A Blue Wave Just Swept Congress

The election-night results gave Democrats control of the House and Senate, with at least 54 Senate seats expected as Alaska and Mississippi continued counting. Democrats flipped seven Senate seats, including North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Kansas, Iowa, Ohio, and Maine, and regained the House majority, including control of the House Oversight Committee’s subpoena and investigative powers. Deputy editor Joshua Jamerson said voters were effectively rebuking President Trump, who had urged supporters to vote as though he were on the ballot.

Jamerson cited a survey of nearly 80,000 registered voters in which the economy ranked as a central voting concern. Almost two-thirds said Trump’s policies were making it harder to get by, making it difficult for Republican candidates to separate themselves from the administration. Reporters also tied the backlash to the Iran war and the cost of living, including gas, groceries, health care, and home-heating bills. The election therefore looked more like a rejection of Trump and Republican governance than a broad embrace of Democrats.

In Texas, Democrat James Talarico ended three decades of Republican dominance in statewide elections by decisively defeating Attorney General Ken Paxton. Sabrina Rodriguez reported that Talarico framed the race as ordinary Texans versus the billionaire class, invested heavily in Spanish-language advertising, and traveled through heavily Latino parts of the state. Rather than limiting his outreach to immigration or other specifically labeled Latino issues, he emphasized his general economic program, which helped make Latino voters pivotal to the upset.

Michigan Democrat Abdul El-Sayed defeated Republican Mike Rogers and became the first Muslim ever elected to the U.S. Senate. In his victory speech, he answered Trump’s repeated mispronunciation of his name by saying, “I know you have trouble pronouncing my name. Come January, you can call me senator.” El-Sayed also argued that attacks on his name and faith were not why voters could not afford gas, groceries, or a doctor. Jamerson said Democrats’ outreach to young voters, including some young men who had backed Trump in 2024, appeared to pay off.

Jamerson said Democrats’ victories in Michigan and other blue-wall states, as well as Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, and Texas, raised the possibility of expanding their path to an Electoral College victory in 2028. Ohio was especially important: Sherrod Brown won a state where J.D. Vance had prevailed in 2022, and Brown brought high name recognition and a record of winning statewide. The unresolved question is whether these candidates’ “special sauce” can transfer to the eventual 2028 nominee or whether the results were specific to anger at the Trump administration.

Republican Senator Susan Collins, who had survived many difficult races, lost after Maine voters blamed her for being too tepid in opposing Trump. Siobhan Hughes reported that the strongest issue was economic: after Trump’s war with Iran, voters struggled with heating-oil and gasoline costs. Voters also cited an immigration-enforcement program connected to an immigrant’s death in the state and Medicaid cuts in the “one big, beautiful bill.” The result suggested Republican candidates could no longer credibly distance themselves from the president.

Trump told the Journal that he was not on the ballot and suggested that, if he had been, Republicans would have turned out; he also said he expected to work well with Democrats and called the outcome “the way the ball bounces sometimes.” Jamerson saw that as an attempt to look past the losses toward his final two years, but questioned whether cooperation would last once the consequences became clear. He also warned Democrats not to overplay the victory: voters may have rejected Trump and Republicans more than they embraced Democrats, who remain unpopular.

Finance editor Alex Frangos said stock futures and Asian shares initially fell because Democrats’ victories in states such as Texas and Ohio could slow data-center construction, an issue cited by 56% of survey respondents as a crucial or major congressional voting factor. Futures later reversed and the Dow moved higher after Trump acknowledged the result and said he would work with Democrats, reducing fears of a contested election. Frangos expected divided government to constrain spending, pressure defense stocks, and benefit wind-turbine companies, while cryptocurrency investors faced more uncertainty after several industry-friendly Republicans lost.

Oil prices rose as traders assessed whether the election would push Trump toward diplomacy with Iran or another round of strikes, and whether Democrats could limit his foreign-policy agenda involving Russia and Ukraine. CVS Health announced plans to split in early 2028: one company would contain Aetna and Caremark, while the other would operate its 9,000 retail pharmacies, mail-order pharmacy, Minute Clinics, and Health 100 app; the move comes amid bipartisan scrutiny of pharmacy-benefit managers. Novo Nordisk shares rose after it increased its outlook for obesity and diabetes drugs, particularly outside the U.S.