Democrats Projected To Regain U.S. Senate Majority In 2026 Midterms
Democrats are projected to regain control of the U.S. Senate after the 2026 midterm elections, with CBS News calling enough key races on Tuesday night to flip the chamber from a Republican to a Democratic majority.[1]
The projection, made late Tuesday, is based on Democratic gains in multiple Republican-held seats and successful defenses of their most vulnerable incumbents, giving the party at least a four-seat net pickup and ending the GOP's 53-47 advantage.[1] Democrats are projected to flip Senate seats in Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Kansas and Iowa while holding on in closely watched contests in Georgia and New Hampshire.[1]
Before Election Day, Republicans held a 53-47 majority, meaning Democrats needed to gain at least four seats to retake the Senate under current rules.[1] Both parties had targeted a small map of competitive states, but Democrats focused heavily on traditionally Republican terrain such as Texas and Kansas, betting that demographic change, abortion rights backlash, and fatigue with unified GOP control in Washington could put long-shot seats into play.
The projected Democratic majority in the new Senate, which will be seated in January, will serve as a check on the Trump administration during the president's final two years in office, reshaping the balance of power over appointments and legislation.[1] With control of the upper chamber, Democrats will be able to block or stall Trump administration nominees for the federal courts and key executive-branch posts and decide which bills, including White House priorities, receive floor votes or die without a hearing.[1]
Strategists in both parties are now bracing for a markedly different final phase of the Trump presidency than many in the GOP envisioned even a few months ago, with confirmation fights likely to intensify and bipartisan dealmaking becoming more central to any major legislation that reaches the president's desk. The outcome also sets the stage for an immediate internal debate among Democrats over how aggressively to use their new majority, from judicial confirmations and oversight investigations to potential efforts to pass messaging bills that define the stakes of the 2028 presidential race.
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📊 Relevant Data
Early exit polls found President Trump's job approval underwater in nearly all Senate battleground states, including states he won by double digits in 2024, and in all battlegrounds more voters said their finances were worse rather than better than years ago.
Live 2026 Senate election results as Democrats score major upsets and take control of chamber — CBS News
Majorities of both Republican-candidate voters and Democratic-candidate voters in battleground states told exit pollsters that which party controls the Senate was a major factor in their vote.
Live 2026 Senate election results as Democrats score major upsets and take control of chamber — CBS News
Before results came in, CBS News counted 11 Senate battlegrounds (8 GOP-held, 3 Democratic-held) and rated South Carolina, Kansas and Iowa as lean Republican and Maine, Ohio, Texas and Alaska as toss-ups; Democrats ultimately were projected to win South Carolina, Kansas, Iowa, Maine, Ohio and Texas.
Live 2026 Senate election results as Democrats score major upsets and take control of chamber — CBS News
In the final stretch, Republicans spent hundreds of millions of dollars defending Senate seats in Texas, Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and Ohio, according to CBS News.
CBS News
📌 Key Facts
- On November 3, 2026, CBS News projected that Democrats won enough races to control the U.S. Senate.
- Democrats are projected to flip Senate seats in Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Kansas and Iowa and to hold vulnerable seats in Georgia and New Hampshire.
- Republicans had held a 53–47 Senate majority before the election, so Democrats needed four net pickups to regain control.
- The new Democratic majority will be able to block Trump administration nominees and decide which bills receive votes during the president’s final two years in office.
- CBS News projected that Democrat Troy Jackson defeated fifth-term GOP Sen. Susan Collins, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, in Maine, a flip not listed among the story's projected pickups; Collins conceded and said she called Jackson to congratulate him. (CBS News)
- Democratic state Rep. Josh Turek is projected to defeat GOP Rep. Ashley Hinson for the Iowa seat vacated by retiring Sen. Joni Ernst; Iowa had not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 2008 and Trump won the state by 13 points in 2024. (CBS News)
- CBS News estimated late Tuesday that the Michigan Senate race between Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers is likely Democratic; it had been rated a toss-up after Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens switched her endorsement to Rogers. (CBS News)
- Democrats also held an open seat in Minnesota, where Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan is projected to defeat Republican Michele Tafoya, while Republicans held seats including Louisiana (Julia Letlow), Kentucky (Andy Barr), Alabama (Barry Moore) and South Dakota (Sen. Mike Rounds). (CBS News)
- The Associated Press projected the Senate flip just after 11:30 p.m. ET Tuesday, according to Roll Call. (Roll Call)
- President Trump told CBS News he believed Democrats are "gonna want to work with me. Otherwise I'd just veto everything and they're not gonna want that." (CBS News)
- Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said, "against all odds, we Democrats have won the Senate," and told Americans "Relief is on the way." (CBS News)
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