2026 midterm election updates as fallout begins over sweeping Democratic victories

Democrats won sweeping victories in the 2026 midterm elections on Tuesday and will take control of the House and Senate next year, CBS News projects, as voters repudiated President Trump and GOP control in Washington. CBS News estimates Democrats will hold 251 to 268 House seats. Democrats have secured at least 54 seats in the Senate. Texas and Kansas elected their first Democratic senators in decades, and the party also flipped seats in Ohio, Iowa, North Carolina, South Carolina and Maine. Mississippi and Alaska remain toss-ups as counting continues. The fallout has already begun. House Speaker Mike Johnson told staffers he would not seek another term as GOP leader, teeing up a fight over the conference's future. President Trump has been asking advisers whether Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth should stay, multiple sources tell CBS News, and Vice President JD Vance said the Iran war is "the reason we lost," a possible preview of an intraparty debate heading into 2028.