Democrats take Congress as Trump concedes midterm defeat

Anti-Trump anger came to the surface in the US midterm elections held yesterday (3 November), with Democrats capturing majorities in both chambers of Congress.

While Democrats were considered certain to win a majority in the House of Representatives, the situation was not the same in the Senate. Even so, the Senate majority also passed to the Democrats. Democrats currently appear to hold 51 seats.

With historic victories secured in Texas, Iowa, Kansas, and South Carolina, the party has now won the upper chamber.

In the House of Representatives, Democrats currently hold 189 seats, while Republicans hold 117. A total of 218 seats is needed for a majority, and Democrats are considered certain to reach that threshold.

The current composition of the House stands at 218 Republicans, one independent who caucuses with the Republicans, and 214 Democrats, with two seats vacant.

In American midterm elections, the entire House of Representatives is renewed, while one-third of the Senate seats are contested every two years.

In a telephone interview with CBS News, US President Donald Trump conceded defeat and congratulated Democrats on their victory in the midterms.

“My message is this: I congratulate the Democrats and look forward to working with you for the good of our country,” Trump said.

Stating that he plans to cooperate with the opposition party, the president said:

“I know a lot of Democrats, I have full veto power, and I am confident that we will be able to solve problems. I think they will want to work with me. Otherwise, I will veto everything, and they would not want that.”

The president insisted that the reason so many Republicans lost was that his own name was not on the ballot.

“I feel that I wasn’t on the ballot, and there was nothing that could be done about that. If I had been, we would have won,” Trump said.

Explaining the Republican losses, the president added:

“In some cases, they didn’t like the candidates; in other cases, those candidates weren’t friends of mine, and the base knows that better than anyone. And they didn’t give their support. In their hands… I mean, if I had been on the ballot, we would have won easily, so it’s sad in that respect. But I wasn’t on the list.”

Asked whether he felt upset, he said he had “done his best” and “left everything on the field”:

“I tried to help people get elected, but they couldn’t get elected, they couldn’t get elected. The public didn’t turn out to the polls the way they should have. If I had been a candidate, they would have turned out. But they didn’t. It’s just one of those things, you know? This is a temporary situation. It has happened many times before.”

The president also said the war in Iran would “basically be over when I say it’s over.”

Thirty-five Senate seats were contested in Tuesday’s midterms. According to CBS News projections, Democrats succeeded in picking up the four seats required to take control of the Senate, aided by three major upset victories in Texas, South Carolina, and Kansas, alongside seats won in Ohio and North Carolina. The party also held its seats in Georgia and New Hampshire.

“All the money in the world cannot stand against the people of Texas,” James Talarico told supporters at an election watch party in Austin.

“We have sent a message to every billionaire megadonor, every trillionaire megadonor in this state and across this country, and to every corrupt defender of this broken political system: power belongs to the people. To the richest man in the world, the most powerful man in the world, and the entire Washington establishment. The people of Texas were my slingshot, and tonight we defeated Goliath.”

Victory in the Senate will grant Democrats additional oversight powers, giving them a far greater say over administration and judicial appointments.

They will also set the Senate’s legislative agenda and possess new authority to summon administration officials to hearings.

The Democrats’ string of victories paves the way for Senator Chuck Schumer to return as majority leader in 2027 and sets up tough negotiations with Trump across a range of issues, including federal spending levels.

This significantly curtails Trump’s legislative authority and his ability to reshape the federal court system.

However, Democrats will still need to negotiate with the White House to secure their own legislative achievements.

Democrats needed to gain at least four seats to win a Senate majority. Yet this had appeared to be a difficult goal, given that most of the contested Republican-held seats were in states Trump had carried comfortably.

Nevertheless, high petrol prices driven by the war in Iran and broader economic concerns provided Democrats with ammunition to attack Trump and the Republicans.

Senate Democrats picked up the first seat of the night in North Carolina, where former Democratic Governor Roy Cooper defeated former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley.

Democrats secured their next major victory of election night when paediatrician Annie Andrews was projected to defeat Senator Darline Graham, who had been appointed to the seat in July following the sudden death of her brother, longtime incumbent Senator Lindsey Graham.

Another critical early result for Democrats came from Texas. There, Democratic State Representative James Talarico comfortably defeated State Attorney General Ken Paxton, whom Trump had controversially endorsed over Senator John Cornyn in the Republican Senate primary.

Trump also initiated a trade war that drove up prices, including against Canada, one of America’s oldest allies. This became an issue across numerous states, including those along the extensive Canadian border.

Democrats prevailed in border states such as Maine and Iowa, while Kansas elected a Democratic senator for the first time since the Great Depression.

At the same time, Kansas overwhelmingly passed a referendum measure requiring citizenship in order to vote.

Despite the Republican collapse, conservative ballot measures passed across the country in both blue (Democratic) and red (Republican) states. Consequently, while “Trumpist” tendencies endure, the overall results appear to be a decisive rejection of Trump.