Democratic Party gains US House majority in 2026 midterm elections
All 435 seats in the lower chamber of Congress were on the ballot in Tuesday's midterm race.
The Democratic Party has regained control of the lower chamber of the United States Congress, winning the House of Representatives.
On Tuesday night, the House was called in the left-wing party’s favour.
Democrats needed to gain five seats to flip the chamber. Republicans have held a majority in the House since the 2022 midterms, during the presidency of Democrat Joe Biden.
Currently, the outgoing 119th Congress has 218 Republicans, 214 Democrats, one independent and two vacancies.
All 435 seats in the House were up for grabs in the election. A term in the House lasts only two years, compared to six for the Senate.
The Democrats’ victory in the chamber means its party leader in the chamber, Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, will likely be selected as the speaker of the House, the chamber’s top officer.
That position would make Jeffries the third person in line for the US presidency, should the president and vice president be removed from office.
He would also be the first Black person to serve in the role. He will replace outgoing Republican Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana, who has held the post since 2023.
Democrats had been widely projected to regain control of the House, leveraging backlash to the second administration of President Donald Trump, which saw record-low approval ratings in the weeks leading up to the midterms.
For the last two years, Trump’s Republican Party has held a political “trifecta” in Washington, DC, with control of the presidency and both chambers of Congress. The 120th Congress is slated to be sworn in on January 3, 2027.
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