The scale of the victory, confirmed by projections from major US media outlets, exceeded the Democratic Party's expectations, as it regained control of the Senate and House of Representatives, which had previously been dominated by Republicans.

The results represent a profound shift in the political balance in Washington and will force Trump to face an opposition-controlled Congress during the final two years of his presidential term.

According to preliminary figures released overnight, Democrats had secured at least 54 Senate seats and 225 seats in the House of Representatives, surpassing the majorities required in both chambers, although several races remain without a declared winner.

Election night surprise

The Senate victory was the biggest surprise of election night, after Democrats took at least seven seats from Republicans, including in traditionally conservative states such as Texas, Kansas, South Carolina, Ohio and Iowa.

In Texas, Democrat James Talarico defeated Trump-backed Republican Ken Paxton, becoming the first candidate from his party to win a Senate seat in the state since 1988.

Another historic victory came in Kansas, where Adam Hamilton defeated Republican Senator Roger Marshall, securing the first Democratic Senate election victory in the state since 1932.

In South Carolina, Annie Andrews defeated Republican Darline Graham, securing a victory that Democrats had not achieved since the last century, while in Ohio former Senator Sherrod Brown regained a seat in the upper chamber by defeating Jon Husted.

In North Carolina, former governor Roy Cooper defeated Michael Whatley, who was backed by the President, while in Iowa Democrat Josh Turek defeated Ashley Hinson.

In Maine, Susan Collins, one of the best-known Republican senators and a member of Congress since 1997, conceded defeat to Democrat Troy Jackson, although counting had not yet been completed.

Elections in key States

Democrats also managed to retain important seats, including in Georgia, where Jon Ossoff, one of the party's leading hopes for the future, was re-elected, and in New Hampshire, where Chris Pappas won the contest for the seat left vacant by Senator Jeanne Shaheen.

In Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed claimed victory over Republican Mike Rogers, becoming, according to projections subsequently released, the first Muslim elected to the US Senate.

El-Sayed, who faced attacks relating to his religion during the campaign, highlighted the economic difficulties faced by American families in his victory speech and defended access to healthcare and workers' rights.

Despite the projected Democratic majority in the Senate, races in Alaska and Mississippi remain undecided and could further increase the scale of the opposition's victory.

In Alaska, Democrat Mary Peltola is contesting the seat held by Republican Dan Sullivan in an especially tight election. Early results initially gave the Democratic candidate the advantage, but counting is expected to continue due to the state's electoral rules, which include ranked-choice voting.

In Mississippi, a state usually favourable to Republicans, Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith is facing an unexpectedly close contest with Democrat Scott Colom, with only small differences between the candidates in preliminary results.

In the House of Representatives, Democrats won more than two dozen districts previously held by Republicans, including some in which Trump had won the 2024 presidential election by margins exceeding 10 percentage points, according to the Associated Press.

The new majority will allow Democrats to control congressional committees, investigate the presidential administration and block Republican legislative initiatives, while control of the Senate will give them the ability to halt presidential nominations.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer welcomed what he described as an extraordinary victory and promised a change in political priorities in Washington.

“Against all expectations, we Democrats have won the Senate,” Schumer said, adding that “relief is on the way” for American families.

The New York senator said the results represented a generational transformation of the Senate's political map and warned that Democrats would now have to meet voters' expectations

Trump’s reaction

Donald Trump congratulated Democrats but sought to distance himself from the Republican defeat, attributing some of the responsibility to the war in Iran and the performance of his party's candidates.

“I think part of it was Iran,” he said in an interview with Fox News, while defending the importance of the decisions he had made regarding the conflict.

The President also acknowledged that voters were unwilling to bear the immediate consequences of rising fuel prices caused by the war.

Trump said Democrats had “done a good job” but rejected the idea that the results represented a personal condemnation of his presidency.

“I was not on the ballot and, if I had been, we would have won by a landslide,” he wrote on the Truth Social platform.

The head of state said he was willing to work with Democrats, although he warned that he would use his presidential veto to prevent the passage of legislation he considered unacceptable.

The Democratic victory also extended to state gubernatorial elections, with particularly significant results in Texas, where Gina Hinojosa defeated Republican Greg Abbott, and in Georgia, where Keisha Lance Bottoms became the first Black woman elected governor of a US state.

Dissatisfaction with the cost of living, the war in Iran and concerns about government corruption were among the main factors cited as contributing to the election results.

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