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Stefan Becket

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Stefan Becket is a managing editor of politics for CBSNews.com. Stefan has covered national politics for more than a decade and helps oversee a team covering the White House, Congress, the Supreme Court, immigration and federal law enforcement.

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Caitlin Yilek

Politics Reporter

Caitlin Yilek is a politics reporter at CBSNews.com, based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked for the Washington Examiner and The Hill, and was a member of the 2022 Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship with the National Press Foundation.

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November 5, 2026 / 6:50 AM EST / CBS News

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Latest updates on 2026 midterm election results:

  Updated 0m ago

How many House seats could Democrats and Republicans win?

House Democrats will start 2027 with a sizable majority, but their exact margin isn't clear, as votes are still being counted in key races in Maine, Montana, Florida, Alaska and elsewhere.

Here's how many House seats CBS News projects for each party:

  Updated 0m ago

Senate races in Mississippi and Alaska still toss-ups

CBS News still rates two Senate races as toss-ups: Alaska and Mississippi.

The Alaska race between GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan and Democrat Mary Peltola is still tight, and vote-counting could take some time, partly due to the state's ranked-choice system. The race was shaken up last week by allegations that Peltola-linked operatives helped recruit a candidate with the same first and last name as Sullivan — which Peltola's campaign denied.

The Mississippi race between GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde Smith and Democrat Scott Colom wasn't expected to be competitive, but  is razor-thin. State officials say thousands of ballots still need to be counted, including outstanding absentee ballots that aren't due for a few more days and "affidavit" ballots from voters whose eligibility needs to be confirmed.

Here's where control of the Senate stands:

  Updated 0m ago

All the House districts that flipped in the 2026 midterm elections

Democrats won control of the House of Representatives on Tuesday by flipping more than two dozen Republican-held seats, picking up perennial swing districts and seats that were once considered deep-red. The party's wins ranged from suburban areas in the Northeastern United States to areas of South Texas that were once viewed as increasingly GOP-friendly.

Read more here.

  Updated 0m ago

Did GOP efforts to redistrict the House turn into a dummymander? A state-by-state guide

Republicans undertook a historic effort to redraw several states' Congressional districts mid-decade in an attempt to maintain control of the House. That effort was rebuffed on Tuesday night as the GOP was on track to lose all of the districts it tried to gerrymander. 

There were several reasons that states undertook what had previously been a rare practice of mid-decade redistricting. Republican efforts started when President Trump ordered Texas lawmakers to redraw their map to net up to five seats for the GOP. 

But despite the all-out effort, Democrats won control of the House on Tuesday, with CBS News estimating Democrats could end up with 251 to 268 House seats. 

Read more here.

  Updated 0m ago

Republicans react to Tuesday's "Watergate-level repudiation"

Republicans have begun trying to pick up the pieces from Tuesday's midterms, with top GOP voices pitching themselves for leadership roles and offering theories on why the party lost.

House Speaker Mike Johnson announced on a call with his staff that he won't run for minority leader next year, a source familiar with the matter told CBS News.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise announced he plans to run for Republican leader. He told his colleagues: "We will need to be honest with ourselves about what happened."

House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan also threw his hat in the ring, calling it a "staggering day for our Conference." He said he's "battle-tested" after brawling with Democrats on investigations.

Others offered diagnoses on what went wrong. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, whose state shifted hard toward Democrats, called the results an "ass-kicking" and a "Watergate-level repudiation."

On his podcast, Cruz argued his party didn't address a "real economic disconnect" and that many GOP politicians "seem like they didn't understand or they didn't care" about the cost of living.

In what could be a looming intraparty debate, Vice President JD Vance said the "reason we lost is the war." He said many Trump 2024 voters flipped to Democrats in order to end the Iran war, address cost-of-living issues, "Put America First" and change the U.S.-Israel relationship.

The likely presidential contender wrote that "everyone knows why we lost. And any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there."

(The president's son, Donald Trump Jr., reacted to Vance's post with "💯💯💯.")

Former Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel told CBS News' "The Takeout with Major Garrett" that Tuesday's results were a "red rebellion" that she linked to people's frustrations with the economy. She said the GOP needs to do some "soul-searching."

"You don't win Texas, you don't win Kansas, you don't win South Carolina without Republican voters actually crossing over and voting for the Democrats," she said.

  Updated 0m ago

Trump says "we would have won" if he were on ballot, "largely true" GOP lost due to Iran

President Trump's first public appearance since the midterms was at the construction site for his White House ballroom, where he lauded the contractors and signed a steel beam.

In remarks to reporters, Mr. Trump again blamed Republican candidates for the party's massive losses Tuesday night, saying there was so much "love" at his rallies.

"If I was on the ballot, we would have won," he said. "But they just — you couldn't transfer that love. There was such love at those rallies, it was incredible. And we weren't able to transfer the love to candidates."

He also said it's "largely true" that the GOP lost the House and Senate because of the Iran war's impact on energy prices, agreeing with Vice President JD Vance, but he argued it was worthwhile, saying: "If I had to do it again, I'd have to do it again."

"You have no choice; you have to do it. You can't let Iran have a nuclear weapon or everything that you see here some day might not exist," the president said.

  Updated 0m ago

Trump asking advisers if Hegseth should stay after midterm losses, sources say

President Trump has been asking advisers around him and on the phone whether Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth should stay in his job, following Republicans' catastrophic losses Tuesday night, multiple sources familiar with the matter told CBS News on Wednesday.

Some White House aides have predicted some of the blame for GOP midterm losses will be trained on Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of U.S. Central Command, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, who both played big roles in guidance on the Iran war.

One source told CBS News that GOP Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is being floated as a possible replacement for Hegseth, arguing he could go through Senate confirmation in the lame-duck period before Democrats take control of Congress.

Still, other sources said Mr. Trump hasn't decided to replace Hegseth.

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement that the president "has full confidence in Secretary Hegseth." Asked if he is considering replacing Hegseth, Mr. Trump told reporters: "No, I think he's doing a very good job."

Read more here.

  Updated 0m ago

Democrats lay out plans to investigate Trump and "prove ourselves worthy" of voters' trust

Rep. Robert Garcia of California, who will chair the House Oversight Committee next Congress, laid out four areas where the panel will focus its investigative efforts. 

The overarching investigations include the Trump family's business dealings, corporate corruption, actions of the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. 

"I think folks that need to be concerned first are administration officials that have caused real harm. We're going to investigate the abuses," Garcia said at a news conference Wednesday, singling out Stephen Miller, Corey Lewandowski, Kristi Noem and Trump family members.

Garcia acknowledged the Justice Department is unlikely to prosecute people who refuse to cooperate, but said House Democrats could sue in civil court.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, meanwhile, called the midterms a "generational remake of the Senate map," but said his party's most important task is to respond to the mandate from voters by "prov[ing] ourselves worthy of their trust."

Previewing the party's plans starting next year, the minority leader said: "Whenever Trump defies the will of the American people or the law, we will launch investigations, take him to court, and entangle him in legislative razor wire."

Many congressional Democrats are likely to be enthusiastic about investigating the Trump administration. But one moderate incoming Democratic senator, Adam Hamilton of Kansas, told CBS News he wants to spend more time on cost-of-living and other issues than investigations or impeachments, saying: "I do not want to spend the next two years in trials."

Asked about the potential for Democrat-led investigations, White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said: "As the President has said, he's willing to work with anyone to continue delivering victories for hardworking Americans. If Democrats choose to pursue sham investigations and radical left policies, they are choosing to work against the American people."

  Updated 0m ago

Talarico says his Texas Senate win sends message to Elon Musk: "Texas is not for sale"

Democrat James Talarico on Wednesday said his win over Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton in the Texas Senate race delivered a message to Elon Musk, who spent more than $150 million to boost Paxton's candidacy: "Texas is not for sale."

Hours after his projected win over Paxton, Talarico told "CBS Mornings" that his victory is an opportunity to get big money out of politics "for good."

"The people of Texas delivered a crystal-clear message to the world's first trillionaire: Texas is not for sale," Talarico said. "The power in this state, in this country, belongs to the people and we've got to make sure it stays that way."

Read more here.

In:

What to expect from Congress after Democrats win both House and Senate 05:29

What to expect from Congress after Democrats win both House and Senate

(05:29)

Source: CBS News · Joe Walsh, Kathryn Watson, Stefan Becket, Kaia Hubbard, Caitlin Yilek, Caroline Linton, Melissa Quinn

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