The top line

Democrats won control of the House, won the Senate, and now hold 28 of the 50 governorships, a majority for the first time since 2010. At least nine state legislative chambers changed hands, every one of them to Democrats. As of 8:30 a.m. Thursday, two Senate races (Alaska and Mississippi), two governor races (Alaska and Kansas), 25 House seats, and several legislative chambers were still too close to call.

Republicans went into Election Day holding the White House, a 53 to 47 Senate majority, and a House majority of 218 to 214, with one independent who caucused with Republicans and two vacancies. They also held 26 of the 50 governorships and 57 of the 99 state legislative chambers. On Tuesday’s ballot: 35 Senate seats, all 435 House seats, 36 governorships, and 88 legislative chambers in 46 states.

This post covers the big changes at each level: who controls what, where seats and chambers flipped, and who the new faces are. Counts are as of Thursday morning and will move as the last races are called. Pennsylvania, where Democrats now hold the governor’s office and both chambers of the General Assembly for the first time since 1994, gets its own section under each heading.

Senate

Democrats will control the Senate in January, 54 seats to 44 with two uncalled, a net gain of at least seven. The Associated Press called control at 11:39 p.m. Tuesday on the Iowa result.

Republicans started the night with 53 seats to 47 for the Democratic caucus (45 Democrats and 2 independents). Thirty-five seats were on the ballot: the 33 regular Class 2 seats plus special elections in Ohio and Florida. Republicans were defending 22 of the 35. Democrats needed a net gain of four to reach 51. They got seven, and held every seat of their own.

Seats that changed hands

Seven seats flipped from Republican to Democratic: North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Ohio, Iowa, Kansas, and Maine. None flipped the other way. Four sitting senators lost: Susan Collins in Maine, Roger Marshall in Kansas, Darline Graham in South Carolina, and the appointed Jon Husted in Ohio. Alaska and Mississippi remain uncalled; Scott Colom leads Mississippi by about 1,100 votes with affidavit ballots still being counted, and in Alaska the lead shifted to Mary Peltola on Wednesday; the state will count mail ballots for 10 days and run ranked-choice tabulation November 18 if no one clears 50 percent.

Texas was a Republican-held open seat because Attorney General Ken Paxton defeated Senator John Cornyn in the primary. South Carolina’s Darline Graham succeeded her late brother, Lindsey Graham, in the seat. Nebraska had no Democrat on the ballot; independent Dan Osborn was the challenger. Margins are approximate and taken from partial counts at the time of the call.

New senators

Seventeen new senators have been called so far, eleven Democrats and six Republicans. Alaska and Mississippi are still open.

Ashley Moody (R) keeps the Florida seat she was appointed to, through January 2029.

House

Democrats won the House. As of 8:30 a.m. Thursday, 252 seats had been called for Democrats and 158 for Republicans by the Associated Press, NBC News, or Decision Desk HQ, with 25 races uncalled. Decision Desk HQ called the House for Democrats at 9:09 p.m. Tuesday and the Associated Press at 1:24 a.m. Hakeem Jeffries is in line to be Speaker.

Republicans went in holding 218 seats to 214 for Democrats, with one independent who caucused with Republicans and two vacancies. All 435 seats were on the ballot. Democrats needed a net gain of three seats for a majority. Sixty members did not run again, so the freshman class in January will be large no matter who holds the gavel. We will profile the new members in a separate post.

The map was different this year

Nine states voted under congressional lines different from 2024: Alabama, California, Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah. Missouri passed a new map, but the state Supreme Court ruled it never took effect, so Missouri voted on its 2022 lines. Most of the redrawing favored Republicans, in Texas, Florida, and North Carolina in particular, offset in part by California’s redraw for Democrats. The redraws did not hold: Democrats picked up seats in California, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, and Utah under the new lines. Republicans have picked up two redrawn Democratic seats, Texas’s 32nd, where Yarbrough defeated Barrios in a seat Julie Johnson had held, and Tennessee’s 9th, Steve Cohen’s former seat, where Decision Desk HQ has called the race for Republican Taylor. Louisiana’s 6th goes to a December 12 runoff.

Incumbents defeated on Tuesday

Thirty sitting members have been called as defeated: 29 Republicans, plus Democrat Jimmy Gomez, who lost California’s 34th to another Democrat under the state’s top-two system. Races called by NBC News or Decision Desk HQ but not yet by the Associated Press are noted in the table. Another six Republican incumbents trail in races no one has called, listed below the table. No Democratic incumbent has lost to a Republican. Open seats and the full freshman class are covered in a separate post.

Incumbents trailing in uncalled races

Six Republican incumbents were behind as of 8:30 a.m. Thursday in races none of the three outlets has called. One, Lawler, has conceded. Three who trailed earlier, Jeff Hurd in Colorado’s 3rd, Mario Diaz-Balart in Florida’s 26th, and Eli Crane in Arizona’s 2nd, have retaken narrow leads as counting continues. Counts are unofficial and several are inside recount range.

Pennsylvania

All four Republican-held seats in play flipped. Pennsylvania’s delegation goes from 10 Republicans and 7 Democrats to 11 Democrats and 6 Republicans. No other Pennsylvania seat changed hands; Chris Rabb (D) holds the open PA-3 seat.

Governors

Democrats now hold 28 governorships to 20 for Republicans, with Alaska and Kansas uncalled. Five states changed party on Tuesday, all from Republican to Democratic: Georgia, Iowa, Nevada, Ohio, and Texas. It is the first Democratic majority of governorships since 2010.

Republicans went in holding 26 governorships and Democrats 24. Thirty-six states elected a governor, and at least 19 of those seats were open, the largest turnover in the governors’ offices since 2010. Two sitting Republican governors lost: Greg Abbott in Texas and Joe Lombardo in Nevada. Every Democratic governor on the ballot won.

Every governor race, by state

New governors

Nineteen states have a new governor called so far, thirteen Democrats and six Republicans. Alaska and Kansas are still open.

Pennsylvania

Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) won re-election by about 21 points over State Treasurer Stacy Garrity (R), roughly 60 percent to 39 percent. The Associated Press called the race at 8:01 p.m., one minute after polls closed. Lt. Gov. Austin Davis was re-elected on the joint ticket.

State General Assemblies

At least nine state legislative chambers changed hands on Tuesday, all from Republican to Democratic: the Pennsylvania Senate, the Wisconsin Assembly and Senate, the North Carolina House, the New Hampshire House and Senate, the Minnesota House, which had been tied, and, as of Wednesday afternoon, the Michigan House and the Texas House. Democrats also claim majorities in the Georgia House and both Arizona chambers, where counting continues. No chamber flipped to Republicans. Democrats gained trifectas in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nevada, and Michigan, and Republicans lost trifectas in Georgia, Iowa, Ohio, Texas, and New Hampshire.

Republicans went in controlling 57 of the 99 chambers and Democrats 39. Both Alaska chambers were run by bipartisan coalitions, and the Minnesota House was tied 67 to 67. Eighty-eight chambers in 46 states were on the ballot, covering 6,137 seats. Republicans held 23 state trifectas (governor plus both chambers), Democrats held 16, and 11 states had divided government. Beyond the flips, Democrats broke Republican supermajorities in the Florida House and Senate, the Georgia Senate, the Indiana House, the Iowa House, the Kansas House, the Missouri House and Senate, the Ohio House, the South Carolina House, and the North Carolina Senate. Nebraska’s filibuster-proof Republican majority in the unicameral Legislature also appears to be ending. Democrats won new supermajorities in the Colorado House, the Nevada Assembly, and the New York Senate.

Every chamber on the ballot, by state

Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia held no legislative elections this year, and the Kansas, New Mexico, and South Carolina senates were not up. Seat counts are unofficial. Chambers marked uncalled are still being counted; in several of them Democrats have claimed a majority that no nonpartisan tracker has yet confirmed.

Trifectas

Going in: 23 Republican trifectas, 16 Democratic, 11 divided. By Ballotpedia’s latest count, 17 Democratic and 14 Republican trifectas are settled, 6 states have divided government, and 9 are still to resolve. The states where control changed or could change:

Pennsylvania

Democrats won the State Senate, 26 seats to 24, and held the State House, about 111 to 91 with one district uncalled. It is the first Democratic majority in the Senate since 1993 and the first Democratic trifecta in Harrisburg since Republicans took the Senate in 1994. Republicans held the Senate 27 to 23 going in, with 25 of the 50 seats on the ballot. Democrats flipped four: Eileen Albillar over Sen. Frank Farry in the 6th (Bucks), Mark Pinsley over Sen. Jarrett Coleman in the 16th (Lehigh), Chris Thomas over Sen. Tracy Pennycuick in the 24th (Montgomery), and Brian Wrightson over Sen. Rosemary Brown in the 40th (Monroe). Republicans picked up the open 36th (Lancaster), where Tom Jones defeated James Malone. In the House, Democrats picked up at least nine seats and lost one, with the 41st (Lancaster) still uncalled.

Ohio

Ohio was one of the biggest swings of the night. Sherrod Brown took back a Senate seat, defeating appointed Senator Jon Husted by about 3 points in the special election; the term runs through January 2029. Amy Acton won the open governor’s race over Vivek Ramaswamy by about 5 points, flipping the office and ending the Republican trifecta in Columbus. In the U.S. House, Democrats picked up three seats under the redrawn map: Brian Poindexter defeated Representative Max Miller in the 7th, Don Leonard defeated Representative Mike Carey in the 15th, and Kristina Knickerbocker defeated Representative Mike Turner in the 10th, a race called Wednesday morning. Democrats now hold eight of Ohio’s 15 House seats. Republicans kept control of both chambers of the General Assembly and their supermajority in the Ohio Senate, but Democrats gained 10 to 12 seats in the Ohio House and broke the Republican supermajority there.