Americans went to the polls on Tuesday in the first nationwide midterm elections of President Trump's second term, and by Wednesday morning the outcome was clear: Democrats have won majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
In the House, Democrats had secured at least 228 seats to Republicans' 139 as counting continued Wednesday, a net gain of at least 25 seats according to results tracked by Fox News. That swing came even in districts that Republican-led legislatures had redrawn earlier this year specifically to protect GOP incumbents ahead of the midterms, a process known as mid-decade redistricting. Several of those redrawn seats flipped to Democrats anyway. One of the more surprising results came in Indiana's 5th Congressional District, where Democrat J.D. Ford defeated three-term Republican Representative Victoria Spartz, an upset that most election analysts had not forecast.
In the Senate, Democrats flipped seats long held by Republicans. In Maine, Democrat Troy Jackson defeated Senator Susan Collins, who had held the seat for nearly three decades. Democrats also won Senate races in North Carolina, where former governor Roy Cooper won, and in South Carolina, where Annie Andrews won. In Georgia, Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff won reelection, a hold that mattered just as much as the flips in a closely watched chamber.
Midterm elections, held two years into a president's term, have historically gone against the party that holds the White House, and this one followed that pattern. Exit polling and early analysis pointed to voter frustration over the economy and the ongoing conflict involving Iran as major factors in the result, according to reporting compiled by news organizations covering the vote. The president, for his part, said Wednesday he was willing to accept the results and suggested his own absence from the ballot had played a role in the outcome.
Final vote counts in several close House districts are still being finalized, and attention now turns to how a divided government will handle the next two years, from spending bills to the president's legislative agenda.
Which party now controls Congress?
Democrats won majorities in both the House and the Senate in Tuesday's midterm elections.
Did redistricting protect Republican incumbents?
Not entirely. Some congressional districts that were redrawn to favor Republicans ahead of the midterms still flipped to Democrats.