Scott Colom leads tight Mississippi Senate race; Alaska uncalled

Democrats hold 228 House seats while key congressional contests remain uncalled

The Guardian’s live updates on Nov. 4, 2026, left the Senate map unsettled. Democrat Scott Colom led Mississippi’s Senate contest by just a few dozen votes as final ballots rolled in, while the closely watched Alaska race had not been called.

Democrats had already secured 228 House seats by Wednesday morning, 10 more than needed for a majority, and could realistically run the total to 240 or more, The Guardian said.

Several key congressional races also remained to be called, including contests in Colorado, Michigan, Maine, New York, California and North Carolina. The live blog also listed governor’s offices Democrats had flipped in Texas, Georgia, Iowa, Ohio and Nevada.

Democrats’ 54 Senate seats formed the backdrop to the unresolved count. The Guardian described the party as having taken control of Congress after it defended a crucial Senate seat in Michigan, won the likely Senate pickups in Maine and North Carolina and flipped five more seats in states that would normally be considered Republican: Ohio, Iowa, Kansas, South Carolina and Texas. The Guardian called Texas the biggest prize among the five.

The Guardian said Trump’s willingness to accept the outcome was in doubt after the Trump administration spent months seeking to exert greater influence over the elections process through executive orders and the courts.

Donald Trump accepted the Republican Party’s defeat and congratulated Democrats. Speaking to The New York Times, he said he was “absolutely willing to accept” the election results.

The Guardian reported that Deb Haaland, running in New Mexico, became the first Native American woman elected governor, while Keisha Lanca Bottoms became the first Black woman ever elected governor. It also reported that Abdul El-Sayed, the victorious Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan, became the first Muslim to be elected to the upper chamber.

The Guardian characterized Republicans as “shell-shocked,” said the party’s future was deeply uncertain and reported that some were sounding the “death-knell” for a decade of Trump-dominated GOP politics. Earlier in the live blog, it described the previous evening as an “extinction level-event” for Donald Trump’s Republican Party and a “worst-case scenario” for the GOP that even the starkest polls might have underestimated.