Democrats are ahead of Republicans in US congressional elections: initial results
Following the mid-term congressional elections, Democratic Party candidates have taken Senate seats from the Republicans in North and South Carolina and, according to projections, are set to regain a majority in the House of Representatives.
As reported by Censor.NET, this is indicated by projections from the AP, CNN, NBC News, CBS News and CNBC.
Currently, the Republicans hold a majority in the Senate – 53 seats to 47. To take control, the Democrats need to win an additional four seats whilst retaining their existing ones, and they are already halfway there.
According to estimates by The New York Times, the probability that the Democratic Party will secure a majority in both houses of Congress exceeds 95 per cent.
In North Carolina, former Democratic Governor Roy Cooper defeated Republican Michael Watley, who was backed by Trump. Cooper will take the seat of Republican Tom Tillis, who did not stand for re-election. The Democrats have not won a Senate election in this state since 2008.
Sensational Democratic victories in traditionally ‘red’ states
The victory in South Carolina was even more resounding, given that Trump had won there by a margin of almost 18 points in 2024. Democrat Annie Andrews defeated Republican Darlene Graham, who had been temporarily filling the seat of the late Lindsey Graham. Andrews will become the first woman elected to the Senate from this state. The last time a Democrat won a Senate election here was in 1998.
The Democrats are holding on to their seats for now. CNN has declared Senator Jon Ossoff the winner in Georgia, which Trump also won in 2024, whilst the AP has declared a Democratic victory in New Hampshire.
The battle for the Senate: how the decisive seats are distributed
Seven key states will decide the rest of the race for a majority: Iowa, Alaska, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Ohio and Texas. According to estimates by CNBC and NBC, the races in Texas, Ohio and Kansas are leaning in favour of the Democrats. Preliminary results from the four states are as follows:
- Texas (approximately 53% counted): Democrat James Talarico – 59.4 per cent, Republican Ken Paxton – 39.1 per cent;
- Ohio (around 62% counted): Democrat Sherrod Brown – 49 per cent, Republican John Gasted – 46.4 per cent;
- Michigan (around 18% counted): Democrat Abdul El-Sayed – 55.1 per cent, Republican Mike Rogers – 43.3 per cent;
- Maine (around 10 per cent): Democrat Troy Jackson – 50.2 per cent, Republican Susan Collins – 49.7 per cent.
The winners in these states have not yet been announced. Michigan remains the main threat to the Democrats, where they are defending their seat.
A comeback in the House of Representatives and the gubernatorial elections
All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are up for re-election; a majority requires 218. The Republicans hold a narrow lead, so the Democrats need to win a net total of three seats. According to a CNBC forecast, they will win a majority in the lower house.
According to CNN, the Democrats have taken at least five constituencies from the Republicans. These include North Carolina’s 11th constituency, where Trump won by a 10-point margin in 2024, and Kentucky’s 6th constituency, where his lead stood at 15 points. In addition, the Democrats have held on to three constituencies in Florida, the boundaries of which the Republicans had redrawn in an attempt to win them over.
If the projections prove accurate, the Republicans will lose control of both houses of Congress.
In the gubernatorial elections, the Democrats are, as expected, holding on to their states for the time being. CNN, in particular, has declared victories for Josh Shapiro in Pennsylvania – which Trump won in 2024 – and J.B. Pritzker in Illinois, who has become the first Democrat to be elected governor of the state for a third term.
It should be noted that these results are not official. They are media projections and preliminary count results.
