Democrats seize US Congress in sweeping midterm repudiation of Trump

Democrats seized control of the Senate and House on Tuesday in Washington, as voters in Republican strongholds delivered a rebuke to President Donald Trump. The victories included Senate wins in Kansas and Texas and the defeat of three-term Texas Governor Greg Abbott. Once seated in January, Democrats are expected to investigate Trump’s administration and could block his nominees. Trump accepted the results and said he would work with Democrats on some issues.

In Seward County, Kansas, Adam Hamilton led incumbent Republican Senator Roger Marshall by 13 points after Trump had carried the county by 39 points in 2024.

Democrats won all 20 House contests considered especially competitive that had been decided by Tuesday night.

Exit polls found that half of voters viewed the midterms as an opportunity to rebuke Trump, while 70 percent wanted Congress to provide more checks and balances on the president.

Abdul El-Sayed won Michigan’s open Senate seat, becoming the first Muslim elected to the chamber.

Keisha Lance Bottoms became the first Black woman elected governor of a U.S. state, and Gina Hinojosa became Texas’s first Latina governor.

Published Nov 4, 2026 11:24 am KST

Updated Nov 4, 2026 5:01 pm KST

The U.S. Capitol is seen on Election Day evening in Washington, DC, Nov. 3. AFP-Yonhap

WASHINGTON — Democrats seized control of both the Senate and House on Tuesday, scoring sweeping victories in Republican strongholds for the first time in generations as tens of millions of voters delivered a scathing rebuke to President Donald Trump.

Voters in conservative bastions who had propelled the president to his second term in office just two years ago swung dramatically toward Democrats, fueled by deep frustration over the unpopular war with Iran, anxiety over the high cost of living and anger at Trump's stewardship of the country.

Kansas elected its first Democratic senator since the Great Depression nearly a century ago. In South Carolina, a state that Trump carried by nearly 18 points in 2024, Democrats turned aside his hand-picked Senate candidate.

And in Texas, the biggest Republican state, Democrats ended a decades-long losing streak in seismic fashion, winning a Senate seat and ousting three-term Governor Greg Abbott.

The results will usher in a new era of divided government in Washington, following two years in which the Republican-controlled Congress rarely exercised its power to rein in Trump.

Once seated in January, Democrats are expected to use their power to investigate Trump's administration, family and allies and demand concessions on major legislation. The Democratic Senate can block Trump's nominees, including any US Supreme Court justices should a vacancy arise.

"There is now a generational remake of the Senate map that is going to change America," said Chuck Schumer, the party's Senate minority leader. "Americans voted for change, and now Democrats must deliver."

Trump, who is barred by the US Constitution from seeking a third term, has exercised an iron grip on his party for most of the last decade. But the new balance of power in Washington may accelerate his lame-duck status, as attention turns toward the 2028 presidential race and potential successors begin competing for political influence in a post-Trump world.

Despite worries from Democrats that Trump might seek to overturn the election results, as he did in 2020, the president accepted the outcome, congratulating Democrats in an interview with Fox News. He also said he would work with Democrats on issues such as immigration, though he threatened to veto any "insane" bills they passed.

Democrats focused their campaign on corruption and affordability, blaming Trump's tariff policy and the war with Iran for driving up costs while highlighting the billions of dollars the Trump family has made since he returned to the White House.

Republicans, led by Trump, attacked Democrats over culture war issues such as transgender rights while portraying their opponents as radical and extreme. But in poll after poll, voters made it clear they were far more concerned with pocketbook issues.

The Democratic wave flooded huge swaths of the country. Republicans lost ground in all but a handful of the approximately 1,700 counties where most votes had been counted on Tuesday night, according to tallies compiled by Reuters and USA Today.

Democrats made gains in the richest counties and the poorest; in counties where more people have college degrees and where fewer do. Democrats' advances were particularly sharp in heavily Latino counties, including the border counties of Texas that shifted toward Trump in 2024 and the agricultural towns of the Kansas prairie.

In Seward County, Kansas, home to one of America's biggest beef processing plants and where about half of eligible voters are Hispanic, Democrat Adam Hamilton led incumbent Republican Senator Roger Marshall by 13 points, two years after Trump won the county by 39 points.

Democrats ran the table in the House races thought to be especially competitive, winning all 20 of the contests decided so far. Meanwhile, an unprecedented Republican gambit to redraw several House districts to make them more favorable largely failed, with Democrats hanging on to most of the targeted seats.

Midterm elections are typically seen as a referendum on the sitting president, and Trump did little to disabuse voters of that notion. In the campaign's final weeks, he held dozens of rallies, telling supporters repeatedly to "pretend I'm on the ballot."

He also intervened in several races to ensure his preferred candidates reached the ballot, despite concerns from some Republicans that his choices carried significant liabilities.

In Texas, Trump backed Ken Paxton, the scandal-ridden state attorney general, over the incumbent, Senator John Cornyn. In South Carolina, the president anointed Darline Graham, a political neophyte, after her brother, Senator Lindsey Graham, died suddenly earlier this year. Both candidates lost.

But even candidates who sought to distance themselves from Trump were unable to escape voters' wrath. In Maine, Republican incumbent Susan Collins had her 30-year Senate career end on Tuesday, despite emphasizing her willingness to break with the president during the campaign.

Progressive Democrat Abdul El-Sayed won Michigan’s open Senate seat on Tuesday, becoming the first Muslim elected to the chamber. He defeated Mike Rogers, a former congressman and FBI agent, who entered the race with Trump's backing and sought to falsely portray El-Sayed, an Egyptian-American born in Michigan, as a religious extremist.

"You chose hate, and Michigan chose hope," El-Sayed told cheering supporters on Tuesday night, referring to Rogers.

Competitive Senate races in Mississippi and Alaska had yet to be called early on Wednesday.

On Tuesday night, as it grew clear Republicans were in danger of losing their congressional majorities, Trump 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."

President Donald Trump listens at a campaign rally at the Ocean Center, in Daytona Beach, Fla., Oct. 30. AP-Yonhap

According to exit polls conducted by SSRS on behalf of a consortium of US media outlets including major television networks and the Associated Press, half of voters nationwide said they saw the 2026 midterm elections as an opportunity to rebuke the president, and three-quarters said they are "angry" or "dissatisfied" with the way the country is headed.

In addition, 70% of voters surveyed said they want Congress to provide more checks and balances on the president.

"In sweeping and decisive victories, the American people have rebuked the depravity, corruption and incompetence of the man named President Donald J. Trump," incumbent Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia told supporters at a victory party.

The night included several historic firsts for both parties. In Georgia, Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms became the first Black woman elected governor of any US state, while Byron Donalds won Florida's gubernatorial race to become the first Black Republican governor in the US. Democrat Gina Hinojosa will become the first Latina governor in Texas, while Democrat Xavier Becerra will be California's first Latino governor.

周二，民主党在华盛顿夺取了参众两院的控制权，共和党传统票仓的选民对唐纳德·特朗普总统进行了回击。此次胜利包括堪萨斯州和德克萨斯州的参议院席位争夺战胜利，以及三届德克萨斯州州长格雷格·阿博特的落败。预计民主党人一旦在明年一月就职，将对特朗普政府展开调查，并可能阻止其提名人选。特朗普接受了选举结果，并表示他将在一些问题上与民主党人合作。

在堪萨斯州苏厄德县，亚当·汉密尔顿领先现任共和党参议员罗杰·马歇尔 13 个百分点，而特朗普在 2024 年曾以 39 个百分点的优势赢得该县。

截至周二晚间，民主党赢得了所有20场被认为竞争特别激烈的众议院选举。

出口民调显示，一半的选民将中期选举视为对特朗普的一次反击机会，而 70% 的选民希望国会能够对总统施加更多制衡。

阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德赢得了密歇根州空缺的参议院席位，成为首位当选该议院议员的穆斯林。

凯莎·兰斯·博顿斯成为美国历史上第一位当选州长的黑人女性，吉娜·希诺霍萨成为德克萨斯州历史上第一位拉丁裔州长。

发布于2026年11月4日上午11:24（韩国标准时间）

更新于2026年11月4日下午5:01（韩国标准时间）

11月3日，美国大选日当晚，华盛顿特区的美国国会大厦。法新社-韩联社

华盛顿——周二，民主党人夺取了参议院和众议院的控制权，在共和党的传统票仓取得了几代人以来的首次全面胜利，数千万选民对唐纳德·特朗普总统进行了严厉的谴责。

两年前曾将总统推上第二个任期的保守派堡垒中的选民，如今却戏剧性地倒向了民主党，这主要是由于对不得人心的伊朗战争深感不满、对高昂的生活成本感到焦虑以及对特朗普治国方略感到愤怒。

堪萨斯州选出了自近一个世纪前大萧条以来首位民主党参议员。在南卡罗来纳州，特朗普在2024年大选中以近18个百分点的优势获胜，但民主党人却否决了他钦点的参议员候选人。

在共和党最大的州德克萨斯州，民主党人以惊人的方式结束了长达数十年的连败，赢得了一个参议院席位，并罢免了连任三届的州长格雷格·阿博特。

此次选举结果将开启华盛顿分裂政府的新时代。此前两年，共和党控制的国会很少行使权力来约束特朗普。

预计民主党人一旦在1月份就任，就会利用其权力调查特朗普政府、其家人和盟友，并要求在重大立法上做出让步。民主党控制的参议院可以否决特朗普的提名人选，包括任何最高法院大法官的提名（如果出现空缺）。

“参议院版图正在发生翻天覆地的变化，这将改变美国，”民主党参议院少数党领袖查克·舒默说。“美国人民投票支持变革，现在民主党人必须兑现承诺。”

根据美国宪法，特朗普不得寻求第三个任期，但他在过去十年中的大部分时间里都牢牢掌控着共和党。然而，随着华盛顿权力格局的转变，他的“跛脚鸭”状态可能会加速到来，因为人们的目光转向了2028年的总统大选，潜在的继任者们开始在后特朗普时代争夺政治影响力。

尽管民主党人担心特朗普可能会像2020年那样试图推翻选举结果，但总统接受了选举结果，并在接受福克斯新闻采访时向民主党人表示祝贺。他还表示，他将在移民等问题上与民主党人合作，但同时威胁说，他将否决他们通过的任何“荒谬”法案。

民主党人将竞选重点放在腐败和物价上涨上，指责特朗普的关税政策和与伊朗的战争推高了物价，同时强调特朗普家族自他重返白宫以来赚取了数十亿美元。

以特朗普为首的共和党人就跨性别者权利等文化战争议题攻击民主党人，并将对手描绘成激进极端分子。但民调显示，选民们更关心的是切身利益问题。

民主党的浪潮席卷了全国大片地区。据路透社和《今日美国》统计，在周二晚间已统计的大部分选票的约1700个县中，共和党几乎在所有县都失去了阵地，只有少数几个县保持了优势。

民主党在最富裕的县和最贫困的县都取得了进展；在大学学历人口较多的县和大学学历人口较少的县也都取得了进展。民主党在拉丁裔人口密集的县，包括2024年倒向特朗普的德克萨斯州边境县以及堪萨斯州草原上的农业城镇，进展尤为显著。

在堪萨斯州苏厄德县，美国最大的牛肉加工厂之一所在地，约有一半的合格选民是西班牙裔，民主党人亚当·汉密尔顿以 13 个百分点的优势领先于现任共和党参议员罗杰·马歇尔，而两年前特朗普在该县以 39 个百分点的优势获胜。

在被认为竞争尤为激烈的众议院选举中，民主党横扫对手，赢得了目前已决出的全部20个席位。与此同时，共和党史无前例地试图重新划分几个众议院选区，以使其更有利于共和党，但这一策略基本失败，民主党保住了大部分目标席位。

中期选举通常被视为对现任总统的一次全民公投，而特朗普并没有改变选民的这种看法。在竞选的最后几周，他举行了数十场集会，反复告诉支持者们“假装我的名字在选票上”。

他还干预了多场选举，以确保他属意的候选人能够进入选票，尽管一些共和党人担心他的选择会带来重大隐患。

在德克萨斯州，特朗普支持丑闻缠身的州检察长肯·帕克斯顿，而不是现任参议员约翰·科宁。在南卡罗来纳州，总统钦点政治新手达琳·格雷厄姆，此前她的哥哥、参议员林赛·格雷厄姆于今年早些时候突然去世。两位候选人最终都落败了。

但即便那些试图与特朗普划清界限的候选人，也未能逃脱选民的怒火。在缅因州，共和党现任参议员苏珊·柯林斯长达30年的参议院生涯于周二结束，尽管她在竞选期间曾强调愿意与总统决裂。

周二，进步派民主党人阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德赢得了密歇根州空缺的参议院席位，成为首位当选该州参议员的穆斯林。他击败了前国会议员兼联邦调查局特工迈克·罗杰斯。罗杰斯在特朗普的支持下参选，并试图将出生于密歇根州的埃及裔美国人埃尔-赛义德错误地描绘成宗教极端分子。

“你选择了仇恨，而密歇根选择了希望，”埃尔-赛义德周二晚上对欢呼的支持者们说道，他指的是罗杰斯。

截至周三清晨，密西西比州和阿拉斯加州竞争激烈的参议院选举结果尚未出炉。

周二晚间，随着共和党失去国会多数席位的危险日益明显，特朗普在社交媒体上写道：“我没参选，如果我参选，我们肯定会大获全胜！感谢大家对此事的关注。”

10月30日，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普在佛罗里达州代托纳海滩海洋中心举行的竞选集会上聆听演讲。（美联社-韩联社）

根据 SSRS 代表包括主要电视网和美联社在内的美国媒体联盟进行的出口民调显示，全国一半的选民表示，他们认为 2026 年中期选举是谴责总统的机会，四分之三的选民表示，他们对国家的发展方向感到“愤怒”或“不满”。

此外，70%的受访选民表示，他们希望国会能够对总统施加更多制衡。

“美国人民以压倒性和决定性的胜利，谴责了唐纳德·J·特朗普总统的堕落、腐败和无能，”现任民主党参议员、佐治亚州参议员乔恩·奥索夫在庆祝胜利的聚会上对支持者们说道。

当晚，两党都创造了多项历史性“第一”。在佐治亚州，民主党人凯莎·兰斯·博顿斯当选为美国历史上首位黑人女州长；拜伦·唐纳兹赢得佛罗里达州州长选举，成为美国历史上首位黑人共和党州长。民主党人吉娜·伊诺霍萨将成为德克萨斯州历史上首位拉丁裔州长；民主党人泽维尔·贝塞拉将成为加利福尼亚州历史上首位拉丁裔州长。