What We Know About the 2026 Midterms and Trump's Senate Losses

What did Tuesday's midterm results decide?

Democrats won control of the Senate in Tuesday's midterm elections, a result Guardian columnist Moira Donegan describes as a message of "dissatisfaction with the second Trump term" and a decisive vote to curb presidential power, according to the Guardian analysis. With a Senate majority, Democrats can now investigate Trump and his cabinet, draw attention to their own legislative priorities, assert Congress's constitutional authority, and block Republican judicial appointments, Donegan writes.

Why did forecasters expect a closer outcome?

Heading into election night, polling for Republicans looked bad enough that poll watchers traded what Donegan calls a "knowing joke": the results would either mean the end of the Trump era or the end of the polling profession. That low bar gave Republicans room to claim they'd outperformed expectations even in a loss, since the baseline forecast was a Democratic blowout, per the column.

What is Trump's reaction to the losses?

Trump told the New York Times on election night that he would accept the midterm results, according to Donegan's column, even as his administration had signaled in prior weeks that it could try to contest certification in especially close Senate contests, naming Alaska specifically. Donegan writes that the president will likely still "rail into microphones and complain in all caps on social media," alternating between calling the losses fraudulent and blaming others for them.

"He will rail into microphones and complain in all caps on social media. But it is not likely that any of that will go anywhere." — Moira Donegan, The Guardian, Nov. 4, 2026

Where does the Alaska Senate race stand?

Donegan reports that the Trump administration has signaled it could challenge certification in close Senate races, with Alaska cited by name as one potential flashpoint. The column does not detail a specific vote margin or timeline for that race, and notes only that Trump's public acceptance of the overall midterm results on election night may have reduced momentum for a certification fight "for what it's worth, which isn't much."

Election by the numbers

• 10 years: Roughly the span between Trump's original 2016 presidential win and Tuesday's midterm results, which Donegan frames as a turning point in his political standing.
• Nov. 3, 2026: The date of the midterm elections that handed Democrats the Senate majority, per the Guardian column.

What happens next in Washington?

With Senate control, Democrats gain subpoena and confirmation power over the remainder of Trump's term, according to the column, including the ability to block judicial nominees and open investigations into the administration. Donegan frames the vote as electorate-driven pushback on presidential power rather than a single-issue referendum, though the column does not break down results by chamber, state, or margin beyond the Senate takeover itself.

For continuing developments on the 2026 midterms, read the full Guardian column.

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