Democrats Take Both Chambers, and Texas Is Suddenly Part of the Story

Election night was a rough one for Republicans. CBS News projected just after 10:15 p.m. Eastern that Democrats would win the House, and a little after 11:30 p.m. it called the Senate for them too. That means President Trump will spend his last two years working with a Congress run by the other party.

The Senate map is what had people refreshing their feeds. Democrats flipped seats in places that haven't been friendly to them in decades. In Texas, James Talarico beat Ken Paxton, making him the first Democrat to win a Senate race there since 1988. In Kansas, Adam Hamilton unseated Sen. Roger Marshall, a seat Democrats hadn't won since 1932. Sherrod Brown made his comeback in Ohio, Roy Cooper won in North Carolina, Josh Turek won in Iowa, Annie Andrews flipped South Carolina, and Troy Jackson beat Susan Collins in Maine. Democrats also held Georgia, Michigan, New Hampshire, Minnesota, and Virginia. Republicans kept Florida and Nebraska, while Alaska and Mississippi were still too close to call early Wednesday.

Governor races told the same story. Gina Hinojosa beat Greg Abbott in Texas, and Keisha Lance Bottoms won Georgia. One bright spot for the GOP: Byron Donalds won in Florida and will be the state's first Black governor.

Trump's reaction swung around a bit. He congratulated Democrats and said he'd work with them, then wrote on Truth Social that he "wasn't on the ballot" and made clear he's ready to use his veto. Exit polls put his approval at 38%, and gas averaged $4.15 a gallon, the highest on record for any Election Day, according to AAA. Chuck Schumer said Democrats won "against all odds," and Hakeem Jeffries, likely the first Black Speaker, kept it short: "America is back."