Republicans suffered a historic blowout in the midterm elections, losing both the House and Senate in a rout so far-reaching that it was hard to overstate.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called it nearly “an extinction-level event” for the GOP.
The anti-Trump tsunami swept Republicans from Senate seats in Texas and South Carolina that the GOP had held for decades. It delivered a Democratic senator from Kansas for the first time since the New Deal. Democrats won a Senate majority with at least 54 seats.
In the House, Democrats won at least 250 seats, and they held leads in many other races as ballots were still being counted. The final tally may not be known for weeks, but NBC’s projection said Democrats would end up with 258 seats. That would be an advantage of nearly 70 seats over the GOP.
The widespread devastation for Republicans even raised questions about whether the 2026 midterms signaled the end of Mr. Trump’s MAGA movement.
“MAGA’s power in the party and within the country will decrease significantly after this all-time disaster election result,” said Austin, Texas-based Republican strategist Matt Mackowiak.
Democrats also won a majority of governorships for the first time in more than a decade. In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott was dumped after three terms in favor of Democrat Gina Hinojosa, who will become the nation’s first Latina governor. Republicans also ceded governorships in Nevada, Iowa, Ohio and Georgia — which elected the country’s first Black woman, Keisha Lance Bottoms, to the top post.
In Michigan, Democrat Abul El-Sayed became the first Muslim elected to the Senate.
The pummeling of the GOP was nationwide. In Iowa, Democrats went from zero of the state’s four House seats to three, reducing the GOP to a single stronghold in the state’s west. In Maine, longtime GOP Sen. Susan Collins lost her bid for reelection to a Democrat who was a replacement for the party’s initial nominee.
This was not an outpouring of love for Democrats. About 53% of voters held an unfavorable view of them. But they were angrier with the GOP, with 59% down on Republicans.
Exit polling showed a large part of the GOP’s problem was Mr. Trump, whose approval rating was below 40%, the lowest of any president heading into a midterm election in 20 years.
A large part of the blame went to the high cost of living, including gas and diesel prices.
Republicans didn’t lose this election in November. They lost it on Feb. 28, the day that Mr. Trump ordered the U.S. military to join Israel in a war with Iran, which sent costs soaring for fuel, fertilizer and other products.
“The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so,” said Vice President J.D. Vance.
In a rare admission of his culpability, Mr. Trump said voters “weren’t willing to do the short-term consequence of paying more for gasoline.” He said he still did the right thing by trying to ensure that Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon.
The White House also tried blaming the GOP candidates, many of whom were recruited by Mr. Trump personally. “Candidate quality matters, and President Trump did a better job promoting many of the candidates on the ballot than the candidates did themselves,” the White House said.
Democrats, though, said the results were a resounding rejection of Mr. Trump’s last two years.
“Today begins the great American comeback,” said Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the New York Democrat who has led his party in the House and is in line to become the first Black House speaker.
Control of Congress will put fierce Trump critics at the helm of committees, with the power to pry into administration actions — and authority to subpoena when they believe they are being stonewalled.
Control of the House also means the power to impeach — and there has been no shortage of suggestions of Trump administration officials who could be targets.
Mr. Trump said he isn’t worried about getting impeached — “not even a little bit.”
“I think it would destroy the Democratic Party if they did that. Impeachment for no reason. What? For having a successful country? Our country is more successful now than any time in its history,” Mr. Trump said after the election.
Republicans pointed to what they consider a few bright spots amid the gloom. Voters in Arizona and Nebraska passed measures bolstering their transgender athlete bans, and Florida solidified its position as a GOP stronghold.
The jockeying for 2028 began before all the midterm ballots were counted. Among those making themselves heard and visible on the day after the election were Mr. Vance, Mr. DeSantis and Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, whose campaign said she will “look for ways to do the most good for the most people.”
