Democrats swept back to power in Congress and governors’ offices across the United States in Tuesday’s midterm elections, delivering a stunning rejection of President Donald Trump’s political agenda.
The following figures help illustrate the scale of the historic election night.
Record Voter Turnout
Although final turnout figures were not yet available, Americans had cast more than 61.7 million ballots before Election Day, according to the University of Florida’s Election Lab.
That figure represents a record for early voting in US midterm elections and is widely seen as having benefited Democrats, whose supporters traditionally vote early more frequently than Republicans.
The figures also showed strong participation among Black Americans, young voters and other demographic groups that typically support Democratic candidates, according to National Public Radio.
The surge in turnout contributed to a sweeping Democratic victory, with the party winning key races and securing control of both chambers of Congress.
Record Campaign Fundraising and Spending
Total spending in the 2026 midterm elections reached a record $11.9 billion, significantly exceeding the $8.9 billion spent in 2022, according to OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan organization that tracks political spending in the United States.
Campaign fundraising and advertising expenditures surged, driven in part by spending from outside political action committees.
Such outside spending, led by billionaire Elon Musk, a close ally of Trump, favored Republican candidates by approximately $360 million.
However, Democratic candidates demonstrated considerable fundraising strength of their own.
House and Senate candidates spent an unprecedented $3.7 billion from their campaign funds, with Democrats outspending Republicans by $800 million, according to OpenSecrets.
In Texas, Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico broke fundraising records by raising an extraordinary $145 million, several times the $22 million collected by his Republican opponent, Ken Paxton, who relied heavily on outside groups to finance his campaign.
Historic Democratic Victories in Republican Strongholds
The last time Kansas elected a Democrat to the US Senate was 1932. On Tuesday night, Adam Hamilton broke that nearly century-long streak by defeating Republican incumbent Roger Marshall.
Hamilton, a Methodist megachurch pastor who had been registered as a Republican until recently, became the first Democrat in 94 years to win a Senate race in the largely rural and conservative state.
Texas also shifted to the Democratic column for the first time in decades, as Talarico scored a major upset to flip a Senate seat that Democrats had not won since 1988, the year before he was born.
South Carolina also defied its political history, electing Democrat Annie Andrews over Republican Senator Darline Graham, who had been appointed earlier this year to fill the seat of her late brother, Lindsey Graham.
No Democrat had won a Senate election in South Carolina since 1998.
Young Voters and Latino Americans Shift Away from Republicans
Young men and Latino voters, two important segments of the American electorate that helped propel Trump to victory, shifted significantly toward Democratic candidates, according to exit polls.
Hispanic voters played an important role in Trump’s political rise in 2016 and contributed to his victory in 2024. In that year’s presidential election, Latino voters narrowly favored Democrat Kamala Harris over Trump, by 51 percent to 48 percent, according to Pew Research.
However, in recent weeks, several Latino voters had expressed frustration with Trump, saying they felt betrayed by his policies.
That dissatisfaction was reflected in NBC News exit polls on Tuesday, which showed Latino voters supporting Democratic candidates by 62 percent to 35 percent over Republicans.
Young voters also showed a strong preference for Democrats. According to NBC News exit polls, voters aged 18 to 29, both men and women, backed Democratic candidates by a margin of 72 percent to 25 percent.
That represented a sharp shift from the 2024 presidential election, when younger voters were divided between Trump and Harris.
