Donald Trump, who spent months urging supporters to pretend he was on the ballot, declared on Tuesday night he “wasn’t on the ballot” as Democrats scored a string of victories over his Republican party in the US midterm elections.
As a blue wave appeared to take hold across the country, the US president said he was prepared to accept the results.
While the vote was widely seen as a referendum on his leadership, Trump insisted on social media: “I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!”
It came as series of stunning defeats for his party in former Republican strongholds saw Democrats retake control in the US Senate. Democrats are widely also expected to take control of the House of Representatives.
Kanas elected a Democrat, Adam Hamilton, to the Senate for the first time since ۱۹۳۲. Texas elected a Democrat, James Talarico, to the Senate for the first time since ۱۹۸۸. And in South Carolina, a Democrat, Annie Andrews, won a Senate seat for the first time since ۱۹۹۸.
Trump is “absolutely willing to accept those results” and prepared to work with Democrats, he told the New York Times. “We’ll, you know, look forward to working with them,” he said. “We’ll probably work something out.”
Concerns over the cost of living, rising fuel prices and an unpopular war with Iran loomed large over the campaign. Trump’s approval rating has slumped to record lows, saddling Republicans with an unenviable task as they defend narrow majorities in both chambers of Congress.
Trump has held ۳۰ campaign rallies over the past month. The ۸۰-year-old’s speeches have been strewn with lies, prejudice, repetitions and ruminations on men’s physiques including the “ass” of the Ohio senator Jon Husted. His closing address at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Monday focused mainly on algae, granite, re-caulking and grass.
In remarks apparently aimed at swaying largely Democratic-leaning voters unhappy with US support for Israel, Trump said the US would stop $۴bn in annual funding to Israel after the end of this year. The president also said he would be watching the results come in later on Tuesday night at the White House, where he is hosting a viewing reception.
Trump’s campaign message has increasingly appeared at odds with voters’ priorities. He has sought to cast Democratic candidates as radical, un-American and even communist. “The Democrat party has nominated the most extreme and dangerous slate of candidates in American history,” the president said on Monday.
But polls suggest voters care more about their economic situation, and the affordability message that swept Trump to power in ۲۰۲۴ could now come back to bite him.
All ۴۳۵ seats in the House are being contested, alongside ۳۵ of the Senate’s ۱۰۰ seats. Democrats need a net gain of three seats in the House and four in the Senate to take control of both chambers. The party out of power traditionally makes gains in midterm elections, with the president’s party having lost ground in the House in all but two such contests since the second world war.
The fight for the Senate is concentrated in about a dozen competitive races, many in states that Trump carried comfortably in ۲۰۲۴. Democrats are seeking victories in traditionally Republican territory including Texas, Kansas, Iowa and Alaska, while also defending vulnerable seats.
Early in the evening, Democrats secured a win when Jon Ossoff, a Georgia senator, won re-election against Mike Collins, the Trump-endorsed Republican candidate. Democrats also flipped a Senate seat in North Carolina, with Roy Cooper defeating Michael Whatley, a Trump-endorsed candidate who was a former chair of the Republican National Committee.
In a historic night of firsts for Democrats, Keisha Lance Bottoms became the first Black woman to be elected governor in Georgia, and Chris Pappas became the first out gay man to be elected to the Senate in New Hampshire.
In Texas, Talarico ended his party’s three-decade drought in statewide elections and defeated the Republican state attorney general, Ken Paxton, in the US Senate contest. The race has attracted national attention and huge financial backing, including more than $۱۵۰m in Republican support from the billionaire Elon Musk.
Paxton, who has faced a series of scandals, has attacked Talarico on cultural issues, while the Democrat – who combines proud religious faith with economic populism – has focused on the economic consequences of Trump’s tariffs and the war in Iran.
At a packed rally in Austin on Monday night, Talarico said Musk and other big-money groups were desperately trying to stop him: “They are scared. They are terrified. They see what we see: that we are about to win this election tomorrow night.”
In Kansas, Democrat Adam Hamilton, a megachurch pastor, is narrowly ahead of the Republican senator Roger Marshall in opinion polls. The state voted for Trump by more than ۱۶ percentage points in ۲۰۲۴ and has not elected a Democratic senator in nearly a century.
Michigan has emerged as another critical battleground. The progressive Democrat Abdul El-Sayed is facing the former Republican congressman Mike Rogers in a contest complicated by an extraordinary intervention from Haley Stevens, who lost to El-Sayed in the Democratic primary before endorsing Rogers on Sunday.
The Republican told reporters on Tuesday: “I’m proud of her for doing what she believes was the right thing to do.”
The dispute has exposed divisions within the Democratic party over Israel. El-Sayed, who could become the country’s first Muslim senator, has been subjected to attacks questioning his loyalty and patriotism. He has dismissed them as shameful and argued that voters’ concerns about the cost of living should take precedence.
In Alaska, the race between the Republican senator Dan Sullivan and Democrat Mary Peltola has been overshadowed by allegations that Peltola’s campaign helped recruit a second candidate named Dan Sullivan to confuse voters. Peltola has denied involvement.
Other closely watched contests include Maine, where the Republican senator Susan Collins is seeking a sixth term, and Iowa, Nebraska, Ohio and South Carolina.
In the House, Democrats flipped five seats – three of those in Pennsylvania, a key swing state that voted for Trump in ۲۰۲۴.
Beyond Congress, voters are choosing governors in ۳۶ states, alongside thousands of state legislative seats and ballot measures covering issues including abortion rights and taxes.
The elections could have profound consequences for Trump’s ability to govern. A Democratic takeover of either chamber of Congress would provide a check on the White House, potentially opening the way to investigations, attempts to block presidential nominees and renewed impeachment efforts.
The House Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries, would be in line to become the first Black speaker of the House if his party takes control. He has promised an aggressive oversight agenda and a focus on reducing the cost of living.
The campaign has been among the most expensive in US history, with a projected $۱۱.۹bn in spending by candidates and outside political groups. Musk alone spent about $۳۶۶m supporting Republicans, according to campaign finance records.
Republicans have also sought to improve their electoral prospects through an aggressive redistricting effort, although some of the gains anticipated by the White House appear unlikely to materialise. Much of the party’s advertising expenditure has gone into states and districts Trump won comfortably in ۲۰۲۴, underlining the extent to which Republicans have been forced on to the defensive.
Alongside the political battle, the elections have been accompanied by mounting concerns about possible federal interference in the voting process.
The justice department announced it would deploy about ۱,۰۰۰ election monitors across all ۵۰ states, describing it as the biggest such effort in its history. The department said the monitors would observe compliance with federal law, but Democrats and voting rights groups have warned that their presence could intimidate voters.
The Trump administration has also pursued an unprecedented series of legal challenges over alleged non-citizen voting, despite evidence that such cases are exceptionally rare.
A separate legal battle has focused on Alaska, where the justice department has sought to prevent certification of the Senate result if Sullivan narrowly loses. A federal judge dismissed the initial effort, although the administration has continued to pursue an appeal.
Trump has repeatedly made false claims about widespread electoral fraud and urged Republicans to take greater control of voting in several states. He has also declined to rule out extraordinary measures, including declaring a national emergency, although the constitution gives the president no direct authority over the administration of elections.
The elections are also likely to influence the early positioning for the ۲۰۲۸ presidential contest, potentially strengthening Democratic figures such as the California governor, Gavin Newsom, and Illinois governor, JB Pritzker, while testing the prospects of JD Vance, the vice-president, and other Republicans seeking to inherit Trump’s political coalition.
