Democrats flip a Senate seat and a House seat in early returns

Cooper’s win leaves Democrats three Senate seats from control

Democrats flipped the North Carolina Senate seat and won their first House seat of the night early in Tuesday night’s count, giving the party a strong start. A live update from The Wall Street Journal reported that Roy Cooper’s victory left Democrats needing a net three more seats for Senate control, while Jamie Ager defeated Republican Jennifer Balkcom in a Western North Carolina district that Trump had won by nearly 10 points in 2024.

By 8:30 p.m., Cooper’s win had given Democrats their first Senate flip of the night. The outlet cautioned that a long way remained to go: Democrats still needed to pick up a net of three more seats to win control of the Senate.

Democrats’ first House flip came shortly before 9 p.m. Ager defeated Balkcom in Western North Carolina, a district Trump had won by nearly 10 points in 2024.

The Wall Street Journal characterized the broader count as Democrats overperforming across the map. Beyond the North Carolina wins, Democratic challenger Annie Andrews was leading GOP incumbent Sen. Darline Graham in South Carolina, while Florida’s Senate and gubernatorial contests were much closer than Republicans had expected.

In Florida, GOP Sen. Ashley Moody narrowly defeated challenger Angie Nixon, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America who many thought had little chance to prevail. The Florida governor’s race remained too close to call.

Democrats’ mood improved as the night progressed. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.) told a group of supporters earlier in the night that “we are on the verge of ending this national nightmare.” Jeffries would be poised to become House Speaker if Democrats picked up enough House seats in the next few hours.

While the Democratic gains were building, Trump was in the White House with aides and appeared to be seething, according to the report. By 7 p.m., he had posted three social-media messages complaining about Fox News’s coverage.

The early returns gave Democrats momentum but did not settle control of the House and Senate. Democrats still needed a net three Senate pickups beyond Cooper’s win, and Jeffries’s path to the speakership depended on how many additional House seats the party captured.