Democrats Retake US House as Texas and South Carolina Senate Seats Flip

Democrats have retaken control of the United States House of Representatives in the 2026 midterm elections, according to projections by CNN and NBC News, as vote counting continued across the country on Wednesday. The result gives the Democrats a majority in the lower chamber for the final two years of President Donald Trump’s term, alongside striking Senate victories in Texas and South Carolina.

FAKTA: Democrats retake US House

• CNN and NBC News projected that Democrats have retaken control of the US House of Representatives.
• Democrat James Talarico won the Texas Senate race, defeating Republican Ken Paxton, according to media projections reported by Reuters.
• Democrat Annie Andrews won the South Carolina Senate seat, defeating Darline Graham, according to CNN.
• Democrats had already flipped the North Carolina Senate seat, where Roy Cooper defeated Michael Whatley.
• Control of the Senate remained undecided as counting continued, and the reported results are projections, not final certified results.

Democrats retake US House

All 435 seats in the House of Representatives were contested in Tuesday’s elections. CNN projected that Democrats have retaken control of the chamber, and The Times reported that broadcasters including NBC News had reached the same projection, with Democrats potentially on course for a sizeable majority.

In Florida, CNN projected that Democrats held on to three seats that Republicans had redrawn in an effort to secure victories, with Representatives Kathy Castor and Jared Moskowitz projected to win in redrawn districts, along with Democrat Pia Dandiya in the 22nd District. Millions of votes remained to be counted, and the full size of the Democratic majority was not yet clear.

Texas Senate: Talarico ends 32-year Democratic drought

In Texas, State Representative James Talarico won the US Senate race, defeating Republican Ken Paxton, according to media projections reported by Reuters. The Associated Press also marked the race as called for Talarico. Reuters reported that the win ends the Democrats’ 32-year statewide losing streak in Texas, a state Trump carried by 14 percentage points in 2024.

Reuters described the contest as the most expensive Senate race of the cycle, with Republicans spending more than 316 million dollars to retain the seat. Talarico, 37, is a four-term state legislator who had earlier defeated US Representative Jasmine Crockett for the Democratic nomination.

South Carolina and North Carolina add to Senate gains

In South Carolina, Democrat Annie Andrews defeated Darline Graham, the sister of the late Senator Lindsey Graham, according to CNN. The seat had been in Republican hands since Strom Thurmond switched parties in 1964, and CNN noted that a Democrat had not won a Senate race in the state since 1998.

The South Carolina result followed the earlier North Carolina flip, where former Governor Roy Cooper defeated former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Whatley, and the re-election of Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff. Democrats needed a net gain of four seats to take control of the Senate, having started the night with Republicans holding a 53-47 majority, and CNN reported that it was too early to say whether Democrats would win a Senate majority.

What remains undecided

Control of the Senate, the final margins in the House, and several governor’s races remained to be settled as counting continued. CNN also reported that former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms had won the Georgia governor’s race, while The Times reported that Ohio voters had elected Democrat Amy Acton as the state’s first female governor.

Trump watched the returns from the White House, CNN reported, and later posted that he had not himself been on the ballot. The results reported here are projections by news outlets based on counted votes and exit data; official certification of the results will follow in the coming days and weeks.

For more coverage of politics in the Americas, see Watan News’ America section.