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Good morning. Election night did not go the way the president predicted. Democrats took Congress, flipped territory Republicans thought was safe, and elected leaders who made history in three different states. Here are today’s six stories.
Democrats delivered a sweeping victory in the 2026 midterm elections, winning control of both the House and the Senate.
They flipped Senate seats in states including Texas, Ohio, North Carolina, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, and South Carolina, and they won governor’s races in places Republicans had held for years. Voters were frustrated by economic conditions, tariffs, and an unpopular war with Iran. The new majorities will bring committee control, investigations, and real oversight of the administration for the last two years of Trump’s term. Governing will still be hard, with presidential vetoes and party divisions in the way.
Source: The Washington Post — 2026 Midterm Election Coverage
Trump’s White House responded to the losses by spreading the blame.
Trump had campaigned at roughly 30 events across 20 states, urging voters to treat the midterms as a referendum on him. Afterward, he stressed that he was not on the ballot. Advisers disagreed over whether weak candidates or administration policies were to blame, and some staffers were reportedly already looking for lawyers ahead of congressional investigations. One official told Democrats to “Buckle up,” and Trump said he would accept the results.
Source: Semafor
Democrat Nancy Lacore, a former Navy admiral fired by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, won a South Carolina House seat Trump carried by 13 points in 2024.
She beat Republican Jenny Costa Honeycutt with just under 50 percent of the vote to Honeycutt’s 48 percent. Lacore, a former helicopter pilot and chief of the Navy Reserve, made Hegseth’s leadership and the Iran war central to her campaign. Her win shows the limits of Republican-friendly redistricting when voters turn against the party in power.
Source: The Hill
Democrat Abdul El-Sayed defeated Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan’s Senate race, becoming the first Muslim ever elected to the U.S. Senate.
Trump called him a “jihadist,” Republicans spent heavily attacking his religion and his views on Israel, and Rep. Haley Stevens endorsed Rogers two days before the vote. The endorsement drew millions in new donations to El-Sayed. He ran as an outspoken progressive, with a message built around taxing billionaires, breaking up monopolies, and Medicare for All. His win suggests a progressive can compete statewide in a politically divided industrial state.
Source: The Washington Post
Democrat Xavier Becerra is projected to become California’s next governor after beating Republican Steve Hilton.
Becerra, a former state attorney general and Biden’s Health and Human Services secretary, led comfortably in polls heading into Election Day. He has floated a new income tax on the wealthy, a healthcare fee on major corporations, and changes to the state’s high-speed rail project. Those ideas will have to get through Sacramento before they change anything. Newsom leaves office at the end of the year.
Source: KCRA 3
Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms defeated Republican billionaire Rick Jackson to become the first Black woman ever elected governor of a U.S. state.
She is also Georgia’s first female governor, and her win ends more than 20 years of Republican control of the office. Her victory builds on the organizing groundwork laid by Stacey Abrams. The night brought more milestones, with Stacey Plaskett winning in the Virgin Islands and Byron Donalds becoming the first Black Republican elected governor in Florida.
Source: Reuters
The voters have spoken, and Washington will look very different when the next Congress is sworn in. Stick with The Morning Sixpack as the fights over investigations, spending, and 2028 begin.
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