US midterms 2026: How Democrats won in Republican strongholds, from Texas to South Carolina

Democrats have flipped Republican-held Senate seats in states including Texas, Ohio and South Carolina, while gubernatorial victories have added to the party's gains in the 2026 US midterms.

US midterm election results 2026: The Democratic Party has regained control of the Senate, the upper house of US Congress, and is projected to win the House of Representatives, the lower house, after voting in the US midterms concluded on Tuesday (November 3).

As of 10 am IST, the party had secured 157 seats against 98 Republican seats in the House, with several contests still to be called. In the Senate, The New York Times reported that the Democrats had secured 51 seats, crossing the majority threshold after flipping six Republican-held seats.

The election was widely considered a referendum on Donald Trump's presidency, with voters expressing dissatisfaction over the cost of living and his administration's policie

In an interview with The New York Times, Trump said he was "absolutely willing to accept those results" and was prepared to work with Democrats. "We'll, you know, look forward to working with them," he said. "We'll probably work something out."

Which were the biggest upsets of the 2026 midterms?

The party flipped Senate seats in Republican strongholds Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, North Carolina, South Carolina and even Texas.

In Texas, where Democrats had not won a US Senate election since 1988, Democratic candidate and state legislator James Talarico defeated Ken Paxton, the Republican state attorney general who was impeached by the Texas House in 2023 over allegations of misconduct, but subsequently acquitted by the state Senate.

Separately, in the state's gubernatorial election, Gina Hinojosa defeated three-time Republican governor Greg Abbott to become Texas' first Democratic governor since Ann Richards, who was elected in 1990.

In Ohio, Democrat candidate Amy Acton defeated Republican Vivek Ramaswamy to become its governor. Ahead of the election, Ramaswamy had run a controversial ad featuring Acton's mother that sought to discredit his rival. The Indian Express has explained it here.

In South Carolina, Democrat Annie Andrews defeated Republican Senator Darline Graham, who had been appointed after the death of her brother, longtime Senator Lindsey Graham, in July. The result marks the first Democratic Senate victory in the state since 1998.

In Georgia, former Atlanta mayor and Democratic candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms has become the first Black woman to be elected governor in the country's history, and the state's first Democratic governor since 1998. She defeated Republican businessman Rick Jackson, ending more than two decades of Republican control of the governorship.

Democrats have also flipped the North Carolina Senate seat, as well as House seats in Kentucky, New Jersey, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

However, Republicans retained Florida's Senate seat, with incumbent Ashley Moody defeating progressive Democrat Angie Nixon in a surprisingly close contest. Moody, appointed to replace Marco Rubio after he became Secretary of State, won by around three percentage points, compared with Trump's 13-point victory in the state in 2024.