The 2026 blue wave, in charts: Data shows Senate Democrats won by bigger margins while Republicans lost ground

CBS News · Grace Manthey · 2026-11-05 00:47 UTC

Compared to the 2024 presidential race, Democratic senators-elect won by larger margins in the 2026 midterms, while Republicans won by smaller ones.

Democrats will now control the Senate and the House of Representatives after the 2026 midterm elections. Of the 35 Senate races on the ballot, 33 have been projected so far and 20 of those went blue. Eight of them were in states that voted for President Trump in 2024. Voters in seven states flipped a previously Republican-held Senate seat to a Democrat.

Senate elections in Alaska and Mississippi are still considered toss-ups.

But even in states where Republican senators won, the margins were lower than might have been expected. For example, in West Virginia, Mr. Trump won in 2024 by 42 percentage points. In this year's midterms, Republican incumbent Sen. Shelly Moore Capito won by about 20 points — the winning margin was cut in half.

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