Democrats Secure Control of Congress in 2026 Midterm Elections

WASHINGTON — Democrats have secured control of Congress following the 2026 midterm elections, commanding a 253 to 157 lead in the House of Representatives with 25 races yet to be called, according to election tallies.

The shift in legislative power underscores a broad political realignment. Assessing the electoral defeat, Senator Ted Cruz stated that the Republican Party was handed an “ass-kicking” in losing control of Congress, comparing the setback to a Watergate-level repudiation.

In state-level contests, Democrat Scott Colom held a lead of more than 1,800 votes over Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith in the Mississippi U.S. Senate race, with 96 percent of the vote counted. Historical context highlights the tightness of the race; a Democrat has not won a U.S. Senate seat in Mississippi since 1982, and Donald Trump carried the state by 22 points in the 2024 presidential election. Mississippi election law permits mail-in ballots to be counted provided they are postmarked by election day and received within five business days. Final outcomes for the Mississippi and Alaska Senate races are anticipated early next week.

In local municipal elections, Nithya Raman was elected mayor of Los Angeles, defeating incumbent Karen Bass. Meanwhile, the broader U.S. economy added 165,000 jobs in October, pushing the national unemployment rate down slightly to 4.1 percent.

The transition in congressional authority has already triggered immediate fallout within federal agencies and the judiciary. Jason Reding Quiñones, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, resigned from the Justice Department. Separately, Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the resignation of Harmeet Dhillon, who served as head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights division.

In the federal courts, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan issued a 14-day temporary restraining order halting construction work on Donald Trump’s proposed triumphal arch. The 250-foot-high structure had previously been approved by the National Capital Planning Commission in an 8–4 vote. In a separate executive action, Donald Trump signed a proclamation designating the Oval Office and Cabinet Room as national monuments.

Global financial markets reacted sharply to the American political shift. European and Asian stock indices fell significantly following a Wall Street rout in technology stocks driven by investor anxiety over potential artificial intelligence industry regulation under the incoming Democratic majority. Susannah Streeter noted that the tech sell-off intensified amid mounting concerns that the build-out of data centres could slow. Responding to the market jitters, Donald Trump issued a statement on Truth Social calling on U.S. states to embrace artificial intelligence, writing that he is 100% in favor of super intelligence and warning that only foolish leadership would turn away from the economic benefits it brings.

International figures also featured in domestic developments. Flávio Bolsonaro made a public appearance at a right-wing gathering at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in Florida. Bolsonaro traveled to the United States after losing Brazil’s October 25 presidential election to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva by a margin of over 4 million votes, and currently faces federal police investigations in Brazil for money laundering and corruption.