Democrats dealt a stunning blow to US President Donald Trump, gaining majorities in both houses of Congress and wresting control of the US Congress from Republicans.
Democratic Senate candidates shattered decades of electoral records across traditional Republican strongholds, flipping key seats in Kansas, Texas and South Carolina, among others.
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How much did Republicans lose in the midterm elections? Are there any silver linings for political parties?
Here’s what we know:
How much is the Republican Party’s loss?
The Republican Party suffered a historic defeat that exceeded all expectations, losing the majority in both houses of Congress to the Democrats.
According to the results, Democrats have won 228 seats in the House of Representatives, while Republicans have won 139 seats.
Democrats also lead in 34 other seats that have not yet been called. All of these wins could give the party more than 260 seats in the House, the party’s largest majority since 1990, when Democrats won 267 seats in the House.
In 2008, Democrats won a majority in the House of Representatives with 257 seats, while Republicans won 178 seats.
In the upper house of Congress, Democrats won a majority of 54 seats, while Republicans won 44 seats. The party hasn’t had such a clear majority in the Senate since 2008, when it won 56 seats in the wake of Barack Obama’s historic first presidential election.
President Donald Trump asked voters to imagine themselves on the ballot this election, but many of the Republican candidates he supported in key battleground states lost to Democrats.
Trump endorsed Darling Graham in South Carolina, which hasn’t had a Democratic senator since 1998. However, Democrat Annie Andrews won the seat.
In North Carolina, President Trump supported former Republican national campaign official Michael Whatley, who lost to Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.
In Texas, Trump promoted Attorney General Ken Paxton. However, Democrat Talarico won.
Then in Michigan, former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, President Trump’s pick for Michigan, lost to Democrat Abdul El-Sayed.
How significant are these losses for the Republican Party?
It is normal for ruling parties to lose seats in midterm elections in the United States, but not on this scale.
One Republican lawmaker told Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher in Washington, D.C., that the outcome was much worse than expected.
“Indeed, their internal polling indicated they had a chance of retaining the Senate. That was clearly far away,” Fisher reported.
Chris Featherstone, a political scientist at the University of York, said the interim results represent a “huge loss” for the party.
He noted that many Republican candidates backed by Trump have lost nationally and to both progressive and centrist Democratic candidates.
“Texas is a great example of the magnitude of that loss, where (James) Talarico won (the Senate seat) by almost 10 points. Texas has long been a Republican stronghold, close to the intellectual and emotional heart of the party.” He added that Democrat Gina Hinojosa’s victory over Texas Gov. Greg Abbott was a “huge shock,” especially after the redistricting that took place ahead of the midterm elections in which Republicans sought to pick up five more seats.
“The outcome will change the relationship between Congress and the White House,” Featherstone said. “It is very likely that there will be a major investigation and that some members of the administration may be impeached.” “They will also change the composition of Democrats in Congress and increase their willingness to actively oppose Trump.”
Sudha David Wilp, vice president of external affairs at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, said midterm elections are typically seen as referendums on which party is in power. She said “a blue wave was not out of the realm of possibility.”
He told Al Jazeera that Democrats not only flipped seats in Trump-popular states like Texas, Iowa and South Carolina, but the election may have ushered in “a new political era.”
“President Trump still has loyal supporters, but MAGA (his voter base) is divided, and it will be difficult for the Republican Party to run with the Trump brand in 2028,” she added.
Is there a glimmer of hope for Republicans?
It’s not all doom and gloom for Republicans, who made some gains in this election.
In Florida, a state where President Trump is popular, Republican Sen. Ashley Moody defeated Democratic state Rep. Angie Nixon. Republican Byron Donald won the Florida gubernatorial election, defeating Democrat David Jolly. Donald becomes Florida’s first black governor.
In Wyoming, Republican Harriet Hageman won the U.S. Senate seat, and in Alabama, Tommy Tuberville defeated Democrat Doug Jones for governor.
Republicans also won states such as Idaho, Arkansas, Louisiana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kentucky, and West Virginia.
The party has experienced similar scenarios in the history of U.S. elections.
For example, in 1992, when George H.W. Bush was president, Democrats won 258 seats for a majority, while Republicans only won 176 seats in Congress.
Even in 2008, when George W. Bush was president but Barack Obama was elected president-elect, Democrats won 257 seats, while Republicans only won 178 seats.
But in both cases, Republicans were able to turn things around within two years.
In 1994, when Bill Clinton was president, Republicans regained a majority in both houses of Congress. After the 2010 midterm elections, the Democratic Party maintained the Senate majority under the Obama administration, but lost the House majority.
This year may be different than previous years, but there’s one main reason why. Laurel Rapp, director of the U.S. and North America program at Chatham House, said midterm elections rarely involve referendums on a U.S. president’s foreign policy, but this year, amid the U.S. and Israel’s war against Iran, President Trump’s foreign policy agenda has been a source of significant anger among U.S. voters.
He said voters are increasingly linking the Trump administration’s international issues to rising fuel and food costs.
“And they gave the president a pretty convincing ruling that they wanted change,” she told Al Jazeera.
Mr. Rupp said Mr. Trump may face some constraints in steering global affairs over the next two years, but he will still have significant power.
“The president still retains broad discretion to take a unilateral approach to foreign relations, continue to deploy U.S. troops where he wants, and continue to wage wars,” she said.
