Democrats sweep the midterm elections: upsets in Texas despite Musk's money and likely control of Congress

According to WIRED, Democrats clearly won the key races on election night, Tuesday, November 3, 2026. The outlet describes it as a decisive rejection of Donald Trump's second term. The article states that the scale of the victory exceeded the party's highest expectations. In some races, Democrats flipped seats that Trump had won by more than ten points just two years earlier. The text indicates that control of the House of Representatives and the Senate is leaning toward the Democrats. It speaks of likely control, not a settled outcome.

The biggest surprise was Texas, according to the article. James Talarico defeated Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, whom the text describes as mired in scandals. Gina Hinojosa beat Greg Abbott in the governor's race. All this happened despite the millions of dollars that, according to WIRED, billionaire Elon Musk spent in support of Republicans. The article notes that no Democrat had won a statewide election in Texas since 1994. That fact shows the magnitude of the result.

In the Senate, again according to the Associated Press as cited by WIRED, Democrats also won critical races in Kansas, South Carolina, Iowa and North Carolina. They also held their seats in Georgia and New Hampshire. The closest thing to a consolation for Republicans was Florida. There, the race abruptly became competitive in the final days of the campaign. Ashley Moody barely managed to hold off progressive Democratic candidate Angie Nixon.

The text reports the explanations offered by sources close to the White House. Administration officials, who spoke to WIRED on condition of anonymity, attribute the losses mainly to high gasoline prices and the rising cost of living. They link this to the war with Iran. A source close to the White House sharply criticized two commentators, Mark Levin and Marc Thiessen, who according to the article had urged Trump to prolong the war. Some officials privately blame the president himself for leading the country into the Middle East conflict. According to the article, he wrongly assumed it would end within a few weeks, and the war continues with no clear end in sight.

WIRED adds that exit polls show massive defections from other parts of Trump's 2024 coalition. Latino voters swung toward Democrats as the administration pursued immigration policies the text describes as brutal and unpopular. The official response from a White House official, in a statement, was that Trump was not on the ballot and that his voters turn out when he is. The article notes that Trump himself had urged his base during the campaign to act as if he were on the ballot. The same official attributed part of the failure to candidate quality, and said Trump promoted them better than they promoted themselves.

The article stresses that many of the losing candidates were handpicked by Trump. According to the text, he forced out incumbents such as Texas Senator John Cornyn. He also endorsed candidates such as Darline Graham, whom the article presents as the sister of the late Senator Lindsey Graham and as the author of a disastrous campaign in South Carolina.

Another focus of blame is redistricting. According to WIRED, Republicans redrew numerous congressional maps over the course of the year. White House advisers believed the maneuver could give them between 10 and 15 additional House seats if Trump voters turned out. Political scientists warned of a risk. There would be more Republican districts, but each would be less Republican, and therefore harder to defend. On election night, the strategy failed to deliver. Democrats won at least three seats in Florida that Republicans had redrawn, as well as the one in North Carolina.

The piece closes with a look at what lies ahead. Top House Democrats ended the night relishing the prospect of an aggressive oversight campaign against the Trump administration. Robert Garcia, described as the next chair of the House Oversight Committee, issued a two-word statement: «Lawyer up».

Editor's note: this summary is based solely on the content of the WIRED article. The attributions regarding the causes of the defeat come from anonymous White House sources and from a statement by a White House official, not from independently verified data. The text received does not allow final results or seat counts to be confirmed. The digest's short headline focused on Musk and Texas. The article, however, mentions Musk only in passing, as a donor to Republicans in Texas, and does not detail figures or names of specific candidates he funded.