What the 2026 midterms changed in Congress: Democrats take the House and Senate

Democrats won control of both the House and the Senate in the Nov. 3, 2026, midterm elections, according to NBC News projections, giving President Donald Trump a divided Congress for the last two years of his term.

By NBC's count as of Wednesday morning, Democrats hold 54 Senate seats to Republicans' 44, with two races still uncalled. A majority takes 51. In the House, NBC News projects Democrats will hold 258 seats, well above the 218 needed for control.

Where the Senate flipped

NBC News projects Democrats flipped seven Senate seats: Kansas, Iowa, Texas, Ohio, Maine, North Carolina and South Carolina.

• Texas: Democrat James Talarico won, defeating Republican Ken Paxton, the state's attorney general, CNBC reported.
• Kansas: Democrat Adam Hamilton won the seat.
• Ohio: Democrat Sherrod Brown won the special election against Republican Sen. Jon Husted.
• South Carolina: Democrat Annie Andrews defeated Republican Sen. Darline Graham.
• North Carolina: Democrat Roy Cooper won the open seat.

Two Senate races still uncalled

Two races were still too close to call as of Wednesday morning, NBC News reported:

• Alaska: Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan led Democrat Mary Peltola by 1,677 votes, with about 80,000 votes still to be counted.
• Mississippi: Democrat Scott Colom led Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith by 43 votes, with more than 95% of the vote counted.

Neither result changes which party controls the Senate. They decide the size of the Democratic majority.

The House

NBC News projects Democrats will hold 258 House seats to 177 for Republicans. Democrats had flipped 29 seats in races called by Wednesday morning, with 60 House races still uncalled.

NBC News reported Democratic pickups in Iowa, Texas, Florida and Pennsylvania, and new Democratic seats in Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio and Utah. Iowa sent an all-Republican delegation into the election; Democrats will now hold three of its seats.

What it means

With both chambers, Democrats will set the congressional agenda and can block legislation and nominees. The economy was a central issue: an Associated Press poll found that three-quarters of voters said the economy is "not so good" or "poor," and about 8 in 10 said inflation has caused a "severe" or "moderate" financial hardship for their households.

The seat counts above are projections. Final House and Senate totals may move as Alaska, Mississippi and late-counting states finish.

Sources: NBC News, via NBC Chicago (seat projections, Senate flips, uncalled races, AP poll); CNBC (Texas Senate); NBC News race pages (candidates).