2026 midterm election live updates as Democrats prepare to take Congress, GOP grapples with stunning losses

GOP Rep. Anna Paulina Luna narrowly won her race in Florida's 13th District, CBS News projected. With 99% of the votes counted, Luna was leading by less than one point. 

She faced Democrat Leela Gray.

Democrat Cait Conley defeated two-term Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, winning a highly competitive seat in New York's Hudson Valley region, CBS News projected. 

Lawler's loss is another setback for Republicans. CBS News has projected that Democrats will take control of the House in January with a wide majority.

Lawler called Conley to concede Tuesday. 

Read more here.

Rep. Ted Lieu of California announced his bid for Democratic Caucus chair in a dear colleague letter on Thursday.  

"I am now running for Chair of the Caucus because I want to work with all of you to seize the opportunity the American people just gave us. If we do this right, we can build an enduring majority, one that will win not just the next one or two election cycles, but many more," he said. 

House Democrats are on pace to win 256 seats, according to the latest CBS News estimate. 

It's quite an increase from the 214 seats they hold in the current Congress. 

The estimate includes several races that CBS News has not yet projected.

GOP Rep. Richard Hudson, the chair of the GOP's House campaign arm, lost to Democrat Richard Ojeda in North Carolina's 9th District, CBS News projected. 

Hudson conceded the race on Wednesday. 

Ojeda was previously a state senator in West Virginia, and in the last decade ran unsuccessfully for the House, Senate and president before moving to North Carolina.

Democrat Kristina Knickerbocker defeated GOP Rep. Mike Turner in Ohio's 10th District, CBS News projected. 

Turner has represented the district since 2003 and won reelection in 2024 by more than 18 points.

Widespread Republican losses in the midterm elections are roiling the GOP, prompting soul-searching over what went wrong and a brewing blame-game that's expected to heat up as the party looks toward the next election.

From House and Senate races to governors' mansions, Republicans saw striking losses, both in battlegrounds and in places where the party saw significant support just two years ago. The victories dramatically shifted the balance of power in Washington, delivering Democrats a sizable majority in the House far beyond what was expected heading into Election Day, as well as a Senate majority larger than what the GOP has enjoyed for the last two years. 

As Republicans process the results, including some GOP officials who have ambitions of their own in 2028, they're offering frank assessments of the shortcomings — and laying the groundwork for where the party heads next.  

Read more here.

 Texas Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa gave her first press conference since Democrats' stunning wins in the state on Tuesday, with every statewide seat flipping to Democrats. 

"This is a transition for the whole state of Texas," Hinojosa said as she announced members of a bipartisan transition team. 

"This is not about being a Democratic administration, I'm not going to be the governor just for Democrats, I'm going to be the governor for all the people of Texas," Hinojosa said. 

Hinojosa said Gov. Greg Abbott, who she defeated on Tuesday, is being "gracious" and said they are both committed to a "smooth transition." 

When asked about Republicans at the state Capitol who may try to undermine her power, she said "the people of Texas have spoken." Democrats are on track to have a majority in the state House of Representatives, but Republicans will continue to have a majority in the state Senate. 

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass released a statement on Thursday morning conceding to Nithya Raman, saying she called her to congratulate her on the victory. 

"While this is not the outcome we hoped for, the people of Los Angeles have spoken. I have called Councilmember Nithya Raman to congratulate her on her victory, and I have committed to ensuring a smooth and seamless transition," Bass wrote.

Bass thanked her supporters and other leaders who helped during her campaign. She added that she will continue to "ensure the promise of a better life belongs to all of us."

Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez won a third term in Washington's 3rd Congressional District, CBS News projected. 

Gluesenkamp Perez's victory, in a district President Trump has won three times, comes as she's flexed her independence over party loyalty. Democrats will take control of the House of Representatives in January, with stunning wins across the country. 

The congresswoman beat Republican state Sen. John Braun to win reelection in the rural district in the southwestern corner of the state. Braun, the top Republican in the Washington state Senate, was a more mainstream Republican than Gluesenkamp Perez's prior opponent, far-right conservative Joe Kent, who went on to become Mr. Trump's counterterrorism chief before resigning in protest over the Iran war. But Braun, who was endorsed by Mr. Trump, also distanced himself from the president on some issues, including on tariffs, the Iran war and affirming that Joe Biden won the 2020 election. 

Read more here. 

Democratic Rep. Joe Neguse of Colorado on Wednesday announced his bid for assistant speaker when Democrats take the House majority in January. 

"With our decisive and overwhelming victory this week, it is more important than ever for the House Democratic Caucus to be unified in the 120th Congress, and to repay the faith that the American people have put in us to lower costs, end corruption, and deliver for working families. To that end, and as we embark on that road together, I write to respectfully request your support for Assistant Speaker," he wrote in a letter to his Democratic colleagues on Thursday. 

"If elected Assistant Speaker, my goals would be straight-forward — to prioritize direct member services for every member of our diverse and talented caucus, and to assist Speaker Jeffries and our incredible Democratic Leadership team," he said. 

The leadership hierarchy could be a point of tension as both Neguse and Rep. Ted Lieu of California seek to claim the No. 4 spot. Neguse currently holds the No. 5 spot in the minority as assistant Democratic leader. A source familiar with the matter told CBS News that assistant speaker is the No. 4 spot in the majority. 

Lieu, who currently holds the No. 4 spot in the minority as Democratic Caucus vice chair, will run for Caucus chair. Another source familiar with the matter told CBS News that the leadership hierarchy will be the same as it is now — with Lieu as No. 4 and Neguse as No. 5. 

Sen.-elect Annie Andrews told CNN on Thursday that she has spoken to Republican Sen. Tiim Scott, the chair of Senate Republicans' campaign arm, and they scheduled a longer call for next week. Andrews did not say if Scott apologized for calling her "Trany Annie," but said she is focused on working "productively" with the senior senator from South Carolina moving forward. On the campaign trail, Darline Graham called Andrews "batshit crazy."

"You know, I understand politics is a dirty business, and name calling is sometimes part of it," Andrews said on CNN. "But it's not really about my hurt feelings or the way that they operated in the campaign. It's about Sen. Tim Scott and I finding a way to work productively together. And I really do have a lot of hope that we can do that."

Andrews also addressed reporting that she had internal polling showing she was winning, but declined to share it publicly. 

"We were on track to win and we didn't want anything to disrupt the path that we were on," Andrews said. "And we knew if we kept showing up everywhere, talking to local media, talking about the issues, like I said, in addition to those issues, the data center issue that became really hot at the end of the race, we knew we could bring this across the finish line, and we didn't want this to become a national race because it's not about national politics."

Progressive Democrat Nithya Raman, a democratic socialist, defeated incumbent Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass in the mayoral race, CBS News projects.

Read more at CBS News Los Angeles. 

Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, resigned on Thursday, Attorney General Todd Blanche said.

"Today, I accepted the resignation of Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who led the Civil Rights Division with conviction the past 18 months," Blanche wrote in a post on X. "She has defended the civil liberties of every American and enforced the law without fear or favor. The Department is grateful for her dedicated public service, and we wish her every success in her future endeavors."

Dhillon oversaw a mass exodus from the Civil Rights Division last year, with more than 75% of its staff departing. She upended many of the division's traditional priorities that focused on combating discrimination against some of the nation's most vulnerable and historically marginalized groups.

Read more here. 

President Trump is scheduled to attend the Army-Navy game, one of the longest rivalries in college football, U.S. officials told CBS News.

The stands at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Dec. 12 will be filled with active-duty troops and veterans. 

Mr. Trump has made an appearance at the game several times as commander-in-chief, including last year. The game is known for its military flyovers and patriotism.

Read more here.

House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark has launched her bid for majority leader in the next Congress.

"Today with pride in what we've achieved and confidence in what we will deliver, I ask for your support," Clark wrote in a letter to fellow Democrats obtained by CBS News.

The Massachusetts Democrat pledged to make affordability a top priority, give rank-and-file members a "seat at the table" and harness the party's "collective power." 

If elected by her caucus, Clark would become the first woman to serve as House majority leader. 

Rep. Erin Houchin of Indiana is challenging Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan for the role of GOP conference chair in the next Congress. 

In a letter to colleagues on Thursday, she wrote, "The road back to a Republican House Majority runs through our message and our ability to communicate it effectively. The American people are asking for something different. Our Conference should be willing to do the same."

On Wednesday, McClain released a list of 35 Republicans who are backing her to remain as conference chair. She was elected to the leadership position in 2024. 

"We can spend the next two years licking our wounds and waiting for the political winds to shift, or we can get off the mat and go on the offensive. I know which path I'm taking," McClain said in a statement.

As Alaska continues to count its ballots cast in the midterms, President Trump posted on Truth Social that he believes votes for retired teacher Daniel J. Sullivan and Republican candidate Gerald Heikes should be given to Sen. Dan Sullivan, a Republican who is running for reelection.

"The vote totals for the Fake Dan Sullivan, plus the other 'slug' that the Dems put on the Ballot, should be immediately given to the REAL Dan Sullivan, and the Election is over - He easily wins. There is no other fair solution!" Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social.

CBS News has rated the Alaska Senate race a toss-up. 

Alaska uses ranked-choice voting, where voters rank candidates in order of preference, instead of selecting a single candidate. Under the system, if no candidate is ranked as the top choice for more than 50% of voters, the count goes to a second round. The candidate with the least amount of votes is eliminated, and votes from that candidate's supporters are redistributed to their second pick.

The process continues until a candidate wins a majority.

Days before the election, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit and asked a federal judge to block certification of the Alaska Senate election if Sullivan, the incumbent, lost. But a judge tossed out the suit on procedural grounds. The Justice Department has appealed. 

ABC News' Jon Karl posted on X on Thursday morning that he had spoken to President Trump, who told him "I have every intention" of keeping Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. 

Karl said Mr. Trump said "I get these calls, you know, about him. I don't understand why." But Karl said Mr. Trump also acknowledged that it would be easier to get a new defense secretary confirmed by the Senate before the Democratic majority takes over in January.

Multiple sources told CBS News on Wednesday that Mr. Trump was asking advisers if Hegseth should stay in his job. Vice President JD Vance, meanwhile, publicly blamed the Iran war for the GOP's losses on Tuesday. 

Outgoing Republican Sen. John Cornyn, who lost a primary earlier this year to Attorney General Ken Paxton, wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal criticizing Republicans for their decisive losses in the midterms. 

Cornyn wrote that an "epic blame game had begun" before the polls even closed, but he writes that "both sides miss the point" because "this week's beat-down wasn't only foreseeable, it was foreseen — because our party forgot four basic rules of coalition politics."

Cornyn said that Republicans shrunk their coalition after making gains with Hispanic voters in 2024, noting that some Republicans obsessed over "RINOs." He said Texas Republican Bo French "poisoned the well even further with blatant bigotry against Indian-Americans." 

Cornyn also outlined other mistakes he feels the GOP made: the Republican candidates weren't likeable enough, and the Trump administration didn't follow through on its promises. 

But ultimately, Cornyn wrote, "character and integrity still matter." 

"Pre-election polls showed that corruption had surged toward the top of voter anxieties, thanks to flawed midterm candidates and a parade of unsavory headlines out of Washington," Cornyn said. "Voters won't trust Republicans to cut fraud and scams out of government programs until we cut them out of our own ranks. Party leaders have to stop excusing the inexcusable and police our side of the aisle—or voters will continue to police it for us." 

 As President Trump prepares for the final two years of his presidency, he is expected to devote more attention to his presidential library, which has become a growing destination for money from companies and allies, according to current and former advisers who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

"He undoubtedly recognizes that the library development season opens now, and he will go for it," said a senior administration official. A second administration official said that in this lame-duck period Mr. Trump will focus on "all things he can control, which means: Building."

With Democrats taking control of Congress in January after a sweeping victory in the November elections, lawmakers have pledged investigations into the library's finances. 

Read more here. 

House Democrats will start 2027 with a sizable majority, but their exact margin isn't clear, as votes are still being counted in key races in Maine, Montana, Florida, Alaska and elsewhere.

Here's how many House seats CBS News projects for each party:

CBS News still rates two Senate races as toss-ups: Alaska and Mississippi.

The Alaska race between GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan and Democrat Mary Peltola is still tight, and vote-counting could take some time, partly due to the state's ranked-choice system. The race was shaken up last week by allegations that Peltola-linked operatives helped recruit a candidate with the same first and last name as Sullivan — which Peltola's campaign denied.

The Mississippi race between GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde Smith and Democrat Scott Colom wasn't expected to be competitive, but  is razor-thin. State officials say thousands of ballots still need to be counted, including outstanding absentee ballots that aren't due for a few more days and "affidavit" ballots from voters whose eligibility needs to be confirmed.

Here's where control of the Senate stands:

Democrats won control of the House of Representatives on Tuesday by flipping more than two dozen Republican-held seats, picking up perennial swing districts and seats that were once considered deep red. The party's wins ranged from suburban areas in the northeastern United States to areas of South Texas that were once viewed as increasingly GOP-friendly.

Read more here on the districts that are changing hands.

Republicans undertook a historic effort to redraw several states' Congressional districts mid-decade in an attempt to maintain control of the House. That effort was rebuffed on Tuesday night as the GOP was on track to lose all of the districts it tried to gerrymander. 

There were several reasons that states undertook what had previously been a rare practice of mid-decade redistricting. Republican efforts started when President Trump ordered Texas lawmakers to redraw their map to net up to five seats for the GOP. 

But despite the all-out effort, Democrats won control of the House on Tuesday, with CBS News estimating Democrats could end up with 251 to 268 House seats. 

Read more here.

Republicans have begun trying to pick up the pieces from Tuesday's midterms, with top GOP voices pitching themselves for leadership roles and offering theories on why the party lost.

House Speaker Mike Johnson announced on a call with his staff that he won't run for minority leader next year, a source familiar with the matter told CBS News.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise announced he plans to run for Republican leader. He told his colleagues: "We will need to be honest with ourselves about what happened."

House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan also threw his hat in the ring, calling it a "staggering day for our Conference." He said he's "battle-tested" after brawling with Democrats on investigations.

Others offered diagnoses on what went wrong. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, whose state shifted hard toward Democrats, called the results an "ass-kicking" and a "Watergate-level repudiation."

On his podcast, Cruz argued his party didn't address a "real economic disconnect" and that many GOP politicians "seem like they didn't understand or they didn't care" about the cost of living.

In what could be a looming intraparty debate, Vice President JD Vance said the "reason we lost is the war." He said many Trump 2024 voters flipped to Democrats in order to end the Iran war, address cost-of-living issues, "Put America First" and change the U.S.-Israel relationship.

The likely presidential contender wrote that "everyone knows why we lost. And any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there."

(The president's son, Donald Trump Jr., reacted to Vance's post with "💯💯💯.")

Former Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel told CBS News' "The Takeout with Major Garrett" that Tuesday's results were a "red rebellion" that she linked to people's frustrations with the economy. She said the GOP needs to do some "soul-searching."

"You don't win Texas, you don't win Kansas, you don't win South Carolina without Republican voters actually crossing over and voting for the Democrats," she said.

President Trump's first public appearance since the midterms was at the construction site for his White House ballroom, where he lauded the contractors and signed a steel beam.

In remarks to reporters, Mr. Trump again blamed Republican candidates for the party's massive losses Tuesday night, saying there was so much "love" at his rallies.

"If I was on the ballot, we would have won," he said. "But they just — you couldn't transfer that love. There was such love at those rallies, it was incredible. And we weren't able to transfer the love to candidates."

He also said it's "largely true" that the GOP lost the House and Senate because of the Iran war's impact on energy prices, agreeing with Vice President JD Vance, but he argued it was worthwhile, saying: "If I had to do it again, I'd have to do it again."

"You have no choice; you have to do it. You can't let Iran have a nuclear weapon or everything that you see here some day might not exist," the president said.

President Trump has been asking advisers around him and on the phone whether Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth should stay in his job, following Republicans' catastrophic losses Tuesday night, multiple sources familiar with the matter told CBS News on Wednesday.

Some White House aides have predicted some of the blame for GOP midterm losses will be trained on Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of U.S. Central Command, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, who both played big roles in guidance on the Iran war.

One source told CBS News that GOP Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is being floated as a possible replacement for Hegseth, arguing he could go through Senate confirmation in the lame-duck period before Democrats take control of Congress.

Still, other sources said Mr. Trump hasn't decided to replace Hegseth.

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement that the president "has full confidence in Secretary Hegseth." Asked if he is considering replacing Hegseth, Mr. Trump told reporters: "No, I think he's doing a very good job."

Read more here.

Rep. Robert Garcia of California, who will chair the House Oversight Committee next Congress, laid out four areas where the panel will focus its investigative efforts. 

The overarching investigations include the Trump family's business dealings, corporate corruption, actions of the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. 

"I think folks that need to be concerned first are administration officials that have caused real harm. We're going to investigate the abuses," Garcia said at a news conference Wednesday, singling out Stephen Miller, Corey Lewandowski, Kristi Noem and Trump family members.

Garcia acknowledged the Justice Department is unlikely to prosecute people who refuse to cooperate, but said House Democrats could sue in civil court.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, meanwhile, called the midterms a "generational remake of the Senate map," but said his party's most important task is to respond to the mandate from voters by "prov[ing] ourselves worthy of their trust."

Previewing the party's plans starting next year, the minority leader said: "Whenever Trump defies the will of the American people or the law, we will launch investigations, take him to court, and entangle him in legislative razor wire."

Many congressional Democrats are likely to be enthusiastic about investigating the Trump administration. But one moderate incoming Democratic senator, Adam Hamilton of Kansas, told CBS News he wants to spend more time on cost-of-living and other issues than investigations or impeachments, saying: "I do not want to spend the next two years in trials."

Asked about the potential for Democrat-led investigations, White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said: "As the President has said, he's willing to work with anyone to continue delivering victories for hardworking Americans. If Democrats choose to pursue sham investigations and radical left policies, they are choosing to work against the American people."

Democrat James Talarico on Wednesday said his win over Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton in the Texas Senate race delivered a message to Elon Musk, who spent more than $150 million to boost Paxton's candidacy: "Texas is not for sale."

Hours after his projected win over Paxton, Talarico told "CBS Mornings" that his victory is an opportunity to get big money out of politics "for good."

"The people of Texas delivered a crystal-clear message to the world's first trillionaire: Texas is not for sale," Talarico said. "The power in this state, in this country, belongs to the people and we've got to make sure it stays that way."

Read more here.