Democrats posted a run of early wins in the US midterm elections on Tuesday. They flipped a Republican-held Senate seat and made gains in conservative House districts, while President Donald Trump confronted the possibility of a severe electoral setback.
The opposition party also kept several key Senate seats. A victory in Georgia’s governor race added to signs that Republicans were in for a difficult night.
Democrats flip seats in traditionally Republican territory
Democrats captured a House seat in North Carolina that Trump had won comfortably in 2024. Several contests in Florida also suggested that redrawn electoral boundaries might not produce the gains Republicans had expected.
Also read: US Midterms: Democrats Lead Polls as Trump Cancels Rallies
Control of Congress remained undecided when the reports were filed. Still, the early results raised the prospect of a broader Democratic advance into areas that are normally considered safe for Trump’s party.
In Georgia, former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms was projected to win the governorship. She would become the state’s first Black woman governor, ending 24 years of Republican rule. In Georgia’s Senate race, Jon Ossoff, a rising Democratic figure seen as a potential 2028 presidential contender, defeated his Republican challenger and held onto a seat his party needed to defend.
Democrats also held an open Senate seat in New Hampshire. Chris Pappas won election there and will become the first openly gay man to serve in the chamber.
Republican wins in Florida and a North Carolina loss
Republicans recorded notable victories as well. In Florida, Trump-backed Byron Donalds won the governor’s race and will become the state’s first Black governor. Republican Ashley Moody also retained a US Senate seat.
In North Carolina, Democrat Roy Cooper, a popular former governor, defeated Michael Whatley, a former Republican National Committee chairman whom Trump had handpicked. Cooper’s result was among the most consequential of the night. North Carolina has voted for Trump three times, but Cooper campaigned on lowering living costs. He will replace retiring Republican Senator Thom Tillis, who had clashed with the president.
Republicans had started the night holding 53 of the Senate’s 100 seats, which meant Democrats needed a net gain of four to take control. All 435 House seats were contested, and Democrats needed to flip only three to win that chamber.
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters the country was “on the brink of a dramatic change of direction.” If Democrats take the House, they could block Trump’s legislative agenda and use congressional committees to investigate his administration over the Iran war, deportations and alleged corruption. A Senate takeover would go further, allowing them to block judicial nominees and senior administration appointments, which would sharply limit Trump’s ability to govern in the final two years of his presidency.
Voters focus on living costs and Trump’s record
For many voters, the campaign came down to the price of everyday life. The vote was widely seen as a national judgment on Trump’s turbulent second term, with discontent over living costs, tariffs and the US war against Iran weighing on the president and his party. The war has driven fuel prices sharply higher.
Taylor Cook, a 24-year-old voter in Los Angeles, told AFP that rent, groceries, utility bills and property taxes keep rising, and that she wants lawmakers who will act on costs. Republican voter Maru Restrepo, 70, told AFP in Miami that Democrats had become “very socialist,” echoing Trump’s rhetoric.
In a final television appearance on Tuesday, Trump defended his record, praising his tariffs, immigration crackdown and military campaign against Iran. “We have to keep America great. We’re great now. We were terrible two years ago,” the 80-year-old told Fox News.
It remained unclear whether Trump would accept an unfavorable result. He has repeatedly made unsubstantiated claims of election fraud and tried to overturn his 2020 presidential defeat. In a podcast released Monday, he said, “I veto everything,” as he considered the prospect of a Democratic Congress, adding that he might eventually negotiate deals.
