Democrats’ blue wave and a bad night for Trump: key US midterms takeaways

Democrats secured control of both chambers of Congress in a sweeping midterm victory, defeating Republicans in races across traditionally conservative states. The results give Democrats greater power to challenge Donald Trump’s agenda and indicate that voters’ concerns, particularly about the cost of living, may have hurt his allies.

The party flipped seven Senate seats, won more than two dozen House seats and increased its number of governors. Adam Hamilton’s Kansas victory marked the first Democratic Senate win there in 94 years, while Democratic candidates also ended long Republican runs in South Carolina and Texas. Trump dismissed the result as a verdict on his presidency, saying he would have won by a landslide if he had been on the ballot.