Democrats Win Senate Control After Flipping Key Seats

BANGOR, Maine—Democrats have reclaimed the Senate in the Nov. 3 election.

Democrats flipped Senate seats in North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Ohio, Iowa, and Kansas. Democrats needed to flip four Republican seats to win the majority.

The first call of the night was in North Carolina, where former Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, defeated former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley.

Down south in South Carolina, pediatrician Annie Andrews, a Democrat, defeated incumbent Republican Sen. Darline Graham, who took the seat after her brother, former Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), died earlier this year.

In Kansas, pastor Adam Hamilton, a Democrat, defeated incumbent Republican Sen. Roger Marshall. Hamilton will be the first Democrat from Kansas in the Senate in 94 years.

The biggest upset was in Texas, where Democratic state Rep. James Talarico defeated Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. This is the first time a Democrat will be sent to the Senate from Texas since Lloyd Bentsen, who served between 1971 and 1993.

In Ohio, former Sen. Sherrod Brown will return to the Senate, defeating incumbent Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio). Brown will serve the remaining two years of Vice President JD Vance’s term.

Over in Iowa, Democratic state Rep. Josh Turek defeated Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson for Sen. Joni Ernst’s (R-Iowa) seat. The last Iowa Democrat in the Senate was Tom Harkin, who retired from the Senate in 2015.

In the months ahead of Election Day, many critical Senate races were polling in favor of Democrats in contests that were once seen as competitive. For example, the North Carolina election to replace Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) was re-ranked as leaning blue.

Those trends fueled predictions that the Democrats could reclaim the upper chamber after losing it in the 2024 election.

Democrats last held the Senate and House during the first half of President Joe Biden’s administration.

A clear Democratic majority in the Senate would give the party more leverage in spending battles with the GOP and the Trump administration.

Many, if not all, of Trump’s nominees, including possible Supreme Court justice selections, may also face insuperable hurdles in that scenario.

Some Democratic senators—most notably, Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.)—have occasionally voted with Republicans and the current administration.