Washington: In a stinging rebuke to President Donald Trump, American voters on Tuesday gave the opposition Democratic Party control of the US Congress and flipped key gubernatorial posts in widely watched elections that will have consequences far beyond America.
Trump’s Republican Party faced stunning defeats in its strongholds such as Texas, Georgia, Iowa and Ohio, where it lost the governors’ posts to the Democrats.
The grand old party also faced a drubbing in Senate races in Texas, Maine, South Carolina, North Carolina, Kansas, Iowa and Ohio, where Trump campaigned with a simple message urging voters to pretend that he was on the ballot.
The Democrats won control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, ending the Republicans’ hold on the two chambers of Congress.
The widespread losses were attributed to anger against Trump’s policies, including the war on Iran, which have contributed to rising living costs.
In interviews with PTI at polling booths, voters repeatedly cited Trump’s lies and boasts as reasons for turning away from him.
“Trump is a disgrace. I do not want him to be a role model for my children, and the sooner he is out of office the better,” a Democrat voter said in Georgia, which is traditionally a Republican state.
Trump-backed Indian-American Vivek Ramaswamy was defeated in Ohio’s gubernatorial race by Democrat Amy Acton after a bitter campaign that even left the Republican Party divided.
The Democrats also flipped more than two dozen House seats, including in several districts that Trump had won by double-digit margins in 2024.
“The Trump era is over,” Republican leader Chris Christie told ABC News.
In media interviews, Trump conceded defeat in the elections, known as midterms because they are held in the middle of the president’s four-year term, and said he was ready to work with the Democrats.
“My message is, congratulations to the Democrats, and I look forward to working with you for the good of our country,” he told CBS News.
“I am absolutely willing to accept those results,” Trump said in an interview with The New York Times on Tuesday night as results trickled in.
If that was uncharacteristically humble and conciliatory of Trump, he was quick to revert to his customary style of transferring the blame elsewhere.
He said his party lost because he was not on the ballot and said he had no regrets about endorsing candidates such as Senator Darline Graham, Republican of South Carolina, and Ken Paxton, the Republican attorney general of Texas.
Paxton’s loss to James Talarico marked the first time Texas will be sending a Democrat to the Senate in nearly 40 years.
Graham is the sister of the late Senator Lindsey Graham and was appointed to the Senate to complete her brother’s term after his death earlier this year.
In the outgoing Senate, Republicans had a 53-47 majority. The Democrats flipped the Senate after winning at least seven Republican-held seats, including in North Carolina, Ohio, Maine, South Carolina, Kansas, Iowa and Texas.
In the outgoing House, Republicans had a slim margin of 220-215. Democrats have now crossed the 218-seat threshold needed to take control of the chamber, reversing the balance of power.
“I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE! Thank you for your attention to this matter,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
North Carolina was the first Senate seat to flip when Democrat Roy Cooper defeated Republican Michael Whatley.
Georgia scripted history when Keisha Lance Bottoms was elected the state’s first Black woman governor, defeating Republican nominee Rick Jackson.
In Iowa, Democrat Rob Sand won the governor’s post, defeating Republican Zach Lahn.
Democrat Gina Hinojosa defeated incumbent Governor Greg Abbott, thus becoming the first Latina to be elected to a gubernatorial office in Texas.
In Kansas, pastor-politician Adam Hamilton entered the record books by winning the Senate seat for the Democrats for the first time in nearly 100 years.
In Ohio, Republican Jon Husted, who was appointed to the US Senate after incumbent JD Vance was elected Vice President, lost the seat to Democrat Sherrod Brown.
Democrat Senator Jon Ossoff was re-elected in Georgia. He is seen as a potential presidential candidate in the 2028 elections.
An Associated Press poll found roughly 6 in 10 voters disapprove of Trump’s job performance. About 70 per cent of voters want Congress to provide more checks and balances on the presidency. And roughly 6 in 10 voters said Trump places a higher priority on his personal interests than the country’s interests.
The results will lead to severe curtailing of Trump’s ability to govern according to his whims, as the Congress has great powers to stymie the president. Trump’s only weapon now will be executive orders, which he can wield for the rest of his term, or veto the Congress.
As the results came out, Trump posted a picture on Truth Social, his preferred social media platform, a picture of a red cap with VETO emblazoned on the front.
