How Democrats flipped the Senate blue:
asserted
Democrats → flip → Senate
The ABC News Voter Poll tells the story
asserted
Poll → tell → story
ABC News projects that Democrats will take control of the House as well.
asserted
Democrats → project → House
Democrats rode a wave of discontent -- both for the economy and President Donald Trump -- and gained control of the Senate once again, making gains in places that just two years ago would have been unthinkable.
asserted
that → ride → places
Kansas, South Carolina, Iowa are just a few of the Republican strongholds where insurgent Democrats not only won but did so with notable margins - with notable shifts in key demographic groups and voting blocs.
asserted
Democrats → win → groups
Here's how we got here:
Georgia
Democrat Jon Ossoff is projected to win reelection to the U.S. Senate, according to ABC News Voter Polls.
uncertain
Ossoff → get → Polls
Ossoff, who narrowly won his Senate seat in a runoff election in 2021, earned more support from Georgia voters in this year’s race, winning the support of around 6 in 10 voters across the state.
asserted
who → win → state
Ossoff was able to improve his vote margins among white voters by about 10 percentage points compared to Democrat Raphael Warnock’s victory in 2022.
asserted
Ossoff → improve → 2022
Younger voters helped propel Ossoff to victory in the 2026 Georgia Senate race, according to ABC News Voter Polls.
uncertain
voters → propel → Polls
Voters under 30 widened their support for a Democrat, from 21 points in 2022 to 69 points now.
asserted
Voters → widen → points
While 45 to 64-year-olds supported the Republican candidate by 8 percentage points in 2022, they supported Ossoff by a similar margin this year, according to ABC News Voter Polls.
uncertain
they → support → Polls
Ossoff was able to win solidly among independents, who make up 3 in 10 voters in the Georgia electorate, according to ABC News Voter Polls.
uncertain
who → win → Polls
Roughly 6 in 10 independents voted for Ossoff over his Republican challenger, Collins.
asserted
independents → vote → challenger
Ossoff built support among white voters in the 2026 election compared to Warnock in 2022.
asserted
Ossoff → build → 2022
Roughly 4 in 10 white voters backed Ossoff in this year’s race (39%), while 29% supported Warnock back in 2022.
asserted
% → back → 2022
About 3 in 10 Georgia Senate voters say they are angry about the way things are going in the country today according to ABC News Voter polls.
uncertain
things → say → polls
Around 9 in 10 Georgia gubernatorial voters who said they were angry about the country’s state of affairs supported Ossoff.
asserted
they → say → Ossoff
According to ABC News Voter Polls, about three-quarters of Georgia Senate voters rate the economy negatively, including about a third who say the economy is poor.
uncertain
economy → accord → third
Roughly 9 in 10 voters who describe the nation’s economy as poor voted for Ossoff in the 2026 Senate election.
asserted
who → describe → election
According to ABC News Voter Polls, about 6 in 10 Georgia Senate voters disapprove of the way Trump is handling his job as president, including about half of voters who strongly disapprove.
uncertain
who → accord → voters
Roughly 9 in 10 voters who disapprove of Trump backed Ossoff in this year’s race.
asserted
who → disapprove → race
South Carolina
Democrat Annie Andrews is projected to have defeated Republican Sen. Darline Graham, who held the seat after her brother, longtime Sen. Lindsey Graham, died in June.
asserted
brother → project → June
Black voters in South Carolina supported Andrews over Graham by an 83% to 14% margin, according to ABC News Voter Polls, almost identical to the margin that Matthews had over Scott in 2022 when Black voters made up 22% of the electorate.
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voters → support → electorate
But white voters shifted heavily toward the Democrat this year.
asserted
voters → shift → Democrat
In 2022, white voters supported Republican Tim Scott by 54 percentage points.
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voters → support → points
This time they supported Graham by only 14 points.
asserted
they → support → points
Women backed Andrews over Graham by just over 10 percentage points, according to ABC Voter Polls.
uncertain
Women → back → Polls
In 2022, women backed Scott by 18 percentage points.
asserted
women → back → points
While Graham won men this year, her margin was in the single digits -- compared to a 34-point margin in favor of Scott four years ago.
asserted
margin → win → Scott
Roughly 4 in 10 South Carolina voters are 65 and older, and they backed Graham by 10 percentage points over Andrews, according to ABC Voter Polls.
uncertain
they → back → Polls
But that margin is much narrower than the 32 point margin that Scott held among these older voters in 2022.
asserted
Scott → hold → 2022
Roughly 1 in 10 Trump voters in 2024 crossed over to vote for Andrews this year.
asserted
voters → cross → Andrews
Almost none of Kamala Harris’s 2024 voters supported Graham, according to ABC News Voter Polls.
uncertain
none → support → Polls
College graduates backed Andrews by a margin of 17 points, according to ABC News Voter Polls.
uncertain
graduates → back → Polls
That was a flip from 2020 when 57% of college graduates voted for Lindsey Graham.
asserted
% → vote → Graham
In 2022, Scott won college graduates by 23 percentage points.
asserted
Scott → win → points
Suburban voters in South Carolina broke toward Andrews by 8 percentage points according to ABC News Voter Polls.
uncertain
voters → break → Polls
In 2022, suburban voters favored Scott by 24 percentage points.
asserted
voters → favor → points
Urban voters backed Andrews by a 27 point margin, more than double the margin from 2022.
asserted
voters → back → 2022
Josh Turek is projected to win the Iowa Senate race, becoming the first Democrat to represent Iowa in the upper chamber since Tom Harkin was elected in 2008.
asserted
Harkin → project → 2008
…and 56 more, not listed.
The Aporia
