Democrats win the House and Senate: at least 258 House seats and 54 Senate seats projected

Democrats have won control of both chambers of Congress, according to projections from CBS News and NBC News and an NPR tally of Associated Press race calls. These are projections, not certified results. Counting continues, and the totals below will move.

The seat counts, and what is still open

House. CBS projected at 10:29 p.m. ET Tuesday that Democrats had won the majority and early Wednesday estimated they could reach 259 seats. NBC projects at least 258. A majority is 218 of 435. CBS lists Democrats at 214 before the election, so the projected gain is roughly 44 seats. Both outlets say the final number could change: NBC says about 60 races were still undecided, and CBS said several dozen were uncalled. Its page also gives two different Republican totals (218 and 219), so we are not publishing a Republican figure.

Senate. Republicans entered the cycle with a 53-47 majority, per NPR. NPR and NBC report Democrats flipped seven Republican seats: North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Kansas, Iowa and Maine. They also held Georgia. CBS says Democrats have enough wins for at least 54 seats, against 51 needed. That leaves two races uncalled: Alaska, where the count between Sen. Dan Sullivan and Mary Peltola could take weeks, and Mississippi, where CBS reports a few dozen votes separating Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith from Scott Colom with an estimated 15,000 affidavit ballots outstanding. Treat 54 as a floor reported by CBS, not a final number. Our earlier reporting on the Alaska certification fight explains why that race may stay open.

Some of the House flips came in districts Republicans redrew. CBS and NPR report Democratic wins in at least three redrawn Florida districts, four Pennsylvania seats held by Republicans, and a Lexington-area Kentucky seat Trump carried with 57% in 2024. CBS also logged Republican incumbents losing in Colorado, New Jersey, Virginia, Wisconsin, Ohio, Iowa, Indiana and California.

What changes in Washington

• Subpoenas and oversight. House Democrats gain committee gavels and subpoena power in January. NBC reports Rep. Robert Garcia, expected to chair Oversight, has vowed to pursue "the Trump Crime Family, corporate corruption, DHS and ICE abuses, and the cover-up of the Epstein files." NPR says Democrats plan inquiries into the Justice and Homeland Security departments and the president's business interests.
• Confirmations. With the Senate flipping in January, CBS says Republican efforts to confirm executive and judicial nominees would stall, and NPR says Cabinet nominees would need some Democratic votes. Until the new Congress is sworn in, Republicans still run the Senate.
• Spending. NPR notes Democrats must still work with Republicans on the 12 annual appropriations bills, and Trump keeps a veto. Trump told CBS that if Democrats do not work with him he would "just veto everything," and said on a podcast, "I'll become Mr. Veto," per NPR.
• Leadership. Hakeem Jeffries is positioned to become speaker and Chuck Schumer majority leader, per NPR. NPR says John Thune loses the majority leader post.

What Johnson, Schumer and Thune said

CBS quotes Speaker Mike Johnson at about midnight: "Republicans will not be deterred by the outcome of one election. In fact, you know what we do? We double down." He also warned that if Democrats "make the next two years about retribution and lawfare and partisan games, every American will suffer by that." We found no on-the-record Johnson statement about his own leadership plans, so we do not report any.

Schumer said "relief is on the way," per PBS NewsHour. NBC quotes his message to Republicans: they "lost because they embraced Trump," and "maybe they'll change course, but we're going forward with them or without them." Thune said, per CBS, that Republicans "will not stand idly by" as Democrats try to unwind their work, and that "we still have President Trump in the White House."

Trump points at Fox and the candidates

Trump said, per NBC, "I don't like to consider it a defeat for me, I wasn't on the ballot." Outlets including Mediaite, The Hill and CNN report he said Fox News "bears responsibility" for the losses, and NBC reports he blamed the candidates themselves in a Fox interview. We could not open The Hill or CNN pages this morning, so we cite the Mediaite headline for the Fox wording and NBC for the rest. CBS's exit polling puts his approval at 38%, and NBC found 75% of voters rated the economy "not so good" or "poor."

What to watch for owners

Nothing changes in law today. The practical dates are the new Congress in January and the appropriations deadlines before it. A split between a Democratic Congress and a Republican White House points to fights over spending bills and nominees rather than new legislation, and NPR says Trump's veto power may leave Democrats' affordability agenda as a 2028 message more than near-term policy. We will update as AP calls Alaska, Mississippi and the remaining House races.

Sources: CBS News House and Senate live coverage, NBC News live blog, NPR (via OPB), PBS NewsHour, Mediaite. Seat counts are projections as of Nov. 4, 2026, 11:25 a.m. ET and are not certified. This is news reporting, not investment advice.