Democrats show early US election strength, signaling setback for Trump

Democrats secured a string of early victories in the US midterm elections on Wednesday, November 4, 2026, flipping a Republican-held Senate seat and making inroads in conservative House districts, signaling a potential setback for President Donald Trump.

The opposition party also retained key Senate seats, with a victory in Georgia’s governor race adding to signs that Republicans faced a difficult night. The elections, held on Tuesday, are widely seen as a referendum on Trump’s tumultuous and divisive two years in power.

In North Carolina, popular Democratic former governor Roy Cooper defeated Michael Whatley, Trump’s handpicked candidate for the Senate. Cooper, 69, campaigned on reducing living costs and will replace retiring Republican Senator Thom Tillis. This victory handed Democrats a crucial gain in their bid to overcome the Republicans’ 53-47 Senate majority. Cooper is the first Democrat elected to the Senate from North Carolina since 2008.

In Georgia, rising Democratic star Jon Ossoff, 39, won reelection to the Senate, defeating Republican Mike Collins and safeguarding a Democratic seat Republicans had hoped to capture. Ossoff is widely regarded as a possible contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028. Additionally, former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms was projected to win Georgia’s governorship, becoming the nation’s first Black woman governor and ending 24 years of Republican rule.

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries stated the country was “on the brink of a dramatic change of direction,” predicting his party would reclaim the chamber. Trump, meanwhile, watched results at the White House, with his only public statements being a series of angry social media posts attacking coverage by Fox News.

Results from Florida demonstrated Republican vulnerability in the battle for the House of Representatives, with Democrats projected to win several seats that had been redrawn to favor Trump’s party. In one notable instance, Republican congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna was clinging to a razor-thin lead in a district Trump won by 13 points in 2024.

All 435 House seats and 35 of the 100 Senate seats were at stake, along with 36 governorships. Democrats needed three House gains and a net four Senate seats to take both chambers. If Democrats capture the House, they could block Trump’s legislative agenda and launch sweeping investigations into his administration, including the Iran war, mass deportations of undocumented migrants, and alleged corruption. A Democratic Senate could also thwart his judicial and senior government appointments.

Voter concerns over soaring living costs, Trump’s trade disputes, and the war he started against Iran, which has driven fuel prices sharply higher, have weighed heavily on the president and his party. Polls indicate that President Trump is one of the most unpopular in US history. Taylor Cook, a 24-year-old Los Angeles voter, told AFP, “Rent, groceries, utility bills, and property taxes keep climbing, and I want people in Congress who will actually do something about costs.”

Trump defended his record in a final television appearance on Tuesday, praising his tariffs, immigration crackdown, and military campaign against Iran. The 80-year-old told Fox News, “We have to keep America great. We’re great now. We were terrible two years ago.” Republican voter Maru Restrepo, 70, told AFP in Miami that Democrats had become “very socialist,” reflecting the fierce ideological divisions of the campaign.

Uncertainty remains over whether Trump will accept an unfavorable outcome, as he previously tried to overturn his 2020 presidential defeat. He stated in a podcast released on Monday that he would “veto everything” if Democrats won Congress, though he might eventually negotiate deals.