Democrats win US House and move toward Senate control in midterm elections
Democrats have won a majority in the US House of Representatives in the midterm elections and may take the Senate too. Their first surprise Senate win came in South Carolina.
The Democratic Party has won a majority in the US House of Representatives, the lower chamber of Congress, in the midterm elections, and is on course to take control of the Senate as well. It is the first time since 2022 that Democrats have held the House majority. The results suggest the mood of the electorate has turned against President Donald Trump and the Republicans, although BBC analyst Anthony Zurcher notes that the US is a vast country and an east-coast trend does not automatically repeat elsewhere.
A surprise in South Carolina
Democrats' first unexpected Senate victory came in South Carolina, where Annie Andrews defeated Republican Darline Graham, who had been appointed to the seat after the death of her brother, Senator Lindsey Graham. Few analysts considered the seat in play even a few months ago.
In North Carolina, where the Republican-held seat was open, former Democratic Governor Roy Cooper beat Republican Party insider Michael Whatley. In Georgia, Democrat Jon Ossoff was re-elected. North Carolina was the first of four pick-ups Democrats need to take the Senate; with South Carolina, they are halfway there. Attention has turned to vote counts in Republican-held seats in Texas, Kansas and Ohio. CBS News, the BBC's US partner, rates the Texas and Kansas Senate races as leaning Democratic. The Texas governor's race, where Republican incumbent Greg Abbott was seen as a prohibitive favourite just last year, is now considered a toss-up.
House battles
In Florida, Republicans in the state legislature had redrawn the boundaries of three Democratic-held seats to make them easier to win, but lost all three. Democrats flipped open seats in western North Carolina and Kentucky and appear well placed to make gains in Virginia and Indiana.
The gains rest on high Democratic turnout, particularly among black voters in the South, and on winning back Hispanic voters in Florida who backed Republicans two years ago. In Miami-Dade County, which Trump carried in 2024, Democratic candidates are back on top. Florida as a whole still appears to lean right: Senator Ashley Moody narrowly won re-election, as did congressman Byron Donalds in his bid for governor.
