How Democrats Flipped Seven Republican Senate Seats

The Senate was supposed to be the harder prize for Democrats this year. Republicans began election night with a comfortable majority, and the map included many states that Donald Trump carried easily in 2024. Yet by Wednesday morning, projections showed Democrats winning control of the chamber, with Northeastern Global News reporting that they flipped seven Republican-held seats.

The list of flips covered a wide stretch of the country. Democrats won in Kansas, Iowa, Texas, Ohio, Maine, North Carolina and South Carolina, according to that report. In Kansas, the megachurch pastor Adam Hamilton defeated a Republican incumbent, and CNN said it was the first time Kansas had elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1932. In North Carolina, former governor Roy Cooper won an open seat, giving his party its first Senate victory in the state since 2008, according to MS NOW. In South Carolina, Annie Andrews was projected as a winner by NBC News.

Texas drew the most attention. Democrat James Talarico defeated state Attorney General Ken Paxton, one of several upsets that CBS News listed. In Maine, Democrats won the seat of Susan Collins, who was ending a Senate career of nearly thirty years, and it was the first Democratic Senate win there since 1995, Northeastern reported.

Michigan produced another historic moment. Abdul El-Sayed beat Republican Mike Rogers for an open seat and became the first Muslim elected to the Senate, according to Al Jazeera and Northeastern.

Democrats also held every seat they were defending, CNN said. Georgia's Jon Ossoff won easily, the network reported. Projections from several outlets put the Democratic total at about 54 seats, although the contests in Alaska and Mississippi had not been settled when those reports were published.

The result matters because the Senate confirms judges and cabinet officials, approves treaties and holds trials in impeachment cases. A Democratic majority means the president can no longer assume that his nominees will move quickly, and committee chairs will change hands when the new Congress opens in January. Final totals may shift slightly as the last votes are counted.