Democrats Win House Majority in US Midterm Elections as Republicans Lose Ground

In brief

• Democrats are projected to win control of the US House of Representatives in the 2026 midterm elections.
• Early counts show Democrats at 149 House seats against 96 for Republicans, with 218 needed for a majority.
• The Senate result was still undecided when the reports were published, with Democrats reported ahead in early tallies.

Democrats take the House

The Republican Party is set to lose its majority in the US House of Representatives, while Democrats secure control of the chamber, according to projections from CNN and NBC based on early returns (Media: Demokraci przejmą kontrolę nad Izbą Reprezentantów USA. Republikanie tracą kolejne mandaty – Puls Biznesu) (Zwischenwahlen in den USA: Demokraten holen die Mehrheit im US-Repräsentantenhaus – ZEIT ONLINE). Democrats are also winning seats in districts that had long been considered safe Republican strongholds.

Vote count and majority threshold

Decision Desk HQ reported that Democrats had won 149 seats and Republicans 96, with 218 needed for a majority (Вибори до Палати представників США: демократи попереду, доля більшості ще не вирішена – TSN). Voters went to the polls for every House seat in the country, and 35 of the 100 Senate seats were also contested (US-Kongresswahlen - Die Zwischen-Wahlen laufen - Demokraten hoffen auf Sieg über Trumps Republikaner bei Midterms – Deutschlandfunk). Before the vote, Republicans held a razor-thin majority in both chambers.

Senate race still open

Early tallies gave the Democrats the lead in the upper chamber, with 46 seats compared with 37 for Republicans (Промежуточные выборы в США: по предварительным результатам демократы опережают республиканцев в борьбе за места в Конгрессе – NV). US media said Democrats were on course to flip two Senate seats from Republican control (US-Zwischenwahlen: Erste Erfolge für die Demokraten – tagesschau.de). The final Senate outcome had not been determined when the reports were published.

Early signals

The results come as polls closed across much of the country and early counts began to shape the picture. Democrats had hoped to use the midterms as a check on President Donald Trump's Republican Party.

Read also

• US Senate battlegrounds: Democrats still face risks, but have chances in states where they have not won for nearly 100 years
• US Midterms 2026: Polls Suggest Voters May Punish Trump at the Ballot Box