Democrats won a majority in the U.S. Senate in Wednesday’s midterm elections, dealing a major setback to President Donald Trump. With results still pending in 10 races, Democrats held 51 seats and Republicans 39 in the latest count. A party needs 51 seats to control the chamber.
Democrats flipped six seats previously held by Republicans: in Texas, Kansas, Ohio, Iowa, North Carolina and South Carolina. They also retained 11 seats they already held. The Senate had 35 seats up for election, while the other 65 are not scheduled for renewal until 2028.
The results included wins in traditionally Republican-leaning states. James Talarico defeated Ken Paxton in Texas, and Annie Andrews beat Darline Graham in South Carolina. In Ohio, Sherrod Brown defeated Republican Senator Jon Husted.
Democrats also held contested seats in Georgia and New Hampshire. Senator Jon Ossoff was reelected in Georgia, while Chris Pappas won in New Hampshire, defeating former senator John Sununu in the race to replace retiring Democrat Jeanne Shaheen. Cory Booker, Ed Markey and John Hickenlooper also won reelection, and Juliana Stratton was elected to replace Democrat Dick Durbin.
Before the election, Republicans controlled both chambers of Congress. Projections also indicated that the party could lose control of the House of Representatives, although those results were not yet confirmed in the report.
Sources: G1.