Democrats Sweep 2026 Midterms: Talarico Wins Texas Senate, Hinojosa Makes History as Governor

Democrats are poised to hold both chambers of Congress, with major wins in Texas, Georgia, South Carolina, Kansas, Michigan and Maine.

Tuesday’s 2026 midterms produced a sharp setback for congressional Republicans and for President Trump’s agenda, as Democrats won House and Senate contests that appeared out of reach only a few months earlier. The party is projected to hold the majority in both chambers when the new Congress opens in January, and its margins are expected to be wide. The gains were not confined to Capitol Hill: Democrats also took the Texas governor’s mansion for the first time since 1990.

Projected Senate and House Majorities After Election Night

Democrats are expected to hold at least 54 Senate seats, although two races remain unresolved. In the House, the party’s final total could land anywhere from 251 to 268 seats once every ballot has been tallied.

Of the 11 battleground Senate contests, Democrats were projected to win 10. The eleventh, in Alaska, is still rated a toss-up, and officials expect the ballot-counting process there to take a long time. Mississippi is also undecided and tighter than many expected: Democrat Scott Colom holds a lead of roughly 1,000 votes over incumbent Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, and that race is listed as a toss-up as well.

Texas Senate Race Results: Talarico Defeats Paxton

The Texas contest was the costliest Senate race in the state’s history and among the most closely followed of the cycle. James Talarico is projected to have beaten Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Talarico is 37, a former teacher and Presbyterian seminarian who won a seat in the Texas House of Representatives in 2018. His campaign centered on corruption and the cost of living, and Paxton publicly congratulated him after the loss.

Speaking in a Wednesday morning interview, Talarico said the result carried a message for Elon Musk, who spent heavily in the race: “Texas is not for sale.”

Mr. Trump had endorsed Paxton over Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican primary earlier this year, and Paxton went on to beat Cornyn in the May runoff. He carried controversies into the general election, including a 2023 impeachment by the state House on allegations of bribery, obstruction of justice and abuse of trust. The state Senate acquitted him.

Texas Governor Race: Hinojosa Ends a Democratic Drought

State lawmaker Gina Hinojosa defeated Republican incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott, becoming the first Democrat to win the Texas governorship in more than 30 years. She will also be the third woman to lead the state. Abbott had served more than a decade and was pursuing a fourth term, but the contest tightened in the months before voting. Hinojosa built her campaign around affordability and public education, while a dispute over data centers surfaced as a notable issue in the race.

South Carolina and Kansas Senate Races: Wins in Deep-Red Territory

In South Carolina, pediatrician Annie Andrews, 45, defeated Republican Sen. Darline Graham, the sister of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham. Andrews put healthcare access and affordability at the center of her message. Graham had been appointed to complete her brother’s term after his unexpected death in July, and Mr. Trump quickly backed her and campaigned for her in the state. A Democrat has not won a Senate race in South Carolina in nearly 30 years, and Mr. Trump carried the state by 18 points in 2024.

Kansas delivered a similarly rare result. Adam Hamilton, 62, a fifth-generation Kansan who leads the largest United Methodist church in the country and is a well-known author and speaker, beat Republican Sen. Roger Marshall, who sought a second term. Kansas has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1932, and Mr. Trump won the state by more than 16 points in the last presidential election. In the campaign’s final weeks, Marshall, an obstetrician-gynecologist, faced scrutiny after the New York Times reported that he had sued hundreds of patients over unpaid medical bills, with 81 of them arrested.

Georgia Governor Results: Bottoms Set to Become the First Black Woman Governor

Keisha Lance Bottoms, a former Atlanta mayor and Biden administration senior adviser, is projected to defeat Republican Rick Jackson and Libertarian Chase Oliver. She will become the first Black woman to serve as governor in the United States. With 99% of the vote counted, she held 54.3% to Jackson’s 45.7%.

Georgia governor vote share

Bottoms said in a Wednesday morning interview that she was surprised the race was called as early as it was.

Michigan and Maine Senate Races: A Held Seat and a Veteran Incumbent Ousted

Michigan was regarded as the Republicans’ best opportunity to take a Senate seat, yet Abdul El-Sayed beat GOP nominee Mike Rogers and kept it with Democrats. The race was among the most bitter of the cycle. Leading Republicans, Mr. Trump among them, repeatedly aimed anti-Muslim attacks at El-Sayed, calling him a “jihadist” and asserting that he belonged to the Muslim Brotherhood. Last month he told Fox News he has “never been a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.” He also drew scrutiny for opposing U.S. support for Israel, which raised questions about his appeal to Jewish and Black voters. Late in the race, Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens, who had sought the party’s Senate nomination, endorsed Rogers and appeared with him at a Detroit church on Sunday.

In Maine, Troy Jackson faced GOP Sen. Susan Collins, the only Republican seeking reelection in a state Kamala Harris won in the 2024 presidential race. Collins, first elected in 1996, had emphasized her record of bringing benefits home to Maine, and she had weathered tough campaigns before. This time she could not hold off Jackson, a fifth-generation logger and former president of the Maine Senate who unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for governor earlier this year. He entered the Senate contest late, after Graham Platner, the original Democratic nominee, withdrew following allegations of sexual misconduct.

House Seat Flips Across the Country

Democrats are expected to flip dozens of House seats. They swept the most competitive districts in Iowa, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, defeating Republican Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Zach Nunn of Iowa; Brian Fitzpatrick, Ryan Mackenzie, Rob Bresnahan Jr. and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania; and Brian Steil and Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin. They also flipped an open Iowa seat held by the GOP.

Redistricting aided Democratic wins in California’s 1st District and Utah’s 1st District. It was expected to hurt the party in Texas’ 15th and 23rd Districts, but Democrats pulled off upsets there. Ohio Reps. Max Miller and Mike Carey lost reelection, as did Tom Kean in New Jersey, Ann Wagner in Missouri, Gabe Evans in Colorado, Victoria Spartz in Indiana and Jen Kiggans in Virginia. Open seats in Kentucky’s 6th District, Nebraska’s 2nd District and North Carolina’s 11th District also moved to Democrats.

Race Results at a Glance

Source: Projections following the November 3, 2026 election. Alaska and Mississippi Senate races remain unresolved.

What the 2026 Midterms Mean for the Next Congress

With Democratic majorities projected in both chambers, a Senate count of at least 54 seats and a House total that could reach as high as 268, the new Congress that convenes in January will look very different from the one it replaces, though the Alaska and Mississippi Senate races and the final House tallies still need to be settled. The victories reached governors’ offices in Texas and Georgia, Senate seats in states that had gone years or decades without a Democratic winner, and dozens of House districts, all of which the party’s opponents had expected to keep or contest more closely.