WASHINGTON (AP) — Voters delivered a rebuke to President Donald Trump on Tuesday, flipping four U.S. Senate seats in states where he repeatedly campaigned in the final weeks of the midterm campaign.
The losses by Trump’s hand-picked candidates Ken Paxton in Texas and Darline Graham in South Carolina handed Democrats their first Senate seats in those deep-red states in decades and imperiled Republican chances for keeping control of the Senate.
Voters delivered those losses, along with flipping seats in North Carolina and Ohio, after Trump repeatedly urged voters to pretend he was on the ballot while defending his policies on tariffs and the war with Iran that drove up prices.
If his party loses control of Congress in the midterm elections, the rest of Trump’s time in office is likely to be consumed by Democratic-led investigations into his administration and his business dealings, and could possibly lead to another impeachment. The political spotlight will also begin its shift to Republicans and Democrats vying to replace him during the 2028 presidential campaign.
The rebuke to Republicans could leave Trump — who watched returns at the White House with his advisers and members of his Cabinet — with dramatically diminished political capital at home and abroad.
He had all but guaranteed the results will be seen as a referendum on himself by repeatedly urging voters to “pretend I’m on the ballot.” But about 24 hours after Trump had uttered that, the president on Tuesday night began pointing the blame elsewhere as results came in, posting on social media: “I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!”
Trump’s choices for GOP races had their own baggage
Despite urging voters to use their imagination when reading names on the ballot, Trump’s hand-picked Republican candidates in Texas and South Carolina faced deep skepticism.
Graham, the sister of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, lost to Democrat Annie Andrews after a campaign in which she faced questions about her inexperience.
Paxton, who lost to Democrat James Talarico, was impeached by his own party over corruption accusations and stained by a very public divorce. But Trump backed him instead of powerful incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, whom he viewed as not sufficiently supportive.
Trump’s loyalty pressures also led incumbent Republican Sen. Thom Tillis in North Carolina to decide to retire after clashing with the president. To try to keep that seat in GOP hands, Trump backed his close ally Michael Whatley, who lost to Democrat Roy Cooper.
In Ohio, Democrat Sherrod Brown regained his Senate seat that he lost two years ago, defeating appointed Republican Sen. Jon Husted in a state in which Trump and Vice President JD Vance repeatedly campaigned.
With Husted, Trump had an odd fixation on his physique, frequently admiring the former football player’s body during campaign rallies in Ohio and elsewhere around the country.
Democrats on Tuesday also retained a key Senate seat in Georgia where another one of Trump’s endorsed candidates faced controversy.
In that race, Democrat Jon Ossoff defeated Republican Mike Collins, a Trump acolyte who struggled to defend against his ties to white nationalists and an unresolved House ethics investigation.
In 2024, Trump won all five states — Texas, South Carolina, North Carolina, Ohio and Georgia.
In another sign of Republican weakness, Democrat Gina Hinojosa defeated incumbent Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, whom Trump had endorsed and repeatedly praised.
Voters blame Trump’s economic policies
Placing himself front and center on voters’ minds was a major gamble by the president and his political team, who believed it would drive “Make America Great Again” supporters to the polls. Democrats were eager to watch the unpopular president insert himself so fully in the campaign, believing it served as an effective reminder of who should be blamed for the state of the economy.
“Trump’s desire to have everyone think that he’s on the ballot? Like, it’s happening,” said Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., who campaigned in key battlegrounds this fall, including Iowa, Georgia and Texas. “Everyone is thinking about him and the harm that he has done to them directly.”
The AP Voter Poll, an expansive survey of the midterm electorate, showed relatively few voters have positive things to say about Trump’s performance on the economy. About two-thirds of voters nationally say Trump’s policies have worsened economic conditions in the U.S., while only about 3 in 10 said they’ve improved economic conditions. Similarly, about two-thirds of voters say Trump’s tariff policies have “hurt” the national economy, or the economy in their local area.
Views of Trump’s priorities more broadly — and his capabilities as a leader — were also mostly negative. More than half of voters say Trump is not a strong leader, does not fight for people like them, does not have the right priorities and does not have the mental capability to serve effectively as president. About 6 in 10 voters say Trump places a higher priority on his own personal interests than he does the country’s interests, while about 4 in 10 said he puts more weight on the country’s interests.
The president — who faced a Democratic-led House for the latter half of his first term — campaigned aggressively in the final weeks to keep the Republican majorities on Capitol Hill because he knows what the consequences would be if Democrats seize power.
But the president at times shrugged off the prospect of a Republican loss of power in Congress. The president is also keenly aware of the political power he draws from having a foil, leveraging opposition to consolidate support in his party and boost fundraising.
From investigations to impeachment, the stakes for Trump are high
Senior Democrats, as they anticipate a majority in at least one chamber of Congress, have been telegraphing what their top investigative targets would be: the Trump administration’s policies, the conduct of its personnel, and interactions between government officials and private corporations who’ve tried to wield influence with the White House.
Among their priorities are the Trump family’s business dealings, the administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation and broader allegations of corporate corruption.
A Democratic majority would be armed with control of committees, bigger budgets and staff, and subpoena powers that could compel the administration to be responsive to Congress. In response, the White House could reprise its strategy from the first Trump administration, when it slow-walked congressional requests for documents and testimony and asserted executive privilege over certain information.
The president is also bracing for major legislative fights, saying he has a “strong veto.”
