US midterms: Democrats on course to flip House, Senate

Democrat James Talarico won the Texas US Senate race, defeating President Donald Trump-backed Republican Ken Paxton, according to AP data.

The win was monumental for Democrats who had not won statewide for 32 years. Talarico's win also moves Democrats closer to clinching control of the Senate.

Trump carried Texas by 14% points in 2024. He endorsed Paxton, the Texas attorney general, despite the fact that he was at ​the ‌center of many controversies, including a 2023 impeachment and a securities fraud case.

Talarico, a four-term state legislator, overcame a flood of heavy outside spending, in what became ‌the ​most expensive Senate race of the cycle.

Amy Acton became the first Democrat to become Ohio Governor after defeating Donald Trump-backed Republican Vivek Ramaswamy.

Acton's stunning win also means she is the first-ever woman to hold the Midwestern state's top post.

Acton, a public health physician and former state health director during the COVID-19 pandemic, beat biotech billionaire Ramaswamy, who had run for the 2024 presidential election.

US President Donald Trump spoke for the first time about the ongoing election results, as sweeping Democratic victories continued.

Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that the Republican Party would have won in a "landslide" if he had been running, appearing to distance himself from the results, implying that the election was not related to his performance as president.

"I wasn't on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE! Thank you for your attention to this matter," Trump said.

Democrat Annie Andrews has narrowly beaten Republican Darline Graham, in one of the biggest upsets of election night so far, according to AP projections.

Graham, who was hand-picked by US President Donald Trump, was seeking to take over from her brother, Lindsey Graham, after he suddenly died this year.

Andrews' victory is particularly notable because Graham had prevailed by nearly 18 percentage points two years ago.

Andrews' win and that of Roy Cooper in neighboring North Carolina mean the Democratic Party has secured two of the four seats it needs to gain a majority in the Senate.

Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms made history by capturing the governorship in the state of Georgia, becoming the first Black woman elected to the top office in any US state, according to Associated Press election projections.

A former Atlanta mayor, Bottoms defeated billionaire health care executive Republican Rick Jackson. The two were contesting the outgoing Republican Governor Brian Kemp, who was term-limited.

"What we do in this moment will echo through history," Bottoms said ahead of election day.

The win is consequential, as Kemp himself fended off two challenges from Stacey Abrams, a prominent voting rights advocate and Democratic fundraiser. Abrams opted against a third run for governor, paving the way for Bottoms' candidacy.

Bottoms is a descendant of enslaved Georgians, but she did not lean on the historic nature of her candidacy during the campaign, but did recount her family's history.

"I am at least a fifth-generation Georgian," she said. "I say 'at least' because we can only trace our family back five generations — to a plantation in Crawfordville."

Bottoms said that her grandfather moved to Atlanta from rural Georgia and had to "walk through these back doors" of downtown buildings she would later enter through the front as mayor. 

The Georgia governor's office had been held by Republicans for over two decades, and the result represents a major setback for President Donald Trump, who endorsed Jackson in July and campaigned with him in the Atlanta area in the closing weeks of the race.

Bottoms focused her campaign on promises to expand Medicaid health benefits for those of lower income, to lower costs for families and to protect voting rights.

Meanwhile, Jackson presented himself as a political outsider who had grown up in Georgia's foster care system. He spent more than $100 million (€88 million) of his own fortune on the gubernatorial campaign.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio's old Senate seat in Florida was also up for grabs in this election, with Republican Ashley Moody having been appointed to the seat after Rubio took his job in Donald Trump's cabinet.

Moody, who has previously served as Florida's attorney general, was the favorite to win the seat in Florida, where Trump is a resident. The state voted for him by double digits in 2024.

Despite a heavy advantage, Moody had to fend off an unusual challenge from Democrat Angie Nixon and in the end prevailed 51% to 48%, with 99% of ballots reporting, according to Associated Press data. 

Trump ally Byron Donalds also succeeded outgoing Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, fighting off a surprisingly strong challenge from Democrat David Jolly. With the win, Donalds became Florida's first African American governor.

Jolly, a former Republican congressman who switched parties and ran a centrist campaign, fell short of a win, with Donalds defeating him by roughly 1.5 percentage points with 99% of ballots reporting.

Ultimately, Republicans held a roughly 1.5 million voter registration advantage over Democrats and both Nixon and Jolly were vastly outspent.

Jon Ossoff, the 39-year-old Democrat who has won reelection in the southern state of Georgia, has said that his party's "sweeping and decisive" victories in several midterm races on Tuesday show that American voters reject US President Donald Trump.

"The American people have rebuked the depravity, corruption and incompetence of the failed lame duck President Donald J. Trump," Ossoff told supporters after retaining his seat against Republican challenger Mike Collins.

As Texans head to the polls in a closely watched Senate race, what matters most to them?

The economy, political division, and domestic issues have dominated the conversation ahead of the vote, which is pitting Republican Ken Paxton against Democrat James Talarico.

But where do Europe, NATO and Ukraine fit into the picture? I put those questions to voters in Texas. 

Polls have now closed in a swath of central states, including in the closely watched Senate races in Michigan and Texas.

According to the AP Voter Poll, young voters were among those demographics that swung away from Republicans in this election.

Young voters only make up about 10% of the electorate, according to the poll.

In 2024, Trump had managed to make inroads with voters under 30, who ended up evenly split between him and Kamala Harris.

But in this election, about 7 in 10 of voters under 30 nationally said they supported the Democratic House candidate in their area.

Former governor of North Carolina, Roy Cooper, has won the Senate seat in the southern state, defeating Republican Michael Whatley.

Cooper succeeds Republican Senator Thom Tillis, who did not seek reelection for a third term after clashing with Donald Trump last year over the president's signature "big beautiful bill."

Cooper's win is a major boost for the Democratic Party in North Carolina, which has voted for Trump in the previous three presidential elections.

Election projections based on Associated Press data.

While Jon Ossoff's win in Georgia will grab headlines because of the 39-year-old senator's relative youth, the Senate races in Delaware, Massachusetts and New Hampshire have panned out as expected.

Results are starting to come in from across the US, where people voted for their next Congress.

DW takes a look at who voted Republican, who voted Democrat and what it all means.

US Senator Jon Ossoff, a rising star in the Democratic Party, won his reelection in Georgia, according to Associated Press data. It is the first major race to be called of the midterm elections. 

Ossoff, who has been speculated as a potential 2028 presidential candidate, defeated US Representative Mike Collins in a contest that was once considered competitive, as Georgia has traditionally been a Republican leaning state.

But the rave moved out of reach for Republicans amid Trump's declining approval ratings and Jon Ossoff's popularity in the state.