Trump blames Republicans for midterm rout

Midterms: Key races, biggest upsets, history-makers  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Richard Hall | November 04, 2026     Hello there. It was a blue tsunami. Democrats have won control of both the House and Senate after voters delivered a powerful rejection of President Donald Trump’s party in the midterm elections. The Democratic Party made inroads in deep-red states, winning its first statewide race in Texas in more than 30 years and picking up its first Senate seat in Kansas in 94 years. Today in The Brief, we highlight the key races, the history-making candidates, and how we got here.  IN TODAY’S BRIEF Democrats win House and Senate South Carolina stunner Trump blames Republicans History-makers How Talarico won 39% Ossoff’s speech         READ THIS FIRST Democrats win control of both House and Senate in huge blow to Trump Francis Chung—POLITICO via Associated Press In a resounding rebuke of President Donald Trump and his Republican Party, Democrats will control both the House and Senate for the last two years of Trump’s presidency, cementing one of the strongest midterm showings for either party in decades. The milestone potentially sets up a new political dynamic in Washington. A President has not had to deal with a Congress completely controlled by the opposition party since the last two years of Barack Obama’s presidency. Congress now stands to be a true counterweight to the White House and its agenda.  Democrats needed to net four seats to claim the Senate majority—a tough task given the map this cycle clearly favored Republicans. Democrats in multiple toss-up Senate races managed to effectively harness a national mood against Trump, the economy and the Iran War to win in places initially deemed out of reach for the party.  House Democrats have vowed to use their majority to aggressively investigate Trump, his Administration, and his allies, as well as push policy proposals they campaigned on, including ending the Iran War, undoing Trump’s tariffs and lowering the cost of living. —Philip Elliott Read the full story here.         KEY RACES MICHIGAN: Abdul El-Sayed Makes History as First Muslim Senator MAINE: Troy Jackson Defeats Susan Collins in Maine Senate Race TEXAS: Democrat Gina Hinojosa Ousts Gov. Greg Abbott KANSAS: First Democrat Elected to the Senate From Kansas in Almost 100 Years OHIO: Democrat Amy Acton Defeats Vivek Ramaswamy in Ohio Governor’s Race         SOUTH CAROLINA Annie Andrews defeats Darline Graham in South Carolina Senate upset Win McNamee—Getty Images Democrat Annie Andrews has defeated GOP Sen. Darline Graham in the race for the Senate seat long held by her late brother, Lindsey Graham. Andrews’ victory was a stunning result in a deeply red state that has not elected a Democratic Senator this century. In the weeks leading up to Election Day, polling indicated that the battle, once expected to be a win for Republicans, had become a toss-up. The stakes of the race changed significantly after Sen. Lindsey Graham died in July. A month before his death, the longtime Republican Senator clinched the party’s nomination by double digits and was widely expected to win re-election in November.  The background:  South Carolina’s governor appointed Graham to finish her brother’s term. President Donald Trump repeatedly urged her to run for a full term, and she later announced that she would run for the seat in this midterm election. Graham had never held elected office before taking over her late brother’s seat, and she fared poorly in an August debate in which she admitted she was “not that informed on national security.” —Chantelle Lee Read the full story here.         HAPPENING NOW Trump blames Republicans after crushing election defeats Francis Chung—POLITICO via Associated Press President Donald Trump criticized fellow Republicans and Fox News’ election coverage in a series of Truth Social posts Tuesday night as his party suffered defeats up and down the ballot. Had he been on the ballot, he lamented, Republicans would have won “IN A LANDSLIDE.” Trump singled out Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who lost his re-election bid to Democrat Gina Hinojosa, calling him a “RINO,” short for “Republican in name only.” “He went back to his original formula, and it wasn’t pretty,” said Trump, who had praised Abbott as “strong and highly respected” a day earlier. In a phone interview with Fox News, Trump said he was “a little surprised” by the results but rejected the suggestion that they amounted to a repudiation of his leadership. “We’ve had the greatest two years in the history of the presidency,” he added. —Philip Wang Read the full story here.         THE CONTEXT The candidates who made history in the midterms Kyodo—Associated Press The 2026 U.S. elections have seen several historic firsts. Here’s what to know about these history-makers.  Potential first Black Speaker of the House House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who won re-election in the uncompetitive race against Republican opponent Lewis Mizrahi, could become the first Black Speaker of the House. The path to the speakership isn’t guaranteed, as the center-left Jeffries may have to unite an ideologically fractious Democratic caucus. First Muslim Senator Michigan Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, a former local public health director and podcaster who has never held elected public office, became the first Muslim U.S. Senator, beating Republican candidate Mike Rogers.  First Black female governor Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms beat Republican billionaire Rick Jackson in the race to succeed the term-limited Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp. Bottoms’ victory makes her the state’s first Black and first female governor, as well as the first Black female governor of any state. First openly gay male Senator Chris Pappas, a Democratic House member who has represented New Hampshire's 1st congressional district since 2019, will become the first openly gay man to serve in the U.S. Senate. —Chad de Guzman Read the full story.         IN FOCUS How Talarico won Texas Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images James Talarico just accomplished what no other Democrat in Texas has done in three decades: winning a statewide race. Talarico cruised to victory against Ken Paxton, with the Associated Press calling the race late Tuesday. The outcome ends what had become one of the longest winning streaks in U.S. politics. Talarico is the first Democrat to win a statewide race in Texas since 1994. He is also the first Democrat to be elected Senator by Texans since 1988. Most polling heading into Election Day showed Talarico, a state legislator and seminarian, running ahead of Paxton, the scandal-plagued state Attorney General who has faced criminal inquiries and narrowly dodged an impeachment conviction by his fellow Republicans in Austin. Both in Texas and around the country, interest in the race was sky high. More than 7.7 million votes were cast ahead of Election Day For many Texas Democrats, Talarico’s win vindicated a long-held belief that demographics in that state were destiny. Democrats have argued for years that Texas wasn’t as Republican as election results suggested, but rather a state with so many non-voters that a Democrat could win with the right candidate and message. This cycle proved them correct, as early vote numbers matched the numbers during 2024’s presidential election and ran well ahead of the 5.1 million who voted early in 2022.  But Talarico certainly played a central role in this history-making moment. A plain-spoken former Teach For America alumnus, his message was a blend of progressive optimism and faith-tinged evangelizing. Talarico worked to build an unlikely coalition that included plenty of folks who had been reliably Republican voters in the recent past. As clips of his speeches and interviews went viral, he quickly became a political star with a national following, one who also became one of the cycle’s best fundraisers.  Both Paxton and Talarico fought for their party’s nominations in expensive primaries. The price tag for ads alone in the race approached three-quarters-of-a-billion dollars. Outside spending brought $534 million in advertising, with Paxton enjoying a roughly 2-to-1 advantage. Republicans never quite figured out how to campaign against Talarico. Trump gave him the nickname “Talafreako”—which Talarico’s campaign embraced and turned into campaign merch.  While Talarico sought to expand Democrats’ tent, Paxton seemed to focus almost entirely on turning out his base with the help of Trump, who broke with party leaders in Texas and Washington and endorsed Paxton over incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn. —Philip Elliott Read the full story here.         ONE NUMBER 39% The economy was voters' top concern in the 2026 midterms, according to exit polls, with 39% saying it was the most important issue facing the country. The state of democracy came second at 32%. SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS         A VIRAL MOMENT Ossoff’s speech Jon Ossoff delivers a victory speech after cruising to an early victory in Georgia. Ossoff is already being talked about as a future presidential candidate, and his speech will be watched closely.       Linked In this addictive word-association game, find the steps that will unite two seemingly unrelated words in just four moves. PLAY NOW     More Newsletters from Click to sign up. FUTURE PROOF +HEALTH MATTERS +INSIDE TIME +IN THE LOOP +WORTH YOUR TIME + Subscribe to TIME Email us: thebrief@time.com Received this from a friend? Sign up here Connect with TIME   PRIVACY POLICY     © 2026 TIME USA, LLC. All rights reserved. TIME Customer Service, P.O. Box 37508 Boone, IA 50037-0508, United States Unsubscribe