Democrats take over Senate and House after a night of surprises, Trump reaches for his veto pen
US media give Democrats the majority in both chambers, with striking wins in Texas, Kansas and Maine.
Republicans have lost control of Congress in the midterm elections. The Associated Press called the Senate for the Democrats late on Tuesday evening US time, Al Jazeera reports. CNN, NBC News and CBS News reached the same conclusion for the House of Representatives, although many seats had yet to be allocated, writes VRT NWS. Democrats needed a net gain of four seats there and achieved it in places including Kentucky, Pennsylvania and North Carolina. According to NOS, even some districts in Florida that Republicans had redrawn in their favour turned blue.
In the Senate, Democrats picked up a string of Republican seats. Roy Cooper beat Michael Whatley in North Carolina, Sherrod Brown defeated sitting senator Jon Husted in Ohio and Adam Hamilton beat Roger Marshall in Kansas, the first Democratic Senate win there since 1932, according to Al Jazeera. In Texas James Talarico defeated Ken Paxton, and in South Carolina Annie Andrews beat Darline Graham, the sister of Lindsey Graham, who died in July. In Maine Susan Collins conceded defeat to Troy Jackson, which according to the Washington Examiner gave Democrats their 53rd seat. NOS also counts Iowa among the Republican losses. In Michigan and Alaska counting was still under way at the time of VRT NWS's morning report.
Democrats also gained governorships. In Texas Republicans lost the governor's office to Gina Hinojosa, in Ohio Amy Acton beat Vivek Ramaswamy and in Georgia Keisha Lance Bottoms won, VRT NWS reports. In Florida Republican Byron Donalds came out on top. NOS points to the higher cost of living and the rise in fuel prices caused by the war with Iran, which weighed especially heavily in rural areas.
President Donald Trump followed the evening at the White House. He told The New York Times he would accept the result and wanted to work with the Democrats, according to VRT NWS. He did warn CBS that otherwise he would block everything with his veto, NOS reports, after which he shared an image on social media bearing the word VETO. He put the blame on the Republican candidates, writing that they would have won had he himself been on the ballot.