Nov 4, 2026
The vibe shift is officially over. Just two years after Donald Trump pulled off the greatest political comeback in living memory, Democrats have managed to all but match it in last night’s midterm elections, winning a historic majority in the House and the Senate as well as flipping five governorships.
There’s GOP blood everywhere. Democrats have flipped seven Senate seats — securing a majority of 54 seats and counting — including in Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, and South Carolina, all states that Trump won by more than 11 points in 2024. Even in Mississippi, where Trump won by 23 points, the Democrat and Republican Senate candidates are virtually tied. In the House, Democrats are set for a 30-plus seat majority after flipping 40 seats so far.
The most notable political shift: Democrats got their dream of a blue Texas. James Talarico will be the first Democratic senator elected from the state since 1988, and incumbent Republican governor Greg Abbott lost reelection.
Republicans’ losses are higher than average for an incumbent party, and it’s only the third time in the last 50 years that the incumbent party has lost control of both chambers. Here are five takeaways to help make sense of the blue tsunami:
Fundamentals still matter. Trump had the lowest approval rating going into the midterms, 38%, since George W. Bush in 2006, driven chiefly by the president promising to lower the cost of living, and then not doing that.
Support from Trump’s own voters weakened significantly, from 95% approval early in his term to just two-thirds now, which dampened turnout — especially evident in Republicans’ poor performance in deep-red states.
Exit polls show that issues like “the state of democracy,” corruption, and immigration enforcement were on voters’ minds, but trailed behind economic issues in importance.
Clearly, Trump has not been the abundance president voters want. While his administration’s policies promoting AI and data centers pave the way for long-term growth, failure to take meaningful action on the biggest drivers of the affordability problem — housing and healthcare — plus tariffs and a highly unpopular war that increased the price of everyday expenses, cost Republicans dearly.
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