Winners and Losers From the 2026 Midterms

There’s no sugar-coating it: Republicans lost badly in the 2026 midterms, suffering stunning defeats in states once considered reliably red and seeing Democrats take control of both chambers of Congress.

President Donald Trump encouraged Americans to vote like he was on the ballot, and many may have done so. Democratic socialists and a resurgent religious Left emerged from the night with new power. The results didn’t represent a straightforward repudiation of conservative policies, however, as voters who rejected Republican candidates also embraced election-integrity measures.

Here are a few winners and losers from the night.

Losers: Beto O’Rourke

Beto O’Rourke was going to be the Democrat to turn Texas blue. He tried twice, challenging Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018 and Gov. Greg Abbott in 2022. He lost both races, but on Tuesday, James Talarico won the Texas Senate race and Gina Hinojosa won the governor race, the first time Democrats will hold those offices in the state since 1993 and 1995, respectively.

Texas finally turned blue, and O’Rourke was nowhere near the ballot.

Winner: The Religious Left

Democrats elected multiple candidates who used Christian rhetoric to advocate for leftist positions.

Adam Hamilton, the pastor of the largest United Methodist church in America, won the U.S. Senate race in Kansas. James Talarico, a Texas state legislator notorious for calling God “nonbinary,” became the first Democrat to carry the Lone Star State since 1994.

Frederick Haynes III, the longtime senior pastor of Dallas’ Friendship-West Baptist Church, won the U.S. House race in Texas’ 30th Congressional District, succeeding Jasmine Crockett. He briefly led the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, succeeding the Rev. Jesse Jackson. Haynes campaigned on environmental justice and abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Crockett reportedly attended his church.

Sarah Trone Garriott, a minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, will win the House race in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District. Rob Sand, Iowa’s state auditor and a practicing Lutheran, won the Hawkeye State’s governor race. Trone Garriot, Sand, and Talarico have invoked their Christian faith to support abortion.

These candidates cite scripture to defend their leftist political positions, and their victories may reinvigorate non-traditional understandings of Christianity.

Loser: Elon Musk

Tesla CEO Elon Musk reportedly spent $445 million in the midterms through his America PAC and the Republican-aligned Senate Leadership Fund. America PAC spent more than $45 million in Texas supporting Attorney General Ken Paxton, who lost to James Talarico. The PAC also spent $10 million in the Ohio Senate race, boosting Jon Husted, who lost to Democrat Sherrod Brown.

The Michigan Senate race, where America PAC spent another $10 million, has not yet been called.

Winner: Democratic Socialists of America

The Democratic Socialists of America expanded its bloc in the U.S. House. Before Tuesday night, the DSA only had two House members, Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich. After Tuesday, the DSA bloc will add five more members.

Melat Kiros in Colorado, Donavan McKinney in Michigan, Darializa Chevalier and Claire Valdez in New York, and Chris Rabb in Pennsylvania will enter the House in January.

The DSA claims that at least 71 of the candidates and measures it endorsed have won.

Winner: Election Integrity Issues

Voters in four states passed measures to require photo identification for voting.

Arkansas voters overwhelmingly approved Issue 1, which requires U.S. citizenship for voting, 69-31. North Carolinians approved a photo ID requirement, 60-40. Ohio voters passed Issue 3, requiring voters to present photo ID to vote, 66-34. West Virginians approved Amendment 1, requiring U.S. citizenship for voting.

Winner: D.C. Ducks

Washington, D.C., voters approved Initiative 86, banning foie gras, a French delicacy, from menus in the nation’s capital. The measure prohibits force-feeding birds to enlarge their livers and bans the sale and distribution of fattened-bird-liver products in the district.

Loser: Trump’s Supreme Court Legacy

The Democrat majority in the Senate makes it extremely unlikely President Trump will be able to nominate and confirm an originalist justice to the Supreme Court in the mold of Clarence Thomas or Samuel Alito during his second term.

As Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis noted, this also makes it less likely that a hypothetical Republican president in 2029 would be able to confirm an originalist justice.

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