Democrats take North and South Carolina Senate seats in early midterm results

▲ Escalating

Vance blames Iran war for Republican midterm defeat as Democrats take Congress

Vice-President JD Vance said publicly on Wednesday that the Iran war was the real reason Republicans lost the midterms, which BBC News described as one of the sharpest breaks with a sitting president in recent memory. Democrats won the House and the Senate in Tuesday's vote, and Trump conceded they had done well while saying the war may have played a role. Senate races in Alaska and Mississippi remain uncalled.

• Democrats won control of the House, where all 435 seats were contested, and of the Senate, giving them leverage over legislation and appointments including judicial nominations.
• The Guardian reports Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth may take the blame despite Trump's backing; Thomas Massie has filed eight articles of impeachment.
• Democrats flipped Senate seats in Maine, Ohio, Texas and South Carolina, and won governorships in Texas, Ohio, California, Georgia and New Mexico. Republican Byron Donalds won Florida's governorship.
• Speaker Mike Johnson reportedly will not seek the House minority leader post, and incoming oversight chair Robert Garcia told Trump and Republicans to 'lawyer up'.