Takeaways from the midterms: Americans broadly rejected Trump — and Democrats stand to make huge gains because of it

Jesse Barber for CNN

The Democratic wave is here — and now, as votes are counted in key states, the question is how many Republicans it will wipe out.

Across the political map, the blue shift has been enormous, with CNN projecting Democrats have retaken control of the House.

In rural Middle America, the enormous margins of victory that Donald Trump posted two years ago have plummeted. In heavily Latino congressional districts, the president’s 2024 gains have evaporated.

And though the White House is already deflecting blame, Trump’s interventions in his party’s attempts to hold its House and Senate majorities seem to have only hurt the GOP’s chances.

Trump’s recruiting efforts and endorsements were backfiring. Candidates he’d backed over other prominent Republicans had lost or were trailing in Senate races in North Carolina, Georgia, Texas and South Carolina. His redistricting gambit also appears to have fallen flat. In Florida, Democrats won several districts that were redrawn to guarantee Republican victories.

In Texas, long the country’s biggest red state, Democrats are in contention to break their decadeslong lockout from statewide office — not just in the high-profile Senate race, but also potentially in the gubernatorial contest and other statewide races.

Millions of votes remain to be counted, and it’s far too early to know the full implications of Tuesday’s elections. What’s clear already, though, is that Americans broadly rejected Trump — and Democrats stand to make huge gains because of it.

Democrats have already flipped two of the four Republican-held Senate seats the party needs to claim the majority, winning races in North Carolina and South Carolina — and doing so by defeating candidates who were hand-picked by Trump.

In North Carolina, former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper trounced former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley — an outcome that was widely expected by strategists in both parties.

South Carolina, though, was a stunner. Democrat Annie Andrews defeated Darline Graham, the sister of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham — claiming a seat that’s been in GOP hands since Strom Thurmond switched parties in 1964. A Democrat hasn’t won a Senate race in the Palmetto State since 1998.

A roster of South Carolina political veterans had been interested in running for the seat after Lindsey Graham’s death in July. But Trump asked Graham’s sister — a political novice — first to occupy the seat temporarily and later pressured her to run for a full term. She struggled in debates and on the campaign trail.

It’s too early to say whether Democrats will win a Senate majority. What is clear, though, is that South Carolina was nowhere near the top of the Democrats’ list of the most winnable GOP-held seats. And a victory there is a good sign for its chances in states that were expected to be more competitive — including Maine, Ohio, Iowa, Texas and Alaska.

Further buoying the Democrats’ hopes of a Senate majority was an early, decisive win by Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff. The race was another example of Trump’s failed midterm maneuvering: His endorsement boosted Rep. Mike Collins to a primary win over a more moderate alternative backed by popular two-term Republican Gov. Brian Kemp. Ossoff’s strengths and Collins’ struggles helped Democrats win the governor’s race in Georgia, as well, with Keisha Lance Bottoms now set to become the nation’s first Black female governor.

In Florida, the results offered evidence of a potentially enormous swing among Latino voters in Democrats’ favor.

Democrats held onto three seats that Republicans had redrawn in an effort to guarantee victories this fall. CNN has projected that Reps. Kathy Castor and Jared Moskowitz will win in redrawn districts, as will Democrat Pia Dandiya in the 22nd District.

In another heavily Hispanic district in central Florida the GOP had redrawn, Democratic Rep. Darren Soto narrowly leads his Republican challenger in the 9th District.

But the biggest eye-opener might come in South Florida’s 27th District, which is based in the overwhelmingly Latino Miami-Dade County.

Republican Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar released a buzzy ad this year standing in front of the White House, criticizing Trump’s immigration policy. She won by 20 percentage points two years ago. She might hold on this year — but she leads Democratic challenger Eliott Rodriguez by just over a thousand votes. But a swing of that size means the gains Trump made with Latino voters in 2024 have effectively evaporated, at least in Florida.

Trump watched returns come in from the White House East Room, where the mood was described as tense. Notably, he went silent on Truth Social for three hours Tuesday night as Democrats kept winning races before posting just after 10:30 p.m.: “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. President DONALD J. TRUMP.”

Left unsaid was that Trump had spent weeks telling his supporters to pretend he was on the ballot — and that he hand-selected many of the candidates who have been suffering tonight. Candidate weakness in South Carolina, North Carolina and Texas in particular became a major headache for national Republicans, who were forced to spend millions contesting races they never expected to be close.

Officials have stressed that Trump “left it on the field” — doing what he could to retain congressional majorities but also seeding the ground to pin any Republican losses on the candidates themselves.

Trump has been aware that he was likely to catch blame if Republicans lose. That was part of his rationale for carrying out a frenetic campaign blitz over the last month, which by his own admission was exhausting. He says he tried to cut it short, but was convinced to hold final events in Iowa and Kansas. “We gave this a very strong shot,” Trump said Monday at his Reflecting Pool speech, acknowledging history was not on his side.

The results were full of encouraging signs for Democrats who may want to run for president in 2028.

At least two potential White House contenders, Govs. JB Pritzker of Illinois and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, cruised to victory in their reelection bids. Pritzker nodded to speculation about his political future in his victory speech, saying he’s been asked, “What’s next?”

“The answer is simple: I’m going to ask you to continue to hope, to wrap yourself in hope, in courage,” Pritzker said. “We climbed one mountain tonight, but we are sitting at the base of another.”

Another possible White House contender, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, was not on the ballot Tuesday but scored a big win when his former aide, Zach Dembo, flipped a GOP-friendly House district in central Kentucky.

And in Georgia, Ossoff’s decisive victory is likely to increase 2028 buzz surrounding him, even if he has denied interest in running. Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms winning the governor’s race means a fellow Democrat could pick his replacement in the Senate if he were to vacate his seat for a presidential run.

杰西·巴伯为CNN报道

民主党浪潮已经到来——现在，随着关键州的选票统计完毕，问题是它将消灭多少共和党人。

纵观整个政治版图，民主党的势力大幅向民主党倾斜，CNN预测民主党已经重新掌控了众议院。

在美国中部农村地区，唐纳德·特朗普两年前取得的巨大胜利优势已经大幅缩水。在拉丁裔人口众多的国会选区，总统在2024年赢得的选票优势也已荡然无存。

尽管白宫已经开始转移责任，但特朗普干预共和党保住众议院和参议院多数席位的努力，似乎只会损害共和党的机会。

特朗普的招募和背书努力适得其反。他支持的候选人，而非其他知名的共和党人，在北卡罗来纳州、佐治亚州、德克萨斯州和南卡罗来纳州的参议院选举中落败或落后。他的选区重划策略似乎也以失败告终。在佛罗里达州，民主党赢得了几个原本旨在确保共和党获胜的选区。

在德克萨斯州，这个长期以来被奉为美国最大共和党州的地区，民主党人正努力打破他们数十年来在全州范围内无法担任公职的局面——不仅在备受瞩目的参议院竞选中，而且有可能在州长竞选和其他全州范围内的竞选中。

数百万张选票尚未清点，现在判断周二选举的全部影响还为时尚早。但有一点已经很明确：美国民众普遍拒绝了特朗普——民主党有望因此获得巨大胜利。

民主党已经赢得了北卡罗来纳州和南卡罗来纳州的选举，从而夺得了共和党控制的四个参议院席位中的两个，从而获得了多数席位——而且他们击败的候选人都是特朗普亲自挑选的。

在北卡罗来纳州，前民主党州长罗伊·库珀大胜前共和党全国委员会主席迈克尔·沃特利——这一结果在两党战略家的普遍预期之中。

然而，南卡罗来纳州的选举结果却令人震惊。民主党候选人安妮·安德鲁斯击败了已故参议员林赛·格雷厄姆的妹妹达琳·格雷厄姆，赢得了自斯特罗姆·瑟蒙德1964年转投共和党以来一直由共和党把持的席位。自1998年以来，民主党人就再也没有在南卡罗来纳州赢得过参议院席位。

林赛·格雷厄姆7月去世后，许多南卡罗来纳州政坛老手都对竞选该席位表示出兴趣。但特朗普先是邀请格雷厄姆的妹妹——一位政治新手——暂时接任，之后又施压让她竞选正式任期。她在辩论和竞选活动中都表现不佳。

现在断言民主党能否赢得参议院多数席位还为时尚早。但可以肯定的是，南卡罗来纳州远不在民主党最有可能拿下的共和党把持席位之列。而民主党在南卡罗来纳州的胜利，对于他们在其他预计竞争更为激烈的州——包括缅因州、俄亥俄州、爱荷华州、德克萨斯州和阿拉斯加州——的胜算来说，无疑是一个好兆头。

佐治亚州参议员乔恩·奥索夫的早期决定性胜利进一步提振了民主党赢得参议院多数席位的希望。这场选举再次印证了特朗普在中期选举中操纵失败的策略：他的支持帮助众议员迈克·柯林斯在初选中击败了由颇受欢迎的两届共和党州长布莱恩·坎普支持的温和派候选人。奥索夫的优势和柯林斯的困境也帮助民主党赢得了佐治亚州州长选举，凯莎·兰斯·博顿斯即将成为美国历史上首位黑人女州长。

在佛罗里达州，选举结果表明，拉丁裔选民中可能出现巨大的倒向民主党的趋势。

民主党保住了三个席位，这些席位是共和党为了确保秋季大选获胜而重新划分的。CNN预测，众议员凯西·卡斯特和贾里德·莫斯科维茨将在重新划分的选区中获胜，民主党候选人皮娅·丹迪亚也将在第22选区胜出。

在佛罗里达州中部另一个以西班牙裔为主的选区，共和党重新划分了选区，民主党众议员达伦·索托在第九选区以微弱优势领先于他的共和党挑战者。

但最令人大开眼界的或许是南佛罗里达州的第 27 选区，该选区位于拉丁裔人口占绝大多数的迈阿密-戴德县。

今年，共和党众议员玛丽亚·埃尔维拉·萨拉查在白宫前发布了一则引人注目的广告，抨击特朗普的移民政策。两年前，她以20个百分点的优势获胜。今年她或许能够保住席位——但她目前仅以一千多票的微弱优势领先于民主党挑战者埃利奥特·罗德里格斯。然而，如此小的选情波动意味着，特朗普在2024年赢得的拉丁裔选民支持实际上已经化为乌有，至少在佛罗里达州是如此。

特朗普在白宫东厅观看计票结果，现场气氛紧张。值得注意的是，周二晚间，在民主党人不断赢得选举之际，他在Truth Social社交媒体平台上沉默了三个小时，直到晚上10点半刚过才发帖：“我没参选，如果我参选，我们肯定会大获全胜！感谢大家关注此事。唐纳德·J·特朗普总统。”

未言明的是，特朗普曾花费数周时间指示支持者假装他本人也在选票上——而且今晚表现不佳的许多候选人都是他亲自挑选的。尤其是在南卡罗来纳州、北卡罗来纳州和德克萨斯州，候选人的疲软令共和党全国委员会头疼不已，他们被迫花费数百万美元来应对这些原本并不看好的选战。

官员们强调，特朗普“已经竭尽全力”——他尽一切可能保住国会多数席位，同时也埋下伏笔，将共和党的任何失败都归咎于候选人本身。

特朗普很清楚，如果共和党败选，他很可能要承担责任。这正是他过去一个月疯狂开展竞选活动的原因之一，他自己也承认，这让他筋疲力尽。他说他曾试图缩短竞选行程，但最终还是被说服在爱荷华州和堪萨斯州举行了最后的竞选活动。“我们已经尽力了，”特朗普周一在反思池演讲时说道，同时也承认历史对他不利。

对于那些可能想在 2028 年竞选总统的民主党人来说，选举结果充满了令人鼓舞的迹象。

至少有两位潜在的白宫候选人，伊利诺伊州州长JB·普里茨克和宾夕法尼亚州州长乔什·夏皮罗，在连任竞选中轻松获胜。普里茨克在胜选演讲中回应了外界对其政治前途的猜测，他说有人问他：“接下来呢？”

“答案很简单：我要请求你们继续抱有希望，用希望和勇气包裹自己，”普里茨克说。“今晚我们攀登了一座山峰，但我们现在正坐在另一座山峰的山脚下。”

另一位可能的白宫候选人，肯塔基州州长安迪·贝希尔，周二没有出现在选票上，但他的前助手扎克·登博在肯塔基州中部一个对共和党友好的众议院选区中获胜，贝希尔因此获得了一场重大胜利。

在佐治亚州，奥索夫的压倒性胜利可能会加剧人们对他2028年参选的关注，即便他本人否认有意参选。前亚特兰大市长凯莎·兰斯·博顿斯赢得州长选举意味着，如果奥索夫为了竞选总统而辞去参议员席位，那么一位民主党同僚就可以挑选他的继任者。