2026 midterm elections live updates: Democrats regain control of Congress in historic blue wave

Former Gov. Roy Cooper clinched a win in his North Carolina Senate race against Republican Michael Whatley, flipping the seat blue in a key pick-up for the Democratic Party.

The development is notable as it marks the first flip of the night for Democrats, who must gain four seats to regain control of the upper chamber.

The Associated Press called the battleground race just before 8:30 p.m., as results trickling in showed Cooper leading 66% to 31% with 56% of the ballots counted.

Republicans had hoped to keep the seat in GOP hands, but faced a tough battle to victory after Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) announced his retirement, leaving the seat open.

Democrat Christina Hines defeated Republican Mike Bouchard in the race to replace Rep. John James (R-MI) in Michigan’s 10th Congressional District.

Hines garnered 52% of the vote compared to Bouchard, who won 45% of the vote, according to the Associated Press, which called the race at 12:26 p.m. on Wednesday.

The Democrat’s win flips James’s GOP-held seat, which he held for two terms before deciding to run for Michigan governor. The race was one of several toss-up races of the 2026 cycle, handing a crucial win to Democrats as they sought to take back the House from Republican control.

Click here to read more.

Los Angeles’ mayoral race remains too close to call in the California election featuring incumbent Democratic mayor Karen Bass versus progressive city councilwoman Nithya Raman, who is backed by socialists.

Raman leads by about 17,000 votes as of Wednesday at noon Eastern, with roughly 63% of ballots counted, according to NBC News. Bass would need to win 51.9% of the remaining vote to overtake Raman.

Bass, who has attracted criticism for her handling of the deadly 2025 Los Angeles fires, among other issues, initially held a slim lead Tuesday evening, but it evaporated as the night wore on.

The mayor projected confidence in a speech to supporters Tuesday evening.

“Let me just say it takes a while to count the vote in our city, but pretty soon we shall know, and I am confident, with all the work that is done here, that we will achieve victory,” Bass said at an election night watch party in Hollywood.

Michigan Republican Mike Rogers neglected to name his victorious Democratic opponent, Abdul el Sayed, in an apparent concession statement hours after the Senate election.

“Over the past two years, Kristi and I have met incredible Michiganders who want solutions, not division. We’ve worked to put a spotlight on literacy, affordable housing, manufacturing jobs, Detroit’s food desert, and the troubling rise of antisemitism,” Rogers said on Wednesday, referring to his wife, Kristi Rogers. “We will be forever grateful to the families, faith leaders, and community leaders who welcomed us. We focused on what brings us together — and on real solutions to the real issues that Michiganders face.”

It appears Mike Rogers has not yet called el Sayed to concede the race, according to the senator-elect. El Sayed won by 7 percentage points. Still, Rogers remains undeterred.

“Michigan — we have a state to save, now more than ever,” the failed Republican candidate said. “Our work continues, and I remain hopeful that Michigan’s best days are ahead.”

Mississippi Democrat Scott Colom said he is “very confident” about winning the Senate race, which is still too close to call.

“We’re going to win, and it’s because people in Mississippi turned out in historic numbers to make this race possible in a midterm election,” he told voters on Wednesday morning.

Colom and incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) are virtually tied at 48.9%, with the Democratic candidate slightly ahead by 43 votes. As of Wednesday, 96% of the votes are counted. Mail-in ballots, which have a five-business-day grace period in Mississippi, may play a role in the outcome of the election.

Colom said his campaign, volunteers, and the people of Mississippi were “not surprised” by his performance in the dead-heat race because of the work his supporters put in to get him to this place. He added that his team is working with local lawyers to “protect the process of this election.”

Democratic elections attorney Marc Elias announced his law firm will be involved in the legal effort to ensure Colom wins.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday morning congratulated Democrats for securing “resounding” victories in the midterm elections, pushing winning candidates to target Washington in a “ruthless” manner.

Harris, who made a failed presidential bid against Trump in 2024 and could launch another race for the White House in 2028, weighed in on the election results in a statement highlighting her efforts to campaign for Democrats nationwide.

“I witnessed the resolve of the people to turn pain into purpose, and anger into action,” she said in a post to X.

“Now, the work begins to actually deliver results,” Harris continued. “The American people have elected Democrats across the country in federal, state, and local races who must be ruthless in using every lever of power to deliver economic relief for working families and hold this administration accountable for their deep-seated corruption.”

The Elias Law Group, led by elections attorney Marc Elias, is heading to Mississippi to prepare for a legal fight over the state’s extremely close Senate race in which the Democratic candidate is ahead by fewer than 50 votes.

As of Wednesday morning, Scott Colom is leading incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) by 43 votes in the neck-and-neck election. The Associated Press reports that 96% of the votes have been counted.

As the outcome remains in limbo, Elias said his law firm, which represents the Democratic Party, is “leading the legal effort to ensure” Colom wins the election and becomes Mississippi’s next senator.

Democracy Docket, which Elias runs, says the Senate race will come down to mail-in ballots. Mississippi has a five-business-day grace period for counting mail-in ballots, meaning the election may not be decided until next week. The Supreme Court upheld the grace period in June, shutting down a Republican attempt to eliminate it.

In the immediate hours following the midterm elections, congressional Republicans are already moving to determine who will be their next party leaders in the House and Senate.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is bowing out of the race for minority leader, letting others throw their hats in the ring for the position. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) have emerged as the top contenders.

Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) is poised to become the lower chamber’s next speaker.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) is seeking to become the upper chamber’s minority leader, switching places with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

Thune vowed to “not stand idly by as the far-left, socialist wing of the Democrat Party attempts to unwind everything we’ve done,” noting that Senate Republicans will work with the president to “stop the worst impulses of Democrat extremism.”

House and Senate Republicans are set to hold leadership elections on Nov. 10, exactly one week after the elections. Members must declare their candidacy for the top Republican positions by Friday.

Vice President JD Vance reacted to the election results in a lengthy social media post on Wednesday, revealing why he believed Republicans lost so dramatically.

To Vance, the problem boiled down to Trump voters in 2024 voting for the opposite side this year.

“Undoubtedly there were places we could have done better on turnout. But the main problem is not turnout,” he said. “The main problem is that many people who voted for Trump/Vance in 2024 voted for Democrats in 2026.”

The vice president also said the Iran war, along with rising costs and higher inflation, fueled the blue wave on Election Day. It was a notable break with Trump’s policies.

“The reason we lost is the war,” he said. “The president himself said so last night.”

In interviews with different news outlets, Trump admitted the war partly played a role in the outcome of the midterm elections. However, he said he did not regret launching combat operations against Iran earlier this year.

“I think a part of it was Iran. But at the same time, people understood the importance of what I’ve done with Iran,” the president told Fox News. “I think historically it’s going to be much more important than this evening, because you can’t let the No. 1 state sponsor of terror have a nuclear weapon.”

The 120th Congress is set to be radically different than its predecessor, and Democrats are eager for the new one to be sworn in.

The new Congress will be sworn in on Sunday, Jan. 3 at noon, in accordance with the 20th Amendment.

JD Vance will swear in the new Congress, in line with his duties as vice president.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), the incoming Senate Finance Committee chairman, vowed to “reassert congressional authority” over trade, a signal that he’d look to scrap many of Trump’s tariffs.

In a statement following his Tuesday victory, Wyden claimed the Republican-dominated committee used the body to “execute and defend the most craven parts of Trump’s agenda,” including “driving up costs with tariffs, covering up Epstein’s financial records, and letting Trump treat the Treasury Department like his personal piggy bank.”

One of the priorities was taking down Trump’s tariffs.

“On trade, I will use this committee to reassert congressional authority over our country’s trade policy to bring down costs, end Trump’s disastrous and corrupt tariffs, reestablish critical trade partnerships, and hold trade cheats accountable,” Wyden said.

Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) credited divine help for his reelection Tuesday, winning a full term in Florida’s 6th Congressional District as Democrats swept both chambers of Congress.

Fine defeated Democrat Eric Yonce, leading 195,252 votes to 132,264 with nearly 99% of the vote counted, according to the Associated Press. Fine boasted that his race was the first Republican win called of the night and predicted his final margin would exceed his 14-point victory in last year’s special election.

The win was expected. The district, which runs along the Atlantic coast from the southern Jacksonville suburbs to the Daytona Beach area, has a Cook Partisan Voting Index of R+14, and President Donald Trump carried it by 30 points in 2024. Fine underperformed that mark in his April 2025 special election, when Democrat Josh Weil outraised him nearly tenfold.

It isn’t the first time Fine has invoked God after a win. After clinching the GOP special primary in January 2025, he wrote, “G-d saved @realDonaldTrump’s life so he could save the world.”

His win came on a bleak night for Republicans nationally. Democrats won the House early Wednesday, and Democrats flipped seven Republican-held Senate seats to take the upper chamber.

Florida, however, held for the GOP. Sen. Ashley Moody (R-FL) defeated Democratic state Rep. Angie Nixon 50.8% to 48.1% to keep the seat Secretary of State Marco Rubio once held. Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) beat Democrat David Jolly 50.1% to 48.7% to succeed term-limited Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL). Donalds will be Florida’s first Black governor and the first Black Republican elected governor in U.S. history.

Recalling a congratulatory call from Trump, Donalds told supporters he wanted the president to know “we are still red.”

Fine, a former state legislator and member of the House Freedom Caucus, succeeded Mike Waltz in 2025 after Waltz left Congress to become Trump’s national security adviser.

Elon Musk shrugged off Tuesday’s Democratic midterm sweep with a joke about his “election-interfering space lasers” and then set his sights on orbit.

“Guess my election-interfering space lasers didn’t work this time,” Musk wrote on X, followed by a shrugging emoji.

The quip followed an expensive cycle for the Tesla and SpaceX CEO. Musk gave more than $445 million to Republican causes, according to an analysis of federal filings, making him the top donor of the 2026 midterms by a wide margin. His biggest bet was in Texas, where he put more than $200 million into the Senate race. Republican Ken Paxton lost that race to Democrat James Talarico.

The congressional shift could bring new scrutiny for Musk as Democrats are poised to examine the legality of his role in the Department of Government Efficiency, his government ties, and potential conflicts involving his business interests.

Musk, who urged voters on Election Day to “vote red,” appeared to have his eyes on the stars. In a separate post, he wrote, “Data centers in space looking pretty appealing right now.”

Trump stood by his war on Iran in the wake of criticism that it triggered monumental losses for the GOP in traditionally safe red areas, saying he remains “convinced that my decision on Iran for the long-term good of our country.”

The president has long insisted the war is necessary to keep radical Islamic jihadists in Iran from using nuclear weapons against the world. Democrats campaigned against the conflict throughout the election cycle, pitching it as an effort that drained the U.S. economy and drove energy prices high.

Trump acknowledged that “a lot of people” are saying surging oil prices triggered by the war contributed to the doomsday results for Republicans on Tuesday. But he told Politico that Republicans have a path forward if they “come together” and “keep good policy,” when pressed on what’s ahead for the GOP, which lost control of the House and Senate this week.

“I’m very, I am totally convinced that my decision on Iran for the long-term good of our country,u and even the world, was an absolutely correct one, and it continues to be,” Trump said.

When questioned whether he would escalate the war in Iran, which he had previously suggested he would following the midterms, Trump kept his options open.

“We’re going to take a look,” he said. “If we see any opportunity to do one thing or another, we’ll do — we’re going to do what’s best for this country.”

Trump made notable bipartisan overtures to Democrats after they swept the midterm elections, suggesting he had “learned” from the dismal election cycle and that he would be open to making an immigration deal.

The president reminded Democrats that he holds “powerful” veto power after they secured a majority in both chambers of Congress. But during a late-night interview with Politico, the president pledged to work with the opposition to “make sure things go well for our country.”

“They’ve already called, and they want to work with me,” Trump said. “I have the right to veto everything, but I don’t want to be just sitting there for two years vetoing everything. They want to see things happen too. So I’ve already spoken to certain leaders of the Democrat Party, and we’ll probably, you know, I have a lot of friends at the Democrats also.”

When pressed on whether the White House could make an “immigration deal” with Democrats, Trump left the door open.

“I’ll consider doing whatever I think is appropriate and good for the country,” the president said.