Edition · Wed 04 Nov 2026
Politics Desk
Seven Seats, One Majority: How Democrats Took the Senate From Kansas to Maine
Democrats flipped seven Republican-held Senate seats and kept every one of their own, defeating several candidates hand-picked by President Trump and securing a platform to check his agenda.
By Rachel · Edited by Chanan Zevin - Chief Editor and Head of Desks
Published
A sweep through red territory
The Senate was supposed to be the Republicans' firewall. Instead it became the scene of the night's most dramatic upsets. Democrats flipped seats in Iowa, Kansas, Maine, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas, enough to claim the majority, while holding all of the seats they already controlled.
A sweep through red territory
The victories came in states where Democrats had grown used to heartbreak. In Maine, Democrat Troy Jackson ousted five-term Senator Susan Collins, a moderate the party had tried and failed to defeat several times. In Kansas, which votes reliably Republican for president, megachurch pastor Adam Hamilton defeated Senator Roger Marshall.
A sweep through red territory
In Iowa, state lawmaker Josh Turek beat Representative Ashley Hinson, one of the Republican Party's star recruits, for the seat left open by the retirement of Senator Joni Ernst. Mr. Turek argued that Iowans were bearing the brunt of tariffs and of diesel prices driven up by the war with Iran.
The South Carolina stunner
The biggest shock came in South Carolina. Democrat Annie Andrews, a pediatrician who campaigned as an independent-minded moderate, defeated Senator Darline Graham, the sister of the late Senator Lindsey Graham. Ms. Andrews will become the first woman elected to the Senate from the state, and the first Democrat to win a Senate race there since Fritz Hollings in 1998.
The South Carolina stunner
Ms. Graham, a political newcomer, was appointed to the seat after her brother's death in July at Mr. Trump's urging and later pressed by the president to run for a full term. She struggled in debates and on the campaign trail, and several veteran South Carolina Republicans who had wanted the seat were left on the sidelines.
Comebacks and firsts
In North Carolina, former Governor Roy Cooper easily defeated Michael Whatley, the former chairman of the Republican National Committee. In Ohio, Sherrod Brown returned to the Senate two years after losing his seat, defeating Senator Jon Husted.
Comebacks and firsts
Michigan delivered another milestone. Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive former public health official, defeated former Representative Mike Rogers and will become the first Muslim elected to the Senate. In Minnesota, Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan held off former sports broadcaster Michele Tafoya, and in New Hampshire, Representative Chris Pappas became the first openly gay man elected to the Senate.
Comebacks and firsts
Georgia's Jon Ossoff won re-election comfortably over Representative Mike Collins, a hard-line conservative whom Mr. Trump backed over a more moderate primary rival.
A Senate that can say no
The Senate majority gives Democrats the power to block the president's judicial and cabinet nominees, including any future Supreme Court vacancy, and to launch investigations of the administration. Mississippi remained too close to call on Wednesday, with Democrat Scott Colom and Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith separated by a razor-thin margin in a state Mr. Trump carried by 23 points.
A Senate that can say no
For Republicans, the losses raised hard questions about the president's political judgment. Many of the defeated candidates, from Ms. Graham to Mr. Paxton in Texas and Mr. Whatley in North Carolina, were chosen or championed by Mr. Trump himself, sometimes over the objections of party leaders.