Republican state is in line with the strong Democratic support we're seeing in the south.

    • Incumbent Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith is being challenged by Democrat Scott Colom
    • Hyde-Smith has been in the Senate since 2018. Colom is currently a district attorney in the state
    • Votes are still being counted in the race, stick with us and we'll bring you the latest
  17. This is starting to look like a historic night for the Democratspublished at 03:41 GMT

    Anthony Zurcher
    North America correspondent in Washington DC

    This is already shaping up to be historic night for Democrats, with the party on course to win control of US House of Representatives and on their way to flipping the Senate, too.

    A Democratic wave has formed on the horizon.

    Now it's just a question of exactly how far it crashes into Republican terrain.

  18. In Texas, James Talarico's election party is buzzing with excitementpublished at 03:34 GMT

    Gary O'Donoghue
    Chief North America correspondent in Austin, Texas

    BBC banner with the words Texas on a purple background
    A woman poses for a photo smiling. She is wearing a red t-shirt with the words: Red dirt feminist on it. The city skyline is behind her along with other people in the background.Image source, BBC/Iona Hampson
    Image caption,

    Kendra

    The music and energy is building inside the James Talarico election night party. There's a long queue of people still trying to get in.

    Inside the party, 40-year-old Chad tells me that the excitement is bleeding out of him.

    "We've been waiting for this for years," he says.

    Zak, 18, is a student at Texas A&M University and says he's feeling cautiously optimistic. His family is moving to Texas next year and he says he's voted for Talarico.

    Kendra, 37, face covered in blue Democratic coloured paint, says she's very hopeful.

    When I ask what she would do if the Democrats win in the Senate, she replies and says: "I'll cry for a little bit and then it's back to work."

    A reminder, the BBC's US news partner CBS has just moved the Texas Senate race to likely Democratic.

  19. Texas Senate seat moves to 'likely Democratic' - CBSpublished at 03:33 GMT
    Breaking

    The BBC's US partner CBS has now moved the Texas Senate race to likely Democratic in favour of James Talarico.

    Prior to this, the closely followed Senate race was rated as lean Democratic.

  20. Analysis

    By winning the House, Democrats will have a major impact on Trumppublished at 03:28 GMT

    Sarah Smith
    North America editor in Washington DC

    Media caption,

    Sarah Smith on Democrats flipping the House of Representatives

    We don't yet know how large a majority the Democrats may have in the House of Representatives and that's going to be very interesting to see. Whether they have just the slim majority - like the one Republicans have held for the last two years - or whether they manage to win a sizeable majority still remains to be seen.

    It was always going to be easier for the Democrats to win in the House than in the Senate, so we can't read into this that they will definitely have a majority there.

    But it does show us the direction of the night, and that where the polls showed a surge in support for the Democrats across the country, they appear not to be too far off.

    It's going to have a real impact on Donald Trump as well if he is facing a House of Representatives controlled by the Democrats.

    They can now launch all sorts of investigations into the way he and his family have been making money since he returned to the White House, and they can also start looking into more controversial decisions like starting the war in Iran.

    They could try to impeach him again for a third time, but they might want to go for some of his cabinet secretaries instead.

    This is really going to have a major impact in what Donald Trump is able to achieve over the next two years.