The Democrats have wrested control of the United States Congress from Republicans by winning majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate in a stunning blow to US President Donald Trump.
asserted
Democrats → wrest → Trump
Democratic Senate candidates have shattered decades-old electoral records across traditional Republican strongholds, in particular flipping key seats in Kansas, Texas and South Carolina.
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candidates → shatter → Kansas
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How big is the Republican midterms loss?
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loss → celebrate → memorials
Here’s what we know:
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we → ’ → what
The Republican Party has suffered a historic, worse-than-expected rout, losing control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate to the Democratic Party.
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Party → suffer → Party
According to the results, in the House of Representatives, Democrats have so far won 228 seats, while the Republicans have won 139.
uncertain
Republicans → accord → 139
Democrats are also leading in 34 other seats which have yet to be called.
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which → lead → seats
If they win all of those, they could end up with more than 260 seats in the House, the party’s biggest majority since 1990, when the Democrats won 267 seats in the lower chamber.
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Democrats → win → chamber
Democrats also had a large majority in the House in 2008, with 257 seats, while the Republicans had 178 seats.
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Republicans → have → seats
In the Senate, the upper chamber of Congress, Democrats have won with a majority of 54 seats while the Republicans have won 44 seats.
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Republicans → win → seats
They have not had such a clear majority in the Senate since 2008, when the party won 56 seats in the slipstream of Barack Obama’s historic first presidential election.
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party → have → election
While President Donald Trump told voters to imagine he was on the ballot for this election, many of the Republican candidates he endorsed in key battleground states have been defeated by the Democrats.
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he → tell → Democrats
In South Carolina, which had not elected a Democratic senator since 1998, Trump backed Darline Graham.
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Trump → elect → Graham
But Democrat Annie Andrews won the seat.
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Andrews → win → seat
In North Carolina, Trump had endorsed former national Republican campaign official Michael Whatley, who was beaten by Democratic Governor Roy Cooper.
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who → endorse → Cooper
In Texas, Trump promoted Attorney General Ken Paxton.
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Trump → promote → Paxton
But Democrat Talarico won the race.
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Talarico → win → race
Then in Michigan, Former US Representative Mike Rogers, Trump’s choice in Michigan, was defeated by Democrat Abdul El-Sayed.
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Rogers → defeat → Sayed
It is usual for the governing party to lose some seats in the US midterms, but not on this scale.
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party → govern → scale
A Republican Party member told Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher in Washington, DC that the results have been much worse than expected.
“Certainly their internal polling was telling them that they might hold on to the Senate.
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they → tell → Senate
That obviously was so far off,” Fisher reported.
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Fisher → report → ?
Chris Featherstone, a political scientist at the University of York in the United Kingdom, said the midterm results represent a “seismic loss” for the Republicans.
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results → say → Republicans
He noted that many Trump-backed Republican candidates have lost throughout the country, and to both progressive and centrist Democratic candidates.
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candidates → note → candidates
“Texas is a great example of the extent of the loss, where [James] Talarico won [the Senate seat] by almost 10 points.
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Talarico → win → points
Texas has long been a Republican stronghold, and has been close to the heart of the intellectual and emotional heart of the party,” he said.
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he → say → party
He added that Democrat Gina Hinojosa’s win over Texas governor Greg Abbott has “come as a huge shock”, especially after redistricting which took place ahead of the midterms and through which the Republicans had hoped to win five additional seats.
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Republicans → add → seats
“The results will change the relationship between Congress and the White House, with a huge likelihood of significant investigations and potentially impeachments for several members of the administration,” Featherstone said.
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Featherstone → change → administration
“They will also change the makeup of the Democrats in Congress, increasing the appetite for aggressive opposition to Trump.”
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They → change → Trump
Sudha David-Wilp, vice president of external relations at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, said that the midterm elections are usually viewed as a referendum on the party in power.
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elections → say → power
She said, “a blue wave was not out of the realm of possibility”.
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wave → say → possibility
She told Al Jazeera that the Democrats have not just flipped seats in places like Texas, Iowa and South Carolina, where Trump is highly popular, but may have also “ushered in a new political epoch”, following these elections.
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Trump → tell → elections
“President Trump still has a loyal following but MAGA [his voter base] has splintered and it will be hard for the GOP [Grand Old Party, a nickname for the Republican Party] to run on his brand in 2028
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GOP → splinter → 2028
,” she added.
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she → add → ?
All is not doom and gloom for the Republicans who have had some wins in these elections.
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who → have → elections
In Florida, a state where Trump is very popular, Republican Senator Ashley Moody defeated Democratic state Representative Angie Nixon.
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Moody → defeat → Nixon
Republican Byron Donalds also defeated Democrat David Jolly to win the Florida election for governor.
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Donalds → defeat → governor
In Wyoming, Republican Harriet Hageman won a Senate seat and, in Alabama, Tommy Tuberville won the race for governor of the state, defeating Democrat Doug Jones.
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Tuberville → win → Jones
Republicans have also had victories in Idaho, Arkansas, Louisiana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kentucky and West Virginia, among others.
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Republicans → have → others
The party has experienced similar scenarios in US election history.
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party → experience → history
In 1992, for example, when George HW Bush was president, the Republicans won only 176 seats in the Congress, compared with the Democrats who built on their majority by winning 258 seats.
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who → win → seats
…and 9 more, not listed.
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