2026 midterm elections live updates: Democrats regain control of the Senate with Iowa flip

Prominent Republican and Democratic surrogates are out stumping for a stream of candidates down the ballot, as both parties race to the finish line on the last day before the 2026 elections.

President Donald Trump is holding up to eight tele-rallies on Monday, including a virtual appearance to support Senate nominee Julia Letlow in Louisiana. Vice President JD Vance is headed to Rome, New York, to campaign for Anthony Constantino, who is seeking to represent the state’s 21st Congressional District, and Kailee Buller, who is running in the 22nd Congressional District.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is starting on the day in McAllen, Texas, before ending a whirlwind campaign schedule by rallying for multiple candidates in North Carolina and Virginia. In Virginia, the speaker will back Reps. Jen Kiggans (R-VA) and Rob Wittman (R-VA). In North Carolina, he is set to stump for Laurie Buckhout, who is running in the state’s 1st District, and Rep. Greg Murphy (R-NC), who is running for reelection in the 3rd District.

On the Democratic side, Gov. Andy Beshear (D-KY) is headed to Iowa, where he’ll seek to boost support for Rob Sand, who is running for governor.

Meanwhile, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, also viewed as a possible 2028 presidential candidate, is campaigning with Democratic gubernatorial nominee David Crowley in Wisconsin.

Former President Barack Obama released a statement on Wednesday morning celebrating Democrats’ “clear message” sent on election night.

“Tonight, the American people sent a clear message — they want a politics that brings people together rather than divides them, and leaders who offer concrete solutions to the challenges they face,” Obama wrote.

The former president, who stumped for Democrats across the country this midterm season, said it was Democrats’ candidate quality that pushed them to victory.

“These results were only possible because outstanding candidates stepped forward in every region of the country — including in areas once considered long shots,” Obama said. “They came from different backgrounds and represented a range of political perspectives, but were united by shared values, a belief in public service, and a commitment to putting the people of their districts and states first.”

Michigan’s Democratic Senate candidate Abdul el Sayed declared victory in the Wolverine State on Wednesday morning at around 1:30 a.m.. The Associated Press has not yet called the race, and Republican Mike Rogers has not conceded.

“We did it!” El Sayed declared at his campaign’s celebration party.

Just after 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday, el Sayed had 51.83% of the vote, according to the outlet, with 78.2% of the vote counted. Rogers had 46.19% of the vote.

“I am so proud and honored to stand here as your senator-elect in the great state of Michigan,” el Sayed declared.

Just before el Sayed declared victory, both his watch party and Rogers’s watch party were thinning out, as pundits expected the race to not be called overnight.

House Democratic leadership declared victory before midnight Tuesday as it secured a majority in the lower chamber, celebrating what shaped up to be a historic night for Democrats as the party crossed the 218-seat threshold.

Democrats are celebrating their victories in competitive races, as well as races not on the radar, and not a single incumbent has lost reelection as of midnight. They’ll have control of both chambers of Congress for the last two years of President Donald Trump’s term.

“The American people have spoken and made clear they’ve had enough of the extremism, enough of the corruption,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said at a press conference Tuesday night. “They want a Congress that’s going to deliver for the American people, and that is exactly what House Democrats will do as soon as we get into office in January. We understand, as House Democrats, that life is way too expensive in this great country of ours.”

Jeffries was introduced as “Speaker Jeffries,” and those at his election night watch party roared when he took the stage, hours after the drinks flowed from the open bar amid an energetic crowd of activists and staff.

“Hakeem Jeffries is the right person in this moment, and he is the right leader and we are going to be so very proud in just a few weeks, when we get to say ‘Hakeem Jeffries is the Speaker of the House,’” said House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA).

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Iowa’s three competitive House districts have fallen to Democrats as Democrat Sen.-elect Josh Turek and Gov.-elect Rob Sand flipped the state blue at the top of the statewide ticket.

Iowa’s toss-up open 2nd Congressional District went for Democrat Lindsay James over Republican Joe Mitchell, while both Democrats Christina Bohannan and Sarah Trone Garriott won in the state’s leans Democrat 1st and 3rd districts, respectively.

Republican Chris McGowan held onto Iowa’s open, solid Republican seat in the 4th District.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) has conceded the Maine Senate race to Democrat Troy Jackson, reflecting on her 30 years in the upper chamber as an “honor.”

“It has been the honor of my life to serve the people of Maine in the United States Senate. I’m proud of all I have been able to accomplish for our state and for our country in the past 30 years,” Collins said, per Punchbowl News.

The Associated Press has not yet called the race, though as of just before 1 a.m., Jackson led with 53% of the vote, while Collins had 46.93%, with 72.3% of the vote counted.

“I called Troy Jackson tonight to congratulate him and to assure him that my staff and I will work to ensure a smooth transition,” Collins said.

Alaska’s polling locations closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday local time, or 1 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday, closing out Election Day voting.

The closure marks the end of in-person voting in the 2026 midterm elections, although ballot counting and reporting will continue nationwide.

Alaska’s Senate contest is among the most consequential remaining races, with Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) facing a challenge from former Rep. Mary Peltola. The governor’s race and the state’s lone House seat are also being closely watched.

The race has attracted national headlines as a civil and criminal investigation unfolds over the presence of a different Dan Sullivan on the ballot, who was allegedly recruited by Peltola and Democratic leadership to syphon votes away from the Republican incumbent of the same name.

The investigation into “Decoy Dan” could delay the Senate election results. 

Democratic Bucks County commissioner Bob Harvie has unseated Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) in Pennsylvania’s 1st congressional district, flipping the seat blue.

Harvie won the race with 52.7% of the vote, according to the Associated Press, which called the race at 12:37 a.m., with 95% of the vote counted. Fitzpatrick garnered 47.3% of the vote.

Fitzpatrick, who was one of the few House Republicans running without a Trump endorsement, has long attempted to distance himself from Trump in the district. Fitzpatrick had retained his seat since 2019, despite his district voting for former Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Joe Biden, but lost his seat on Wednesday.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) released a statement shortly after midnight on Wednesday to outline the path forward for the Republican caucus following Tuesday’s blue wave for Democrats.

“As we head into 2027, Senate Republicans will not stand idly by as the far-left, socialist wing of the Democrat Party attempts to unwind everything we’ve done. Thankfully, we still have President Trump in the White House, and we’ll work with him to stop the worst impulses of Democrat extremism,” Thune said.

Republicans lost their majority in the Senate with Democrat Josh Turek flipping Iowa’s Senate seat blue. According to the Associated Press as of about 12:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Democrats hold 52 seats in the Senate, while Republicans have 41.

“We cannot let their fringe positions become the mainstream,” Thune said.

Texas’s Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton congratulated Senator-elect James Talarico on Tuesday evening in his concession speech.

“Let me start off by congratulating James Talarico,” Trump-endorsed Paxton said. “I will commit that I will be praying for him that he will do good for Texas and the nation.”

“We’ve had a difficult night tonight across the country, but it’s not over,” Paxton continued.

Shortly after midnight, Talarico led Paxton by over 11 percentage points. Talarico is the first Democrat the Lone Star state has elected since 1988.

Minnesota Lt. Gov. Penny Flanagan beat former sports broadcaster Michelle Tafoya on Tuesday in the race to succeed Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN).

The Associated Press called the race for Flanagan just after midnight, with Flanagan earning 54% support against Tafoya’s 43.3%. About 75% of the votes were counted.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), won the state in the 2024 general election by more than four points against President Donald Trump.

Flanagan led Tafoya in every poll up until Election Day but never by more than five points. That lead had shrunk to just three in surveys published in mid-October when the Cook Political Report moved the race in the Republican Party’s favor. Prediction markets Kalshi and Polymarket both still gave Flanagan a nearly 90% chance of winning at the end of October.

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Trump gave the members of his Cabinet a vote of confidence early Wednesday morning, despite the blue wave that handed Democrats majorities in both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate.

The president called Fox News for an interview just after midnight, where host Bret Baier asked the president point blank if he was “going to make changes” to the Cabinet.

“No, I don’t think so. It had nothing to do with my Cabinet. It was just a point — honestly, look. I’ve been doing a lot of great things for a long time, and it’s just a point in time,” he answered.

TRUMP SPENDS NEARLY HALF OF HIS MIDTERM CLOSING PITCH TALKING ABOUT THE REFLECTING POOL RENOVATIONS

Some White House aides told the Washington Examiner after the elections that they believed War Secretary Pete Hegseth would be in the crosshairs regarding his counsel to the president regarding the war in Iran.

Donald Trump claimed to already be working the phones Wednesday morning after Democrats took control of both congressional majorities in the 2026 midterm elections.

The president did a live phone interview with Fox News just after midnight, where he claimed to be “friends” with several members of the opposing party and would “work together” on several unspecified issues.

“Believe it or not, I’ve already spoken to some of them,” he stated. “Two senators and three congressmen, actually. So it’s a total of five, and I have three waiting to call me.”

“They obviously want to talk, but I have the power of veto, and the power of veto is, as you know, it’s impervious,” Trump concluded.

Cape May’s Democratic Mayor Zack Mullock has flipped New Jersey’s 2nd Congressional District blue after Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) called Mullock to concede.

Van Drew has served four terms in the House, representing the South Jersey district. His seat was ranked as a likely Republican seat by the Cook Political Report, with Trump winning the district by over 12 points in 2024. The result leaves just one Republican seat in the Garden State, held by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) in the 4th District.

Mullock has 51.05% of the vote, according to the Associated Press as of midnight, while Van Drew has 47.9%. The outlet has not called the race yet, with 85.8% of the vote reported.

What the Democrats have pulled off in tonight’s elections, especially for Senate, shouldn’t have been possible based on the available map.

In 2018, the blue wave midterm election of President Donald Trump’s first term, Republicans actually gained red-state Senate seats despite the anti-GOP national environment. On Tuesday night, they lost six such seats and are trailing in two or three more (Mississippi — Mississippi! — has been going back and forth). Democrats hadn’t elected a senator in South Carolina since 1998, Texas since 1988, or Kansas since 1932. All happened tonight.

Many of these races weren’t even close. Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) defeated Republican Mike Collins 58.9% to 41.1%. Former Gov. Roy Cooper is on track to hold former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley to under 40% of the vote. State Rep. James Talarico, with all his woke baggage, is beating GOP state Attorney General Ken Paxton by 12 points. Trump won all of these states just two years ago.

The sky is the limit in the House, as attention shifts to the West Coast. The collapse of the red firewall in the Senate suggests no House seat will be safe either, though some Republicans will paradoxically be spared because they attracted less money and attention than the upper-chamber contests. Republicans didn’t lose a single House seat in 2018 in a district Trump had carried by at least 20 points two years earlier. Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN) fell in a Trump +18 district before 11 p.m.

In 2018, Republicans were defending 25 House seats in districts won by Hillary Clinton. This year, they were just eight GOP-held seats carried by Kamala Harris. It was only three before this year’s redistricting wars. The low-hanging fruit has been picked. Republicans are losing in places where all that is necessary is turning out Republican voters.

Some political analysts thought that because of gerrymandering, political polarization, migration trends, and past wave elections benefiting both parties back to 1994 that new wave elections were no longer even possible. Democrats may yet fall short of the 41 House seats they gained in 2018 or the 63 Republicans picked up in the Tea Party wave of 2010, though nothing would surprise at this point. But this is an epic collapse in Republican strongholds that shouldn’t have been possible given the House and Senate maps.