Democrats Win Control of Congress in Midterm Elections

Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress in the November 3 midterm elections, taking the House and Senate from Republicans and delivering a major setback to President Donald Trump’s party. The results also brought Democratic gains in governorships and state legislatures, including in traditionally Republican states. Democrats gained more than two dozen House seats, according to election reports, and picked up at least six Senate seats. The victories included races in Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas. Kansas elected a Democratic senator for the first time in 94 years, while Texas sent a Democrat to the Senate for the first time since 1993, according to reports on the results. The gains extended beyond Congress. Democrats flipped five governorships and at least 12 legislative chambers, according to one account of the state results. The party also won governorships in Iowa, Ohio, Georgia and Texas, among other state-level victories. The precise final seat totals were not established in the reports, which described some races as still being decided or projected. Cost of living was a central issue in the campaign. A Reuters-Ipsos poll cited in one report...