Democrats stormed back to power in Congress and governors’ mansions across America in Tuesday’s midterm elections, a stunning repudiation of Donald Trump’s political agenda.
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Democrats → storm → agenda
These are the numbers that tell the tale of a historic night.
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that → tell → night
Total turnout numbers were not in yet, but Americans cast more than 61.7 million votes even before election day, according to the University of Florida’s Election Lab.
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Americans → cast → Lab
That figure, a runaway record for early voting in US midterms, undoubtedly boosted Democrats, who traditionally cast their ballots early more often than Republican voters.
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who → boost → voters
The numbers showed large turnout among African Americans, young people and other groups that typically support Democratic candidates, National Public Radio reported.
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Radio → show → candidates
The surge contributed to a wave election, with Democrats running the table on key races and seizing control of both chambers of Congress.
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Democrats → contribute → Congress
Record fundraising
Total spending for the 2026 midterms soared to a record $11.9 billion, substantially higher than the $8.9bn racked up in 2022, according to OpenSecrets, a non-partisan authority on spending in US politics.
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spending → soar → politics
Campaign fundraising and ad buys jumped in the 2026 races, driven by the outside spending of so-called political action committees.
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fundraising → jump → committees
Such outside spending, led by Trump’s mega-billionaire ally Elon Musk, favoured Republicans by some $360m.
But Democratic candidates proved adept at raising their own funds.
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candidates → lead → funds
House and Senate candidates spent an unprecedented $3.7bn from their campaign war chests, with Democrats outspending Republicans by $800 million, according to OpenSecrets.
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Democrats → spend → OpenSecrets
In Texas, Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico broke records by bringing in a staggering $145m, several times the $22m raised by his Republican rival Ken Paxton, who was forced to rely on outside groups to fund his campaign.
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who → break → campaign
Ninety-four years ago was the last time Kansas sent a Democrat to the US Senate.
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Kansas → send → Senate
But on Tuesday night, Adam Hamilton unseated Republican incumbent Roger Marshall.
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Hamilton → unseat → Marshall
Hamilton, the pastor of a Methodist megachurch who was registered as a Republican until recently, became the first Democrat to win a Senate race in the largely rural, conservative state since 1932.
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who → register → 1932
Texas also went blue for the first time in decades, with Talarico scoring a massive upset to flip a Senate seat in the Lone Star State for the first time since 1988 — the year before Talarico was born.
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Talarico → go → 1988
South Carolina also defied history, ousting Senator Darline Graham — who had been appointed earlier this year to fill the seat of her late brother Lindsey Graham — in favour of Democrat Annie Andrews.
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who → defy → Andrews
No South Carolina Democrat had been elected to the Senate since 1998.
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Democrat → elect → 1998
Young voters, Latinos turn away
Young men and Latino voters — two segments of the American electorate crucial to Trump — turned sharply away from the president and his Republican Party, exit polls showed.
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polls → turn → president
Hispanic voters had helped bring Trump to power in 2016, and were instrumental in his victory in 2024, when they only narrowly went to Democrat Kamala Harris in the presidential election, 51 per cent to 48pc, according to Pew Research.
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they → help → Research
But in recent weeks, several Latino voters have expressed anger at Trump, saying they felt betrayed.
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they → express → Trump
It showed in NBC News exit polls on Tuesday, when Latino voters backed Democratic candidates by 62pc to 35pc over Republicans.
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voters → show → Republicans
Young voters also soured on Trump.
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voters → sour → Trump
NBC News reported that its exit polls showed 18-29-year-olds, men and women, voted for Democrats by a 72pc to 25pc margin.
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olds → report → margin
That is a sharp shift from 2024, when young voters were split between Trump and Harris.
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voters → split → Trump
The Aporia
