WASHINGTON—Voters delivered an astonishing rebuke to President Trump and his party on Tuesday, stripping Republicans of congressional control amid widespread frustrations with the economy and elevating a new class of Democratic lawmakers to power.
The backlash was more stunning than many analysts predicted, with voters taking out their anger over the war in Iran, the high cost of gasoline and groceries, alleged government corruption and what many saw as overly aggressive immigration enforcement.
Before midnight, a blue wave had crashed over large parts of the country, as Democrats scored victories in multiple House districts Trump had won by double digits just two years ago, including some that the GOP had redrawn to favor them this cycle. Staunchly Republican states such as Texas, South Carolina and Kansas saw Democratic Senate wins.
Here are five takeaways from the election, the results of which were still coming in late Tuesday:
Economic worries front and center for voters
Republicans over the past year lost their electoral advantage on the economy and it showed on Tuesday. Roughly nine in 10 voters said the cost of living was a crucial or major factor in their thinking on how to vote, according to results from a poll of more than 79,000 registered voters, conducted for the Associated Press and all the major television and cable news networks. Almost two-thirds said inflation was up more because of Trump’s policies. Roughly six in 10 voters said they were very concerned about the cost of food, with a similar proportion registering that level of worry about the price of gasoline or diesel.
Trump vowed to get America out of wars and promised a “golden age.” But his decision earlier this year to join Israel in a war against Iran proved politically disastrous, squeezing global energy markets and rippling throughout the economy. More than six in 10 voters said the U.S. made the wrong decision in taking military action there. The president further hurt Republicans by playing down the cost of gas, while bragging about how much domestic oil producers were making. Trump’s tariffs also worked to push up consumer costs. He tried a Hail Mary, promising to give every adult American $5,000 if Republicans held congress, but voters didn’t buy that promise.
Voters rejected Trump’s agenda
Trump once famously said, “I alone can fix it,” and in the run-up to the election, he took his own advice, thrusting himself into the middle of the election. In the final month, he did daily rallies, primarily in red states, but his appearances only made things worse, many Republicans conceded.
Candidates wanted Trump to show more empathy for voters’ economic concerns. More often, though, Trump’s behavior became the story. His marathon rallies were punctuated with exaggerations, heated rhetoric and off-color remarks, including his fixation on men’s bodies. On the eve of the election, Trump held an event at the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, speaking extensively of his overhaul of the site and other pet projects across Washington. On Tuesday morning, Trump said, “Inflation is solved.”
Taken together, Republicans said Trump looked increasingly out of touch with the concerns of everyday Americans. The president told voters to act like he was on the ballot, and they did—delivering a stark admonishment of his leadership.
Democratic rise sets up big clashes
Democrats were expected to win the House by a comfortable margin—with enough seats to give Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries a cushion that could provide some breathing room to work around a handful of Democratic socialists trying to push him to the left. Democrats took the Senate as well, a dramatic upheaval of power in Washington.
Now, Democrats will have to unify around an agenda and decide how aggressively they should pursue investigations into the president and his political allies.
A divided government sets up clashes between Trump and Democrats over everything from funding the government and the Iran war to repealing tariffs and raising the debt ceiling. Majorities in the House and the Senate would also give Democrats subpoena power to investigate Trump, his administration, his family and his businesses. “Lawyer up,” Rep. Robert Garcia (D., Calif.), poised to take control of the House Oversight Committee, wrote on social media on Tuesday night. Trump has already entered a defensive posture, vowing to use his veto power and fight back against liberal policies. “Buckle up,” a defiant White House said.
Republicans’ redistricting efforts flopped
Republicans, led by the White House, launched a nationwide effort last year to redraw congressional districts in the party’s favor ahead of the midterms. Democrats countered with their own push, successfully making five congressional districts more favorable to Democrats in California.
An early test of whether the GOP redistricting helped the party pick up seats came in Florida, where Republicans had hoped to flip as many as four seats thanks to new boundaries. But they ended up losing at least three of those seats in districts Trump won by 9 percentage points or more in 2024, with one too close to call in a district that Trump won by 18 percentage points two years ago.
Other examples include North Carolina, where a GOP attempt to beat Rep. Don Davis (D., N.C.) was failing on Tuesday. Alabama’s second district and Ohio’s first district went to Democrats as well.
In some cases, Republicans spread their own voters so thin to pick up Democratic seats that they endangered their own incumbents, including Reps. Brad Knott, Virginia Foxx, Richard Hudson and Tim Moore in North Carolina.
Cracks formed in the MAGA coalition
Preliminary results showed the diverse coalition of Americans that helped return Trump to power in 2024, including Hispanic voters, Black voters and white non-college-educated voters, turned away from him as promised economic gains were consumed by the war and immigration enforcement tactics were seen as too extreme for many.
Democrats carved back Trump’s gains among those groups. In 2024, Democrats won independent voters by 6 percentage points. This time, the advantage shot to 17 percentage points, exit polls showed.
Write to Alex Leary at alex.leary@wsj.com and Lindsay Wise at lindsay.wise@wsj.com
