Updated November 3, 2026 at 8:33 PM MST
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As results come in from the midterm elections, Democrats have picked up one Senate seat, with key battleground races yet to be called.
Democrat Roy Cooper has won North Carolina's Senate race, defeating Republican Michael Whatley. Cooper, a former Democratic governor, was expected to win the race against the former RNC chairman and Trump ally. The election was held for a seat being vacated by retiring Republican Sen. Thom Tillis.
Democrats need a net gain of four seats to take control of the Senate. Votes are still being counted in six Senate races considered to be toss-ups.
Democrats also picked up a governorship, with Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms defeating Republican Rick Jackson in Georgia's race. That had been considered one of the tightest governor's races this year, in a state that has recently shifted from red to purple. She will be the nation's first Black female governor.
Republicans, meanwhile, have held onto the Florida governor's mansion, with Rep. Byron Donalds defeating Democrat David Jolly, a former House member. Donalds had been favored to win that race. However, with nearly all votes in, Donalds' margin of victory is looking to be in the low single-digits – far smaller than President Trump's 13-point Florida win in 2024. He will be Florida's first Black governor.
Earlier in the night, the Associated Press called the Georgia Senate race for incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff. That race was considered a likely win for Democrats. Democrat Chris Pappas also won New Hampshire's open Senate seat being vacated by retiring Democrat Jeanne Shaheen.
Currently, Republicans have a four-seat majority in the House, with 218 seats to Democrats' 214. That means Dems only need to flip three seats to take control of the chamber. They went into the night favored to win the House, with election analysis firm the Cook Political Report saying they were likely to flip between 15 and 25 seats.
The Senate is more complicated. Republicans currently have a six-seat majority there, meaning Democrats need to gain four seats to take control. Six Senate seats were considered toss-ups going into Election Night.
This voting season, President Trump had a fast-paced rally schedule through swing states and some red states, trying to drum up votes for Republican candidates who appeared to be in danger of losing. His central message was an instruction to GOP voters: "Pretend I'm on the ballot."
It's unclear, however, how much that directive might help or hurt Republicans. Trump is not only the leader of the party but has reshaped it, with legions of loyal fans who may be motivated to turn out by a Trump visit.
However, the president's approval rating has slid steadily during this term. Many polls show it below 40%, which puts it in historic territory. According to Gallup, George W. Bush in 2006 had the worst pre-election approval rating since 1946, at 37%.
Trump fares particularly badly on the economy. Roughly two-thirds of Americans said that Trump was to blame for higher-than-usual prices, according to a September AP-NORC poll.
And while presidents generally can neither be directly blamed or credited for the economy's performance, many higher prices are directly affected by Trump's policies — including tariffs and a war in Iran that made gas, diesel, and fertilizer more expensive.
While it may become clear tonight which party will soon control the House or even the Senate, it may still be days or even weeks until all races are called. In Alaska in 2024, it took 15 days to call a statewide House race.
Alaska's tight Senate race is already in the national spotlight after Trump's Department of Justice filed a lawsuit to block the certification of results there if the Republican incumbent loses, saying voters could be confused by two Dan Sullivans on the ranked-choice ballot (one is the incumbent, and one is not affiliated with a party). A federal judge threw out that lawsuit last week, though the DOJ said it plans to appeal.
Trump has also been sowing election distrust for months. In July, he made a primetime speech saying — without evidence — that American elections are vulnerable to being "rigged and stolen." In addition, he has continually repeated the lie that he won the 2020 presidential election and alleged, again without evidence, that Democrats "cheat" in elections.
Republicans pushed that narrative Tuesday, after there were problems with the ballot scanners in Westchester County, N.Y. (Election officials plan to scan voters' paper ballots later.)
Katie Miller, a conservative podcaster and the wife of White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, posted on social media: "This is how the left steals elections." And Claudia Tenney, a Republican member of Congress from New York, posted: "The Democrats in NY will do anything and everything to cheat."
However, Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, who represents the district, told CNN that "There's no shenanigans going on here."
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—Domenico Montanaro and Miles Parks contributed to this report.
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