World, in brief

Democrats won control of the US Senate in Tuesday's midterm elections, the Associated Press (AP) news agency projected. [1]

Republicans went into the vote holding 53 of the US Senate's 100 seats. [2] Democrats now have at least 51, a majority. [1]

US TV networks CNN, CBS and CNBC also projected that Democrats had won the US House of Representatives. [3][4]

Midterms fall halfway through a US president's 4-year term, and this was Donald Trump's second term. [5]

A Senate majority lets Democrats block Trump's bills and reject his judges, including for the US Supreme Court. [11]

Democrats plan to investigate Trump's family business and his government's immigration enforcement. [5]

The new US Congress meets in January. [2] Hakeem Jeffries could then become the first Black speaker of the House. [2]

Voters angry about prices, tariffs and the Iran war turned against Trump's party across the US. [2]

That shift won Democrats Senate seats in Texas, Kansas and South Carolina, which Republicans had held for decades. [1]

Running the House gives them its committees and the power to demand documents and witnesses from Trump's government. [5]

Whether AP has called the US House.

The House calls in our sources come from CNN, CBS and CNBC projections, and none of them reports an AP call on it. [4][3]

Democrat James Talarico beat Republican Ken Paxton, Texas's attorney general, for a US Senate seat. [28]

Talarico is the first Democrat to win a Senate race in Texas since 1988. [11]

Democrat Gina Hinojosa also beat Greg Abbott, the Republican governor, AP reported. [29]

Hinojosa will be the first Democrat to run Texas since Ann Richards in the 1990s. [29] She will also be its first Latina governor. [29]

Spending on the Texas Senate race topped half a billion dollars, a record. [28]

Elon Musk, whose SpaceX rocket company is based in Texas, spent at least $212m backing Paxton. [28]

Republicans need Texas to win presidential elections, so this loss will alarm them, AP says. [29]

Political scientists call it a national tide: AP says a glum national mood dragged Republicans down even in Texas. [29]

When a whole class is cross with one teacher, even the pupils who never complain sign the letter.

Abbott's campaign spent $180m since last year and still lost. [29] AP says that shows money in politics has clear limits. [29]

Why a nationwide swing flips seats that looked safe

Every seat starts with a lead from the last election

A national mood moves voters by a similar amount almost everywhere

Any seat whose lead is smaller than that move changes hands

So a big enough move reaches seats nobody thought were in play

Candidates and local issues make the move bigger in some places and smaller in others

A seat is only as safe as its lead. When the whole country moves further than that lead, the seat falls, even after decades.

Trump's winning lead in 2024 in three places. Democrats won the first two on Tuesday. In Florida, the Republican held on by about 3 points.

Trump won the state by nearly 18 points in 2024, and the move against his party was bigger than that lead.

About a quarter of Kansans are Democrats, Hamilton said, so the seat fell only because Republicans and independents moved too.

Florida's 3 redrawn seats had backed Trump by at least 9 points, and the move still kept them Democratic.

AP says a glum national mood dragged Republicans down even in Texas, where Democrats had not won in decades.

The move is never exactly equal. Florida held on a 13-point Trump lead while South Carolina fell on nearly 18, because candidates and local voters bend it.

Every voter in this story chose alone, in one booth, about one race.

Democrat Annie Andrews, a children's doctor, won South Carolina's US Senate seat, AP projected. [12]

She beat Darline Graham, a Republican backed by Trump. [12]

Graham was appointed to the seat after her brother, Senator Lindsey Graham, died suddenly in July. [12]

In a primary debate, Graham said national security was 'not my thing'. [12]

South Carolina had not elected a Democrat to the US Senate since 1998. [12]

Her win and Roy Cooper's in North Carolina were the first 2 of the 4 seats Democrats needed. [8]

Political scientists call this candidate quality: a weak nominee can lose a safe seat, as many voters judged Graham unqualified. [12]

A school team that always wins can still lose if the coach picks someone who has never played.

Andrews says she owes no one in Washington anything. [12] She raised over $22m more than Graham, mostly in small donations. [12]

Democrat Adam Hamilton beat Republican Senator Roger Marshall in Kansas, AP projected. [30]

Hamilton is a Methodist minister who founded the largest United Methodist church in the US. [30]

No Democrat had won a Kansas Senate seat since 1932. [30]

Hamilton said only about 25% of the people in Kansas are Democrats. [1]

The $110m race was the most expensive in the state's history, AP reported. [30]

Kansas farms and lorry firms face record diesel prices, and Hamilton campaigned on living costs. [30]

Political scientists call them swing voters: Hamilton says Republicans and independents in Kansas joined Democrats this time. [1]

A friend who always votes for pizza picks burgers once the pizza place gets worse.

The New York Times reported that Marshall, a doctor, sued about 700 former patients over medical debts. [30] Hamilton's adverts used it. [30]

About a quarter of Kansans are Democrats, Hamilton said, so the seat fell only because Republicans and independents moved too.

Republican Senator Susan Collins called Democrat Troy Jackson to concede Maine's US Senate race. [7]

AP had not yet called the race when Jackson declared victory. [7]

Collins has been a US senator since 1997 and was seeking a sixth term. [31][7]

Jackson, a lumberjack and former leader of Maine's state senate, campaigned for only 101 days. [31]

He replaced the first Democratic candidate, Graham Platner, who quit after an allegation of rape, which he denied. [31]

Maine has been hit by fuel costs from the Iran war and record heating oil prices. [31]

Political scientists call it split-ticket voting: in 2020 many Mainers backed Joe Biden and also re-elected Collins. [31]

Some families buy one brand of cereal and another brand of milk, choosing each on its own.

Collins said her independence had brought federal money to Maine. [31] Jackson called her a loyal supporter of Trump. [31]

Democrat Sherrod Brown beat Republican Senator Jon Husted in Ohio, AP projected. [32]

Husted was appointed in 2025 to the seat JD Vance left to become US vice-president. [32]

More than $500m went on adverts in the race, and tech companies spent tens of millions against Brown. [32]

Democrat Amy Acton beat Republican Vivek Ramaswamy to become Ohio's governor, US media projected. [33]

Acton is Ohio's first Democratic governor since 2006 and the first woman elected to the job. [34]

Both of Ohio's Senate seats were Republican, and winning one from Brown in 2024 helped Republicans take the US Senate. [32]

Campaign experts call it a backlash when an attack hurts the attacker, as Ramaswamy's advert about Acton's mother did. [34]

A player who shoves an opponent in front of the referee gets the yellow card himself.

The advert left out that Acton was taken from her mother's care at 12. [34] That was after her stepfather was charged with raping her. [34]

Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms, a former mayor of Atlanta, won the race for governor of Georgia. [35]

CNN and NBC News called the race for her. [35]

She is the first Black woman elected governor of any US state. [35]

She beat Rick Jackson, a billionaire health care boss who spent more than $100m of his own money. [35]

Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff also held his Georgia seat, which AP called early in the night. [11]

Trump endorsed Jackson in July and campaigned with him, so the loss is a setback for Trump too. [35]

Political scientists call Georgia a swing state: its voters backed Joe Biden in 2020 and Trump in 2024. [35]

In a class vote, the few pupils who change their minds each time decide the result.

Democrat Josh Turek beat Republican Ashley Hinson for a US Senate seat in Iowa. [10]

Iowa had not elected a Democratic senator since 2008. [2]

Democrat Rob Sand, the state auditor, won the race for governor, AP projected. [36]

Sand is the first Democrat to win Iowa's governorship since 2006. [36]

Iowa voted for Trump all three times he ran for president. [36]

Sand said Iowa had 10 years of one-party control. [36] He said that is what led it to where it is today. [36]

Political scientists call it divided government: Sand says that come January, both parties will be forced to work together. [36]

Two siblings sharing a room must agree on the rules, because neither can make them alone.

Democrat Roy Cooper, a former two-term governor of North Carolina, beat Republican Michael Whatley for the US Senate. [37]

Whatley, a former chair of the Republican National Committee, had never held elected office. [38]

Cooper is the first Democrat North Carolina has elected to the US Senate since 2008. [37]

He replaces Republican Thom Tillis, who retired after breaking with Trump over Medicaid cuts in Trump's tax and spending law. [38]

Cooper said he would work to end the US war with Iran and 'stop the pain at the pump'. [37]

Campaign experts call it name recognition: voters already knew Cooper across the state, which built his polling lead. [38]

A shop the whole town already knows gets customers on its first day in a new street.

In Florida, Republican lawmakers had redrawn the lines of 3 Democratic-held House seats to make them easier to win. [9]

Republicans lost all 3. [9]

In Pennsylvania, Democrats beat Republicans Scott Perry, Rob Bresnahan Jr and Ryan Mackenzie. [5]

In New Jersey, Democrat Rebecca Bennett ousted Republican Tom Kean Jr. [5]

In Texas's 15th district, Bobby Pulido, a Tejano music star, beat Republican Monica De La Cruz. [7]

Each flipped seat moves Democrats toward the 218 of 435 seats that make a House majority. [6]

Political scientists call drawing district lines to help one party gerrymandering, as Florida's Republicans did. [9]

Each redrawn Florida seat had backed Trump by at least 9 points, and Democrats still held all 3. [8]

Picking PE teams so your side has the best players still fails if everyone else plays better that day.

Republicans in Texas, Florida and Missouri redrew their maps at Trump's request, the Guardian reports. [5]

Florida's 3 redrawn seats had backed Trump by at least 9 points, and the move still kept them Democratic.

Trump wrote: 'I wasn't on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!' [10]

He then posted a picture of a red cap printed with the word 'VETO'. [2]

On a podcast released on Monday, he had said: 'I veto everything.' [4]

He wrote that Fox News, a US TV channel, 'bears responsibility for these losses'. [7]

He told the Wall Street Journal the Iran war was 'a piece of it'. [10]

With both chambers, Democrats can block Trump's plans, and his veto can block theirs. [2]

Psychologists call it self-serving bias: people credit themselves for wins and blame others for losses, as Trump blamed Fox News. [7]

A pupil who aces a test says he is clever, and blames the teacher when he fails.

Trump had spent months urging his supporters to pretend he was on the ballot. [39]

SSRS, a polling firm, surveyed more than 75,000 voters for AP and other outlets. [6] It shows who voted how. [6]

Republicans lost support in every group of voters compared with the 2022 midterms. [6]

Among white women, the Republican share fell from 56% to 48%. [6]

Among white men, it fell from 60% to 55%. [6]

3 in 4 voters aged 18 to 24 voted Democrat. [6]

Most Latino men and women voted Democrat. [6] Two years ago, Latino voters helped carry Trump to a second term. [6]

3 in 4 voters said they were angry or dissatisfied with the way the country is going. [8]

Statisticians call it a representative sample: 75,000 voters chosen to mirror the rest stand in for everyone who voted. [6]

Tasting one spoon tells you how the whole pot of soup tastes, if you stir it first.

The survey combines interviews with early and postal voters and exit polls on Election Day. [6]

Michigan's Senate race between Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers was too close to call late on Tuesday. [10]

El-Sayed would be the first Muslim in the US Senate. [40]

A final New York Times and Siena poll had put El-Sayed 11 points ahead. [40]

Pro-Israel lobby groups spent about $40m against El-Sayed in the party primary and the main race. [10]

In Alaska, polls showed Republican Senator Dan Sullivan and Democrat Mary Peltola essentially tied. [23]

Sullivan accused Peltola's campaign of recruiting a 'decoy' candidate with his name, a retired teacher called Daniel J Sullivan. [23]

Democrats needed to hold Michigan, where Democrat Gary Peters is retiring, as well as win new seats. [40][11]

Sullivan called it the biggest cheating scandal in Alaska's history. [23] Peltola denied knowing of any such plan. [23]

Who wins Michigan's Senate seat.

The race was too close to call late on Tuesday, though a final poll had put El-Sayed 11 points ahead. [10][40]

Who wins Alaska's Senate seat.

Polls showed it tied, and Peltola denies Sullivan's claim about a 'decoy' candidate. [23]

Three candidates backed by New York City's mayor, Zohran Mamdani, won seats in the US House. [41]

They are Brad Lander, Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez. [41]

Mamdani, a democratic socialist, won the city's mayoral race in 2025. [41]

Ending US military aid to Israel was central to all three campaigns. [41]

Governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, beat Republican Bruce Blakeman to keep New York's top job. [33]

Aber Kawas won a New York state senate seat, called by the New York Times. [42] She is the first Palestinian American in a hijab to serve there. [42]

The wins extend a shift to the left in New York City that began with Mamdani's own victory. [41]

Political scientists call these safe seats: the districts lean so heavily Democratic that the June primaries were the real contest. [41]

In a class where everyone supports one team, the only real vote is who becomes captain.

Democrat Xavier Becerra was elected governor of California, beating Steve Hilton, the Republican Trump endorsed. [43]

Becerra, 68, is a former US health secretary and the son of Mexican immigrants. [43]

He is California's first Latino governor since 1875. [43]

More than 40% of Californians are Latino. [43] Nearly 1 in 2 children there has an immigrant parent. [43]

Californians also voted on Proposition 40, a one-time 5% tax on fortunes above $1 billion. [44]

Becerra has vowed to resist Trump's agenda for the last 2 years of Trump's term. [43]

Political scientists call it federalism: California has its own government, so Becerra can vow to resist Trump. [43]

Each house in a street sets its own bedtime, whatever the house next door does.

Whether California's billionaire tax, Proposition 40, passed.

None of our sources reports a result, and California counts slowly: in 2024 it finished nine days after Election Day. [44][105]

Trump said US military aid to Israel will stop at the end of this year. [45] It is worth $3.8bn a year under the current deal. [45]