For the remaining two years of Donald Trump’s term, a Democratic-controlled Senate will be able to investigate his administration, block Cabinet nominations and lifetime federal judgeships, and impose greater checks on presidential power.
The result reflected widespread voter dissatisfaction with Trump’s handling of the economy and his decision to launch a war against Iran in February, which sent petrol prices sharply higher.
The reversal reaches back to Trump’s victory in 2024, when he claimed an “unprecedented and powerful mandate”. Shortly after taking office, he said he had “achieved the most epic political victory our country has ever seen” and “the biggest mandate in 129 years.”
During his presidency, Trump’s job-approval ratings on the cost of living fell sharply among several groups: 20 percent approval and 79 percent disapproval among Hispanics, 3 percent approval and 91 percent disapproval among Black voters, and 13 percent approval and 86 percent disapproval among under-30 voters.
Trump pursued tariff policies and launched the war against Iran, developments that led to higher costs and economic hardship for voters across demographic groups.
He then made the congressional races a personal test. Trump selected some Republican nominees and held more than two dozen rallies for candidates in Texas, South Carolina, Ohio, North Carolina, Iowa and Kansas, urging supporters to “pretend I'm on the ballot”.
He had backed Ken Paxton in Texas and Darline Graham in South Carolina over more established Republican contenders, despite controversies surrounding them.
On Tuesday, Democratic candidates flipped six Republican-held Senate seats in the states Trump had targeted: Texas, Kansas, South Carolina, Ohio, North Carolina and Iowa. Roy Cooper’s win in North Carolina delivered the fourth seat Democrats needed for a Senate majority.
In Ohio, Sherrod Brown returned to the Senate after defeating the Republican incumbent Jon Husted, despite repeated campaign visits to the state by Trump and Vice President JD Vance.
James Talarico, a Democratic State Representative, defeated Paxton in Texas, becoming the first Democrat elected to the US Senate from the state since 1988.
In South Carolina, Annie Andrews, a paediatrician, defeated Republican Senator Darline Graham. Trump had won the state by nearly 18 percentage points in 2024.
Ohio and Texas had backed Trump by double-digit margins in the 2024 presidential election.
Democrats also flipped at least eight Republican-held House seats in Kentucky, New Jersey, North Carolina and other states, giving the party control of both chambers of Congress.
Three-quarters of voters said they were “angry” or “dissatisfied” with the country’s direction, while 70 per cent wanted Congress to provide greater checks and balances on the president.
Around two-thirds of voters said Trump’s policies had worsened US economic conditions, compared with about three in 10 who thought they had improved the economy. Approximately two-thirds said his tariff policies had harmed either the national or local economy.
More than half said Trump was not a strong leader, and around six in 10 believed he put his personal interests ahead of the country’s.
Trump watched the results from the White House with advisers and Cabinet members on Tuesday night. He also posted a photograph of his red baseball cap bearing the word “VETO”.
He later wrote on social media: “I wasn't on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE! Thank you for your attention to this matter”.
In Georgia, the Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff told supporters: “In sweeping and decisive victories, the American people have rebuked the depravity, corruption and incompetence of the man named President Donald J. Trump.”
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