House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said his party had retaken control of Congress as election results favored them across the US.

Here’s what to know

  • Democrats won the House and Senate, flipping key Senate seats in Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Ohio, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas. A day after the polls closed, the Senate races in Alaska and Mississippi remain too close to call.

  • Vice President J.D. Vance blamed the Republican Party's heavy midterm losses on the Iran war.

  • Speaker Mike Johnson won’t seek re-election as House Republican leader, his team confirmed to TIME.

  • Democratic lawmakers have hinted at the political and legal challenges they plan to launch against Trump and his Administration.

  • TIME’s Election Day live updates, below, have concluded. Read our latest coverage at time.com.

Mississippi and Alaska Senate races still too close to call

Nov 4, 7:35 PM

A day after polls around the country began closing on Election Day, two hard-fought Senate races remain too close to call.

Democrats have already secured control of the upper chamber in the next Congress, so far flipping seven Senate seats as part of a sweeping blue wave. The size of the party's new majority, however, is not yet clear, with the outcomes of the contests for the Republican-held seats in Mississippi and Alaska still up in the air.

It may be days before the winners are determined in the races, both of which are extremely closely divided in the current vote counts. With 96% of votes counted in the Mississippi contest as of Wednesday evening, Democrat Scott Colom is leading Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith by 1138 votes, according to the Associated Press. The margin is smaller still in Alaska, with 74% of votes counted, per the AP: Democrat Mary Peltola there leads incumbent GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan by 626 votes.

Elsewhere, Democrats have added to their string of victories on Wednesday, securing a growing number of House seats and flipping key state-level positions, including attorney general offices in multiple red states. The party has also newly gained control of several state legislative chambers—among them, Texas’s state House. — Annika Neklason

The Democratic rising stars who could shape 2028

Nov 4, 7:02 PM

With momentum now behind the party following what is widely being referred to as a “blue tsunami,” Democrats are already setting their sights on a return to the White House. “Over the next two years, Democrats will show up where Republicans have failed and work every single day to bring down costs. Up next: the White House,” vowed Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin.

Yet despite their strong showing at the polls, Democrats still lack a clear leader heading into 2028, setting the stage for what could be a hard-fought primary. There are Democratic heavyweights who often appear on presidential contender lists, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, and former presidential candidate Kamala Harris. However, the Democrats’ midterm victories are a reminder that the party’s rising stars should not be ignored, as they will undoubtedly play an important role in shaping what the 2028 race will look like.

Read more here about the names you should be aware of as Democrats prepare to reset Washington. — Tiago Ventura

What will the blue wave in the midterms mean for climate action?

Nov 4, 6:22 PM

Following two years of anti-climate legislation from Washington, Tuesday’s blue tidal wave—giving Democrats control of both the Senate and the House—could provide an opportunity to change course.

Following his 2024 reelection, President Trump withdrew from the Paris Agreement, rolled back the landmark endangerment finding, and leased public lands for oil and gas drilling—with Democrats unable to do much about it. 

The next two years likely won’t bring aggressive climate policy, nonetheless a shift is expected as a result of the midterms. “Are we going to see ambitious climate action? The answer is no,” says Ken Gillingham, professor of environmental and energy economics at the Yale School of the Environment. “We still have an executive branch with a veto power controlled by President Trump, and so anything that is done would have to make it through the veto.” 

But while Democrats might be unable to reverse many of the rollbacks, the midterms now give them, “a stronger hand to play,” says Geoffrey Henderson, assistant professor of environmental policy and planning at the University of Michigan. 

Read the full article here. — Simmone Shah

The doctors and scientists who won political seats in the midterms

Nov 4, 5:49 PM

The Democratic victors in the midterm elections included people who have spent their careers treating patients, studying viruses, and solving equations. Among the winners: a pediatrician in South Carolina, a microbiologist in Georgia, and a mathematician in Illinois—all bringing experience in health and science to government. Several are joining Congress. One is the next Governor of Ohio. 

Working in medicine, in particular, provides an opportunity to connect to voters, says Erik Polyak, executive director of 314 Action, a political organization that recruits and supports Democratic candidates with scientific and medical backgrounds. “You go into the ER and your doctor doesn’t ask what party you are,” he says. Doctors, nurses, and others who work in health care may have heard patients describe their struggles and might have personally fought insurance companies to get treatment covered.

Still, having health credentials alone does not guarantee that someone will craft good policy, cautions Brian Castrucci, an epidemiologist and president and CEO of the de Beaumont Foundation, which works to strengthen public health through funding, training, and research. What matters is how they use their training. “Congress needs people who know how to weigh evidence, ask hard questions, and admit what we do not yet know,” he says.

Read more about some of the health and science professionals who won political seats in the midterms here. — Angela Haupt

Key strategists see voters of color as ‘driving force’ behind Democrats' midterm rout

Nov 4, 5:16 PM

Tuesday’s Blue Wave was powered by voters of color.

That’s a key takeaway strategists in both parties are clocking as they pore through the results. In a memo obtained exclusively by TIME on Wednesday and soon to circulate among the Democratic National Committee’s bigwigs, two of the Democratic Party’s veteran strategists argue that the blowout would not have been possible without that crucial realignment, one that has enormous consequences for 2028’s presidential field. 

“Hispanic and Black voters not only turned out at a massive rate, but also swung back towards Democrats in terms of support levels, relative to the 2024 presidential election,” Tom Bonier and Simon Rosenberg wrote in Wednesday’s memo.

Read the full article here. — Philip Elliott

3 demographic shifts that fueled Democrats’ midterm gains

Nov 4, 4:13 PM

Democrats made massive gains with key demographic groups in the 2026 midterms—most notably with young voters, Hispanic voters, and rural voters.

Young people overwhelmingly supported Democratic candidates this election cycle. According to the AP Voter Poll, about 7 in 10 voters ages 18 to 29 said they supported the Democratic candidate in their local House races, while about 3 in 10 said they voted Republican. This follows Trump’s historic gains with young voters in 2024.

“Young people trusted Donald Trump to bring prices down and work on affordability,” Santiago Meyer, the executive director of Voters of Tomorrow, tells TIME. “He betrayed everything that he told us: He made prices higher with tariffs, he did not work on housing, and he started an illegal war.”

Hispanic voters were also instrumental in flipping seats—particularly in Texas, where roughly 6 in 10 Hispanic voters supported Democrat James Talarico for the Senate, compared to just 3 in 10 who supported Trump-endorsed Republican Ken Paxton.

“Key takeaway from last night is that Latinos are the key swing voter,” Stephanie Valencia, a co-founder of Equis Research, tells TIME. “People love to call the Latino vote the ‘sleeping giant,’ but we are the swinging giant.”

Rural voters still favored Republican candidates in 2026, according to the AP Voter Poll, but the demographic shifted significantly to the left: 57% of rural voters opted for the Republican candidate in the House, versus 41% opting for the Democratic candidate. In 2024, nearly 70% of validated voters who described their communities as rural voted for Trump, and 29% voted for Harris.

The rural shift influenced several key battleground states. In Kansas, for example, it helped elect Adam Hamilton to the Senate—the first Democrat sent to the upper chamber from the state in almost 100 years.

Read the full piece here. — Rebecca Schneid

Top Republican campaign chair concedes in stunning defeat

Nov 4, 3:50 PM

Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina, chairman of House Republicans campaign committee, has conceded on Wednesday in an unexpected defeat.

Hudson, who has been serving in Congress since 2013, said in a statement that he has called his Democratic opponent Richard Ojeda to congratulate him and looks forward to ensuring a smooth transition.

“In the words of Ronald Reagan: we lost a skirmish, but the battle goes on,” Hudson added.

Hudson’s loss marks the first time that the Chair of National Republican Congressional Committee has lost to a Democrat in a general election. Trump carried Hudson’s district by about 16 points in the 2024 presidential election. — Philip Wang

Steve Scalise and Jim Jordan launch bids to lead GOP after midterm losses

Nov 4, 2:47 PM

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Rep. Jim Jordan have announced that they will seek the top position in the Republican minority in the next Congress after Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday morning that he will not run for the position.

“The socialists are coming to Washington with a radical agenda that threatens the America we hold dear. They will stop at nothing to undo the progress we’ve made alongside President Trump over the last two years,” Scalise, who has served as the No. 2 or No. 3 Republican in the House for more than a decade, wrote in a letter to colleagues on Wednesday following the GOP’s sweeping losses in the midterms.

“The House Republican Conference must be the first line of defense in this crucial battle, and we must fight like our way of life depends on it—because it does,” he continued, going on to pitch himself as a leader “ready to lead on day one and chart our path back to the majority.”

Jordan, a hard-line conservative who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, also announced a run for minority leader in a letter to colleagues earlier on Wednesday.

“In these next two years, our job cannot be merely to spotlight how radical this new Democrat party is—offense, not defense, wins elections. Republican policies prioritize making Americans’ neighborhoods safer, keeping more money in their pockets, and protecting enduring American values and freedoms. To restore our majority, we must restore voters’ faith in our ability to deliver on these principles,” he wrote.

“That,” he continued, “is why I am running to serve as Republican Leader in the 120th Congress.”

Both Scalise and Jordan previously mounted bids for Speaker in 2023, after Kevin McCarthy’s ouster from the position. Scalise beat out Jordan for the internal Republican nomination to lead the conference, but later withdrew his candidacy after failing to secure the votes needed to win the gavel. Johnson went on to be elected to the role following a long and contentious process. — Annika Neklason