Democrats won major Senate races in North Carolina and Georgia, but it remained unclear whether the party would succeed in wresting control of the chamber from President Donald Trump’s Republicans with millions of votes still uncounted in Tuesday’s midterm elections.
Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff, widely seen as a potential 2028 presidential candidate, defeated US Representative Mike Collins in Georgia in a contest that was once considered competitive but moved out of reach for Republicans amid Trump’s declining approval ratings. In North Carolina, former Governor Roy Cooper easily defeated Trump-backed Republican Michael Whatley to win a Republican-held seat, media outlets projected, giving Democrats one of the four net pickups they need to win a majority.
History is against Republicans: The sitting president’s party has lost ground in Congress in all but two midterms since World War Two. Trump’s approval rating is hovering near his career lows, with voters frustrated by war with Iran, higher fuel prices and wider affordability concerns. In addition, 70% of voters surveyed said they want Congress to provide more checks and balances on the president. The president has sought to energize his base with more than two dozen campaign rallies since the start of October, most in states he easily won in 2024, underscoring Republicans’ defensive posture.
According to exit polls conducted by SSRS on behalf of a consortium of US media outlets including major television networks and the Associated Press, half of voters nationwide said they saw the 2026 midterm elections as an opportunity to rebuke the president, and three-quarters said they are “angry” or “dissatisfied” with the way the country is headed.
