According to US Media, Democrats Win Back Congress: They Needed a Net Gain of Four Seats in Both the House and the Senate
Situation on November 4: headlines of several US outlets report a Democratic win in both chambers. We did not confirm the exact seat counts, and some races have not yet been called.
In the US midterm elections on November 3, according to headlines of several American outlets, Democrats won control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. That is reported by, among others, Variety, CNBC, Time, ABC7 and MS NOW. This text was written on November 4, and results change, so the figures may change before publication.
Where the figures come from. The Associated Press published a table of seats by party in both chambers, but the data from that table are not available to us in text, so we do not give specific total seat counts. Nor do we say who declared the winner in each chamber and when, because the texts we could read do not state this precisely.
How many were needed. Before the election Republicans held 218 seats in the House, Democrats 214, one independent and two vacancies, and for control Democrats needed a net gain of four seats. In the Senate Republicans held 53 seats, Democrats 45, and two independents (Sanders and King) vote with the Democrats, so they again needed four seats. At 50 to 50, Vice President JD Vance would have the deciding vote.
The Senate races. According to an analysis by Northeastern University, published during election night, Jon Ossoff (Democrat) won in Georgia and Chris Pappas in New Hampshire. Roy Cooper took the seat in North Carolina from the Republicans, defeating Michael Whatley, according to the AP. In South Carolina Annie Andrews defeated the Republican Graham. In Texas James Talarico defeated Ken Paxton, and the analysis states that this is the first Democratic win in a statewide office in Texas in 32 years.
What was open. As of 11 p.m. local time, Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan and Ohio were uncalled. In Michigan Abdul El-Sayed led 54 to 44 percent with 19 percent of votes counted. A later ABC7 headline reports that Troy Jackson defeated Senator Susan Collins in Maine, but that is only a headline we saw, so we flag it as unverified.
Governors. Keisha Lance Bottoms was projected the winner for governor of Georgia, which would make her the first Black woman governor of an American state. In Florida the Republican Byron Donalds won. Hakeem Jeffries was re-elected and could become the first Black Speaker of the House if the Democrats elect him.
Why, according to analysts. Experts from Northeastern cite dissatisfaction with the war with Iran, rising petrol prices, the affordability crisis, inflation, tariffs and the enforcement of immigration laws. They warn that the result is not necessarily an endorsement of the Democratic agenda. Historically, the House moves away from the party in power by about 25 seats on average.
Trump’s reaction. The president wrote on Truth Social that Republicans would have won “by a landslide” had he been on the ballot. Analysts in the analysis, for their part, say a Democratic Congress could push back on changes in NATO and reimpose sanctions on Russia that the administration paused. That is the analysts’ assessment, not a fact.
What to follow. The final seat counts, the remaining uncalled races and the formal certification of results. The most attention goes to Michigan, as a test of the division within the Democratic Party between the left and the centre.
MKNews Hub · Macedonia · November 4, 2026
