Democrats win control of both chambers of Congress in 2026 midterms

The result gives the Democratic Party control of the House of Representatives and the Senate after an election in which key Senate contests shifted toward Democrats. The Guardian reported that Democrats flipped seven Senate seats, in Kansas, Iowa, Texas, Maine, Ohio, North Carolina and South Carolina. The specific seat-by-seat account was published as part of the newspaper’s live coverage of the results.

ANSA reported that Democrats held 54 Senate seats compared with 43 for Republicans. Its updates also recorded Democratic control of the House, but gave differing Democratic seat totals: one update listed 218 seats and a later update listed 225. That discrepancy indicates that the precise composition of the House was still changing in the supplied coverage, even though the reports agreed on which party controlled it.

Donald Trump’s response was also reported by the international coverage. Handelsblatt and ANSA said Trump stated that he would accept the election results, while Handelsblatt reported that he congratulated the Democrats. Handelsblatt separately reported that Trump blamed Fox News for Republican losses. The claims about his response and the broadcaster were reported by those publications rather than independently established in the supplied material.

The congressional result came alongside reported Democratic gains in gubernatorial contests. Handelsblatt reported that Democrat Crowley became Wisconsin’s first Black governor, but the supplied material does not identify Crowley’s full name. More broadly, the reports describe gains in key governor’s races without providing a complete tally of gubernatorial results, so the wider state-level picture remains incomplete in the available evidence.

The result prompted reactions beyond the immediate election coverage. ANSA reported that Barack Obama celebrated the Democratic victory and said Americans wanted leaders who offered solutions. The same publication reported that Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Italy respected the will of American voters and that relations with the United States would not change. Final certified results and the exact final composition of both chambers were not provided in the supplied reports.