Trump Dealt Crushing Midterm as Democrats Win Congress
Donald Trump’s Republicans lost control of both chambers of Congress as Democrats swept key races in the midterm elections. The defeats included Senate wins in…
Donald Trump dealt crushing midterm defeat as Republicans lost control of the House and Senate in the US elections reported on November 4. The results also handed Democrats major victories in Texas and Michigan, weakening the president’s influence over Congress.
The losses reached beyond Capitol Hill. Texas voters elected Democrat James Talarico to the Senate and Gina Hinojosa as governor, ending decades of Republican leadership in the state’s top offices.
Trump had spent weeks urging Americans to treat the election as a verdict on his presidency. After the results turned against his party, he wrote on social media: “I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!”
How did Democrats take control of Congress?
Democrats won both chambers, while Republican candidates backed by Trump fell in races across the country. The outcome delivered a sharp rebuke to the president’s agenda and gave the opposition control of Congress.
The shift matters because control of the House and Senate changes the balance of power in Washington. Democrats can now challenge the administration’s policies through their new majorities, while Republicans no longer control both chambers.
Voters faced concerns over the cost of living, Trump’s war with Iran and his immigration crackdown, according to the accounts of the election results. Those issues featured in the broader pattern of Republican losses, with families struggling to afford food and fuel.
Texas delivers two major Democratic wins
Talarico became the first Democrat elected to represent Texas in the US Senate since 1988. He defeated state attorney general Ken Paxton, Trump’s preferred candidate, in a race that drew substantial Republican spending, including money from Elon Musk.
“Against big money and big odds we took our power back,” Talarico said in his victory speech. He also criticized the negative campaign against him, describing it as “the final howls of a dying establishment”.
Hinojosa defeated incumbent governor Greg Abbott, making her the first Democrat to hold the office in 36 years and the state’s first Latina governor. Her victory followed an immigration enforcement campaign by ICE against Hispanics in Texas, which had alienated voters who had supported Trump two years earlier.
The Texas results underline the practical stakes of the election: voters rejected Republican candidates even in a state long associated with the party’s control. The loss of both offices gives Democrats new power in the state while depriving Trump’s party of two prominent positions.
Michigan and Kansas add to the losses
In Michigan, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed defeated Republican Mike Rogers to win a closely watched Senate race. El-Sayed became the country’s first Muslim senator after facing a campaign that included attacks on his name and faith.
“They want an America that is too small for some of us,” El-Sayed said. “We know that America is big enough for all of us.” Trump had called him a “jihadist” and said he would need to walk through a metal detector to enter the Senate.
Kansas also produced a Democratic Senate victory. Adam Hamilton, a megachurch pastor, became the first Democrat to win a Senate seat in the state in 94 years, defeating incumbent Roger Marshall.
Marshall had drawn criticism after it emerged that he had sued 700 of his former patients over unpaid medical bills from his work as a doctor.
Trump’s response marked a change in tone from the campaign. He told a Politico election-night livestream: “Well, we’re going to work with the Democrats to make sure things go well for our country. Very important.”
