Follow the latest developments from the US midterm elections on November 3, 2026:
Live election results
Abdul El-Sayed defeats Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan
El-Sayed is a former medical administrator inspired to enter politics due to the dire economic circumstances faced by many in his home state of MichiganImage: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo/picture allianceIn what was one of the most widely followed and closely watched races of the night, Democratic newcomer Abdul El-Sayed defeated Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan with 52% of the vote to 46%.
Born and raised in Michigan, El-Sayed was repeatedly targeted by attacks over his heritage and religion, including by President Trump.
Inspired to enter politics after the Flint water crisis that lasted from 2014 to 2019, El-Sayed ran on a platform of making medical care affordable, increasing taxes on billionaires, and building more housing for lower- and middle-income families.
It was one of the most expensive Senate races ever run, with tens of millions poured in from mega-donors on both sides.
Musk jokes about defeats after giving hundreds of millions to Republicans
Tech mogul Elon Musk appeared to joke on his X account that his "election-interfering space lasers" did not work as Republican candidates he supported began to concede defeat.
At the same time, he commented that he was going to build data centers in space, an apparent reference to how the noise, pollution, and water consumption of data centers had been a hot topic in several congressional races.
Through funding organizations known as PACs, Musk donated $446 million to the races in Maine, Michigan, Texas, and Ohio, amongst others.
Democrat beats Vance replacement Husted in Ohio
Sherrod Brown has defeated Republican Jon Husted in Ohio's special Senate election, securing a victory that had been crucial to Democrats' plan to retake the Senate.
Brown was a longtime Ohio senator until his defeat to Republican Bernie Moreno in 2024. His campaign highlighted the many corruption allegations against Husted, who had been appointed in 2025 to fill the vacant seat left when JD Vance became vice president.
Husted has been accused of being part of a bribery scandal related to his time in Ohio state politics, illegal campaign donations from a billionaire with ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
Despite the tens of millions donated to his campaign and vigorous support from President Trump, Brown won 49% of the vote to Husted's 46%.
"My pledge to all Ohioans, whether you voted for me or you didn't, is that I will always be on your side — always," Brown said in his victory speech. "I do not work for the utility companies. I do not work for data centers. I do not work for Wall Street. I work for you, I work for Ohio."
Jeffries promises 'great American comeback' after House win
The Democrats' House victory puts Jeffries in line to become speaker, subject to a vote in JanuaryImage: Bonnie Cash/UPI Photo/Newscom/picture allianceHouse Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries celebrated his party's projected victory, declaring: "America is back."
The result puts him in line to become the first Black Speaker of the House and gives Democrats greater power to challenge President Donald Trump's agenda.
"Today begins the great American comeback," Jeffries told a cheering crowd at the Democrats' watch party, describing the occasion as a patriotic moment rather than a partisan one.
"We're going to work hard to deliver on the dramatic change that you deserve," he said.
Jeffries pledged to prioritize affordable healthcare, fight to reverse Republican cuts to government health insurance, and confront corruption among public officials.
"The American people have spoken and made clear that they've had enough of the extremism, enough of the corruption. They want a Congress that's going to deliver for the American people," Jeffries said.
Jeffries would still need to win a vote in the full House when the new Congress convenes in January to become speaker.
Democrats win control of House of Representatives
Democrats took control of the House of Representatives in the midterm elections, according to Associated Press projections.
This victory, along with wresting control of the US Senate, will likely usher in a new era of opposition to President Donald Trump from the US Congress.
Republicans had held 218 seats to the Democrats' 214 going into the vote.
While seat counts are still being finalized, AP has called Democratic Party wins in 220 seats. A party needs 218 for a majority.
Democrats also flipped the Senate, dealing a heavy blow to Republican governance in the country (see entries below).
WATCH — Voters react to Talarico victory in Texas
Democrat James Talarico has flipped a US Senate seat in the state of Texas.
DW correspondent Misha Komadovsky asked participants of the Democrat watch party in Austin for their reactions.
'I had hopes, but this is unbelievable'
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Fact check: Did Paxton challenge his election loss to Talarico?
Claim: "I cannot accept that the result tonight was free or fair. It is simply not possible for somebody with the radical ideology of James Talarico to win an election in Texas fairly," reads an alleged statement from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton shown on NBC News. The X post of the screengrab was viewed more than 600,000 times.
The facts: Paxton, however, did not say this, and this is not an authentic screenshot of an NBC broadcast. In fact, the opposite is true.
The Republican Senate candidate conceded his race to Talarico.
"Let me start off by congratulating James Talarico. I will commit that I will be praying for him that he will do good for Texas and this nation," Paxton said to a party of campaign supporters.
Talarico won in one of the night's biggest upsets, becoming the first Texan Democrat to win statewide office in three decades.
Collins concedes defeat in Maine, AP calls race for Jackson
Collins has been a senator since 1997Image: Joe Raedle/Getty Images/AFPSusan Collins, the longest-serving female Republican senator in US history, has conceded defeat to Democratic challenger Troy Jackson, local media reported.
Shortly after her concession, the Associated Press also called the race for Jackson.
After two-thirds of the votes were counted, projections had shown Collins at 47.5% to Jackson's 52.4%.
Despite vowing to only serve two terms when she was first elected, Collins has represented the northeastern state in the Senate since 1997.
Maine is often called the "whitest" state due to its lack of diversity as well as having one of the highest rural populations per capita. Although it usually votes Democratic in other races, it has often sent Republican senators to Washington.
Despite its relatively small population, Collins' reputation as a moderate Republican who sometimes voted alongside Democrats often gave her outsized power in Washington, where she was sometimes regarded as a swing voter on Senate legislation.
Texas Democrat Talarico: 'Tonight we defeated Goliath'
'Tonight we defeated Goliath,' Talarico said after a race in which Donald Trump and Elon Musk backed Republican Ken PaxtonImage: Eric Gay/AP Photo/picture allianceDemocrat James Talarico celebrated with supporters in Austin, saying that "all the money in the world is no match for the people of Texas."
His remarks followed a Texas Senate race in which Elon Musk is estimated to have poured more than $200 million (€180 million) into supporting Republican Ken Paxton.
"We just sent a message to every billionaire mega-donor, every trillionaire mega-donor, every corrupt defender of this broken political system, in this state, in this country, power belongs to the people," Talarico said.
He said the message had been sent to “the richest man in the world, the most powerful man in the world and the entire DC establishment.”
Talarico also invoked the biblical story of David and Goliath to describe the result: "The people of Texas were my slingshot, and tonight we defeated Goliath."
Texas Democrat Talarico: 'We defeated Goliath'
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Trump blames Iran war in part for Republican losses
US President Donald Trump acknowledged that the war in Iran and its impact on gasoline prices contributed to Republicans' midterm losses, while expressing surprise at the result.
Projections show Democrats taking control of the Senate and also likely the House of Representatives, giving them greater power to challenge his legislative agenda.
"I think a part of it was Iran, but at the same time people understood the importance of what I've done with Iran," Trump told broadcaster Fox News. He suggested voters had been unwilling to accept the short-term rise in gasoline prices.
"We had tremendous rallies," Trump said. "I'm a little bit surprised." He conceded that Democrats "did a good job."
Trump said he could cooperate with Democrats on several issues, including immigration, but warned that he would veto proposals he opposed.
"They'll send over things that are insane, and I'll veto them," he said. "And after a couple of months of vetoes, they'll call and they'll say, 'How do we get this stuff done?' And we'll work together."
Trump indicated he did not expect to change the members of his Cabinet following the election.
Fact check: No, fraudulent ballots were not discovered by the FBI in Houston
Claim: "Over twenty thousand fraudulent ballots uncovered in FBI raid of Houston storage locker warehouse all for Democrats," a viral post claimed on X, viewed more than 400,000 times, along with a photo of an FBI truck at a crime scene.
"That information is false and no election-related operation occurred," a Houston FBI public affairs officer told the AFP news agency.
The first image is clearly borrowed from a different news story. The truck says "FBI Atlanta," which is a city in the state of Georgia, and a reverse image search reveals that the photo is from an FBI raid of the Fulton County, Georgia, elections warehouse earlier this year.
The account that posted the fabricated story belongs to a comedian named Jonathan Gregory. His Twitter bio reads, "digital content creator for pro Trump administration" — it links to a Facebook page marked "comedian," with earlier posts advertising comedy shows.
Fact check: Maine interpreters are allowed to help voters, contrary to fraud claims
Claim: "A highly coordinated scheme to steal an election is happening in real time...," a right-wing media outlet said in a X post, viewed more than 600,000 times.
Attached was a CCTV video, showing a man helping people who appear to be Somali-American voters at the polling booth, flipping through papers, marking ballots, and speaking to them as they write.
The facts: If the video is authentic, nothing shown in it appears to be illegal. Maine’s election law expressly permits "assistance in reading or marking a ballot" because of a voter's "physical disability, illiteracy, or religious faith."
The Maine Secretary of State’s office told Snopes that the office hasn't received any credible reports of interpreters committing election fraud.
That hasn't stopped users from calling the practice a "blatant violation of state law" or claiming that Somalis were "rigging the election in broad daylight." The Maine Wire — the outlet that shared the video — has been accused in the past of harassing Somali voters at the polls.
Democrats gain control of the US Senate
Democrats are projected to gain control of the Senate, according to AP data. The development could hand both houses of Congress to Trump's opponents, with Republicans losing in both battleground and traditionally Republican states.