Democrats were on track to win the US House in Tuesday's midterm elections, according to media projections, and were moving closer to a Senate majority after seizing Republican seats in South Carolina and North Carolina.

The early results were a sweeping rebuke to US President Donald Trump and the Republican Congress that has supported him since he returned to the White House two years ago.

In South Carolina, pediatrician Annie Andrews became the first Democrat to win a Senate seat since 1998, a stunning victory over Trump's hand-picked candidate Darline Graham in a state that he carried by nearly 18 percentage points in 2024.

Andrews' win, along with Democrat Roy Cooper's win in North Carolina's Senate race, gave the party two of the four seats it needs to net in order to take control of the chamber.

The results also suggested that a Democratic wave was growing large enough to swamp even deeply Republican areas.

After the death of his ally, US Senator Lindsey Graham, Graham's sister Darline was appointed to fill his seat and Trump encouraged her to run for a full six-year term.

But her political inexperience proved a liability.

It was still too early to determine whether Democrats would be able to replicate those performances in the other critical races that will determine the Senate majority, including Alaska, Iowa, Michigan, Maine, Ohio and Texas, with millions of votes still uncounted in those states.

Democrats held onto Senate seats in Georgia and New Hampshire, both races that were once considered competitive but moved out of reach for Republicans amid Trump's declining approval ratings.

While several television networks projected that Democrats would eventually win a House majority, most of the chamber's most tightly contested races had yet to be called.

So far, Democrats have picked up four seats from Republicans, meaning they can afford to lose one of their existing seats and still take control of the 435-member chamber.

"In sweeping and decisive victories, the American people have rebuked the depravity, corruption and incompetence of the man named President Donald J. Trump," incumbent Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff, the projected winner in Georgia, told supporters at a victory party.

In Florida, Republican Senator Ashley Moody fended off Democrat Angie Nixon, but was ahead by only about three percentage points in a state Trump carried by 13 points in 2024, according to a vote count compiled by Reuters and USA Today, further evidence that even solidly Republican states were shifting dramatically toward Democrats.

Democrats held onto three House districts in Florida that Republican lawmakers had redrawn earlier this year, all of which backed Trump by at least nine percentage points.

The fate of the House overall remained uncertain, with the majority of races still uncalled.

Midterm elections are typically viewed as a referendum on the president, and that is especially true for Trump, who dominates attention like no other politician.

Trump himself told his supporters to "pretend I'm on the ballot" and held dozens of rallies in the closing weeks.

According to exit polls conducted by SSRS on behalf of a consortium of US media outlets including major television networks and the Associated Press, half of voters nationwide said they saw the 2026 midterm elections as an opportunity to rebuke the president, and three-quarters said they are "angry" or "dissatisfied" with the way the country is headed.

In addition, 70 percent of voters surveyed said they want Congress to provide more checks and balances on the president.

The results will shape the final two years of Trump’s second term.

The Republican-controlled Congress acted as a rubber stamp to much of his agenda.

While Trump has proven adept at steamrolling efforts to rein him in, Democrats taking control of even one chamber would open the floodgates to investigations and possible impeachments.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and tech titan Elon Musk, a former top Trump adviser, are among possible targets.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, in line to make history as the nation’s first Black speaker of the House if his party sweeps to power, has outlined a 100-day agenda focused on lowering the cost of living and aggressively overseeing the Trump administration.

An especially strong showing for Democrats could boost the party's large crop of potential presidential candidates.

It could also complicate the paths of US Vice President JD Vance and other Republicans who may be looking to turn their loyalty to Trump into momentum. (Agencies)





Edited by Tony Sabine