Democrats Win Key Senate, Governor Races; Congress Control Undecided

Early results and projections in the US midterm elections showed Democrats winning a Republican-held Senate seat and making inroads in conservative House districts, while control of Congress remained undecided. The elections were widely seen as a referendum on President Donald Trump’s second term, with voter concerns over living costs, tariffs and the US conflict with Iran, which has driven fuel prices higher, weighing on his party.

In North Carolina, former governor Roy Cooper defeated Michael Whatley, a former Republican National Committee chairman chosen by Mr Trump, to take a Senate seat. North Carolina has voted for Mr Trump three times, but Mr Cooper campaigned on a pledge to lower living costs. He will replace retiring Republican Senator Thom Tillis, who had clashed with the president.

Democrats also retained key Senate seats. In Georgia, Senator Jon Ossoff, seen as a potential 2028 presidential contender, defeated his Republican challenger. In New Hampshire, Chris Pappas won an open Senate seat, becoming the first openly gay man elected to the chamber.

In Georgia’s governor race, former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms was projected to win, which would make her the first Black woman governor in US history and end 24 years of Republican rule in the state.

Republicans had important victories. In Florida, Trump-backed Byron Donalds won the governor’s race, becoming the state’s first Black governor. Republican Ashley Moody retained a US Senate seat.

In the House, Democrats captured a Republican-held seat in North Carolina in a district Mr Trump won comfortably in 2024. Several contests in Florida suggested that redrawn electoral boundaries might not deliver the gains Republicans had hoped for. Although control of Congress remained undecided, the results raised the possibility of a wider Democratic advance into territory normally considered safe for Mr Trump’s party.

Republicans began the night with 53 of the Senate’s 100 seats, leaving Democrats needing a net gain of four for control. All 435 House seats were contested, with Democrats needing to flip just three. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters the country was “on the brink of a dramatic change of direction.”

If Democrats capture the House, they could block Mr Trump’s legislative plans and use congressional committees to investigate his administration over the Iran conflict, deportations and allegations of corruption. A Senate takeover would go further, allowing them to block judicial nominees and senior administration appointments, fundamentally changing Mr Trump’s ability to govern during the final two years of his presidency.

For many voters, the election was about the cost of everyday life. “Rent, groceries, utility bills, and property taxes keep climbing, and I want people in Congress who will actually do something about costs,” Taylor Cook, a 24-year-old voter in Los Angeles, told AFP.

Mr Trump defended his record in a final television appearance on Tuesday, praising his tariffs, immigration crackdown and military campaign against Iran. “We have to keep America great. We’re great now. We were terrible two years ago,” the 80-year-old told Fox News.

Reflecting the campaign’s fierce ideological divisions, Republican voter Maru Restrepo, 70, told AFP in Miami that Democrats had become “very socialist.” Questions remained over whether Mr Trump would accept an unfavourable result, a matter that drew attention during the campaign.