Jon Ossoff projected to win Georgia Senate race; Democrats press for control

Republicans entered the contest with 53 seats in the upper chamber

Polls had opened earlier in the day in all 50 states and Washington DC after millions had voted early or submitted ballots by mail. The Guardian said Republicans were defending their Senate majority against resurgent Democrats, who believed voters’ dissatisfaction with Donald Trump could put them back in control of the upper chamber. Many contested races remained uncalled.

The Associated Press called Georgia’s Senate race for incumbent Jon Ossoff, who appeared headed for an easy second term in a state that voted for Trump in 2024. Georgia had been among the Republicans’ target seats, so the Associated Press call appeared to remove one of their opportunities to pick off a Democratic incumbent. The Guardian said Ossoff’s easy victory appeared to underscore the shift in Republican political fortunes since Trump returned to the White House.

Democrats lost their Senate majority in 2024, when voters re-elected Trump and gave his Republican allies 53 seats in the upper chamber. Democrats need at least four seats to regain control. A Democratic majority could block Trump’s bills, issue subpoenas to investigate his administration and reject his nominees to the federal judiciary, including Supreme Court nominees, during the final two years of his presidency.

At the outset of Trump’s presidency, Democrats’ path looked difficult because most senators facing re-election represented solidly red or blue states, giving the minority party few offensive opportunities. The Guardian reported that Trump’s approval ratings had fallen sharply since his inauguration, fueled by dissatisfaction with his handling of the economy and the cost of living. The report also said his decision to attack Iran and his hardline enforcement of immigration law had proved unpopular with voters.

Pre-midterm polls had shown Democrats leading in many of their target states. Democrats initially named Maine, North Carolina, Ohio and Alaska as their best chances to flip. Maine was the only state Kamala Harris won that had a Republican incumbent on the ballot. As sentiment toward Trump worsened, Democrats believed their candidates had a shot in Texas, Kansas, Iowa and South Carolina, all red states Trump had won by double digits.

Republicans’ targets included Democratic incumbents defending seats in states that had broken for Trump two years earlier or that Harris carried by slim margins. The Guardian’s list included Minnesota, New Hampshire and Michigan, along with Georgia. The outlet described Trump’s final-week campaigning in places such as Kansas, South Carolina and Texas as a sign of Republican concern that a “blue wave” could sweep their Senate majority away just two years after it was created; his party usually won those places handily.

A New York Times and Siena University poll published Sunday found Democrats leading in five battleground states surveyed and statistically tied in a sixth. Other surveys found Republican candidates ahead, while some Democrats running for important seats had dealt with drama and scandal in the closing days of the race.

Last week, The New York Times reported an allegation that Alaska Senate candidate Mary Peltola’s campaign collaborated with Democratic operatives to recruit a candidate with nearly the same name as her opponent, Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan. Alaska’s governor ordered a criminal investigation into the allegation. The U.S. Department of Justice filed suit to block the election’s certification if Sullivan lost, but a federal judge recently dismissed the suit.

In Michigan, Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed and congresswoman Haley Stevens, whom he defeated in the primary, developed a public conflict after she endorsed his Republican opponent, Mike Rogers. Stevens said she objected to El-Sayed’s stance on an advertisement by an outside group that blamed the rising cost of living on U.S. support for Israel, but Democrats accused the four-term congresswoman of “betrayal.”

The Associated Press call in Georgia gave Democrats an early victory, but the broader Senate contest remained unsettled. Democrats needed at least four seats for control, Republicans were defending their 53-seat majority and numerous races had not been called.