Democrats weigh agenda and leadership after winning Congress in 2026 midterms
Summary
- Democrats won both chambers in the November 3, 2026, midterms on an affordability message, holding 255 House seats and at least 55 Senate seats.
- Drivers included voters under 30, Hispanic and Black men, Asian Americans, and anger over living costs and immigration raids.
- Senator Chris Van Hollen is challenging Chuck Schumer for Senate majority leader; some progressives are pressing Hakeem Jeffries's Speaker bid.
- Democrats are debating whether to work with Trump, undo his tariffs and tax cuts, or force a shutdown over funding expiring December 11.
- Alaska's Senate race between Mary Peltola and Dan Sullivan remains unresolved, and Trump has begun questioning the results online.
- DSCC chair Kirsten Gillibrand says Democrats will target seven more Senate seats in 2028 for a 60-seat supermajority.
Reactions
- President Donald Trump questioned the results on Truth Social, asking whether the election was honest and blaming voting machines.
- Rep.-elect Don Leonard said senior House Democrats threatened to make his life a 'living hell' after he set conditions for backing Jeffries.
- Florida Governor Ron DeSantis described the results as close to an extinction-level event for Republicans.
- North Carolina Democratic chair Anderson Clayton criticized the party for not investing in the South and in Black voters.
- Dodge City organizer Amy Soberanes said her county would still be red if ICE had not come, saying she thanks Trump for sending enforcement there.
- Hakeem Jeffries said Democrats ran on affordability, won on affordability, and must now govern on affordability.
Timeline newest first
Senator Elissa Slotkin discussed Chris Van Hollen's challenge to Chuck Schumer for Senate majority leader in a video chat with Heather Gardner.
Democrats gathered in Denver on November 12 and 13 for a 'What's Next' conference on earning back voters' trust and whether to work with President Trump.
Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland is challenging Chuck Schumer for Senate majority leader when the new Congress convenes in January.
Alaska voters rejected Ballot Measure 2, keeping ranked-choice voting, with 53.52 percent against repeal in unofficial November 13 results.
DSCC chair Kirsten Gillibrand, preparing for a second term, said Democrats will target seven more Senate seats in 2028 for a 60-seat supermajority.
Rep. Brad Lander said constituents opposed his support for Hakeem Jeffries as Speaker, arguing Democrats must first deliver on health care, the war, tariffs, and a stock trading ban.
Mary Peltola's campaign said her lead over Dan Sullivan widened to 10,412 votes, with just over 10,000 ballots left to count.
Sam Forstag defeated Republican Aaron Flint with 50.34 percent for Montana's 1st Congressional District seat, ending a three-decade Democratic absence from the state's House delegation.
Democrats already held 255 House seats with a handful of races uncalled, and the party's female lawmakers surpassed 100 for the first time.
Three southwestern Kansas counties, including Dodge City's, swung to Democrats after late-September immigration raids, helping elect the state's first Democratic senator in nearly a century.
Senator-elect Scott Colom defeated Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi, becoming the state's first Democratic senator since 1982.
President Donald Trump began questioning the midterm results on Truth Social, asking whether the election was honest and blaming voting machines.
Sources newest first
- Democrat Mary Peltola is likely to win Alaska’s Senate race, as vote counting continues
nbcnews.com· 51m
NBC News' Decision Desk says Democrat Mary Peltola is likely to win Alaska's uncalled Senate race over Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, having expanded her narrow lead with each new batch of votes. With ballots postmarked by Election Day counted through Nov. 13, 2026, and ranked-choice runoffs possible, a Peltola win would give Democrats a 56-44 Senate majority in 2027.
42K views · 429 reactions | Had the chance to quickly chat with Sen. Elissa Slotkin about Senator Chris Van Hollen challenging Chuck Schumer for Senate Majority Leader. Star Spangled Banter | Heather GardnerFetterman signals he’d consider quitting Democratic Party over majority leader pick
independent.co.uk· 2h
The Independent reports that Senator John Fetterman says he would consider leaving the Democratic Party if the caucus elects Chris Van Hollen as majority leader, citing disagreements over policy toward Israel. Already isolated over his Israel support and votes with Republicans, Fetterman has seen his Democratic favorability drop to about two in 10 Pennsylvania voters, while potential 2028 challengers eye his seat and Republicans welcome a possible switch.
'We can't let them down' -- After midterm wins, Democrats turn to charting path aheadNPR reports that after their strong 2026 midterm showing, Democrats gathered at a "What's Next" conference in Denver, where speakers from Pete Buttigieg to James Talarico debated how to earn back voters' trust and whether to work with President Trump. Hakeem Jeffries laid out a robust agenda, while potential presidential contenders offered previews of their theories of the case.
So, What Will Democrats Do Next Year? They’re Working On That.A HuffPost news article looks at Democrats' efforts to settle on an agenda for next year after winning Congress in a landslide on an affordability message. Key figures include Chris Van Hollen challenging Chuck Schumer for Senate leader, plans to undo Trump's tariff and tax policies, and debate over whether to force another shutdown or pursue deals with Trump.
Two Dan Sullivans Couldn’t Sour Alaska on Ranked-Choice VotingAlaska voters rejected Ballot Measure 2, the second time in two years they have declined to scrap ranked-choice voting, leaving the state's open primaries and ranked-choice general elections intact. The article also follows the unresolved Senate race between Mary Peltola and Senator Dan Sullivan, where a similarly named candidate, retired teacher Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., raised voter-confusion concerns.
Kirsten Gillibrand is dreaming of a Democratic supermajorityKirsten Gillibrand, preparing for a second term as Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee chair, says Democrats who won at least 55 Senate seats in 2026, flipping Iowa, South Carolina, Kansas, and North Carolina, could add seven more in 2028 to reach a filibuster-proof 60-seat supermajority, targeting Wisconsin and states Trump won three times. The article also notes progressive criticism of Chuck Schumer's primary strategy and Sherrod Brown's 2028 Ohio defense.
Getting things done will take a majority that is unified, strategic, and disciplinedIn a Substack post, Brad Lander answers constituents who oppose his support for Hakeem Jeffries as Speaker, arguing Democrats must first deliver on health care cuts, the war, tariffs, and a stock trading ban with Trump still president. He says he will keep pushing for Medicare for All and other unsettled causes, and will look for a 2028 candidate who stands for them.
The Numbers Don’t LieKatie Phang's Substack piece "The Numbers Don't Lie" argues that AAPI voters were decisive in the 2026 midterms, citing Census-based turnout gains, AAPI early voting in Georgia up 63% over 2022, a nine-point shift toward Democrats, and Bottoms' and Hinojosa's gubernatorial wins. She ties the surge to kitchen-table economics and anger over the ICE raid on Georgia's Hyundai battery plant, traces the "model minority" wedge back to Petersen's 1966 article, and says campaigns that never reached AAPI voters should be ashamed.
Mary Peltola Widens Lead to 10,412 Votes in Alaska U.S. Senate Race, Campaign Says Victory Is NearNative News Online reports that Mary Peltola's campaign says she has widened her lead over Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan to 10,412 votes in Alaska's too-close-to-call U.S. Senate race, with just over 10,000 ballots left to count. Campaign manager Cheryl Bruce says the remaining ballots will put Peltola past the 50% threshold and make her the state's next U.S. senator.
Democrats won Congress. Can their leaders read the room? | OpinionIn a Newsweek opinion column, Faisal Kutty calls the Democrats' 2026 midterm sweep of Congress a rebuke of Donald Trump driven by young voters' worries over living costs and the Iran war, not an endorsement of the progressive left. He questions whether Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries can read the room as calls grow for new leadership.
A Wildland Firefighter Ends Montana Democrats’ Three-Decade Drought in the US House - Inside Climate NewsInside Climate News reports that Sam Forstag, a 32-year-old former wildland firefighter and union leader, defeated Republican Aaron Flint for Montana's 1st Congressional District seat, ending a three-decade Democratic absence from the state's U.S. House delegation. He pledged to rebuild federal land agencies and expand wildfire prevention, while political observers caution a first-term lawmaker will face limits.
Democrats turn to 2028 after midterm gains boost moderates and progressivesAn El País article by Luis Doncel reports that Democrats' sweeping 2026 midterm win — 255 House seats, over 100 women lawmakers, and control of both chambers — has revived the party as it looks toward 2028. It says the party ran on affordability and now faces an internal contest between establishment centrists like Hakeem Jeffries and progressives like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, with a wide field of contenders expected, from Kamala Harris to Jon Ossoff and Josh Shapiro.
ICE agents came to meatpacking country in Kansas. Then voters went to the polls
The Associated Press reports from Dodge City, Kansas, that late-September immigration raids turned long-apathetic residents like Army veteran Jose Del Real into determined voters, helping swing three Republican strongholds left and elect a Democratic U.S. senator from Kansas for the first time in nearly a century. Local organizer Amy Soberanes credits ICE itself — saying the county would still be red otherwise — while commissioner Rick Sowers says officials never got answers about the detained, and the Wichita Eagle found none of the five "heinous criminals" the administration named were actually caught.
Rep.-elect Don Leonard Says Senior Dems Threatened to Make His Life “Living Hell” over Jeffries VoteDemocracy Now!'s November 12, 2026, headlines lead with Rep.-elect Don Leonard's post that senior House Democrats threatened to make his life a "living hell" after he set conditions for backing Hakeem Jeffries for speaker, as 11 Democrats missed an impeachment vote on Pete Hegseth. The headlines also cover Scott Colom's historic Mississippi Senate win, the Nasser Hospital strike in Gaza that killed surgeon Dr. Rizk Abu Shaira, Jensen Huang's resignation from Nvidia amid reports of a Chinese spy affair, Trump's Veterans Day defense of attacks on Iran and Venezuela, and a general strike in Spain over housing costs.
Trump goes all in on midterm election denialismDaily Kos reports that a week after Republicans lost their House and Senate majorities in the 2026 midterms, President Trump began questioning the results on Truth Social, asking "Does anybody really believe that this Election was honest" and blaming voting machines, despite having told The New York Times on election night he was "absolutely willing" to accept the results. Daily Kos calls the claims false, argues that refuting them risks legitimizing the conspiracy theory, warns Trump may direct federal agencies or MAGA allies to act on them, and notes Mike Lindell and Eric Daugherty amplifying the stolen-election message while Daily Kos writes Sean Spicer's no-unrest defense may have been premature.
Background newest first
How the White House plans to put Democrats on defense on oversight
Politico reports that the White House and Justice Department are threatening Democrats with criminal prosecution over congressional oversight probes, with White House counsel Will Scharf echoing Trump's call to jail investigators and the Justice Department warning Senators Blumenthal and Slotkin that their inquiries could violate criminal law. Attorney General Todd Blanche says no active investigations of incoming members exist, while Democrats including Robert Garcia and Blumenthal say the threats will not deter their agenda.
Privacy advocates push Dems to do something about warrantless surveillancemotherjones.com· 3h
A Mother Jones article reports that a growing coalition of political and civil society groups is pushing the incoming Democratic-majority Congress to curb warrantless surveillance, while Trump officials and some Democrats urge Republicans to renew Section 702 during the lame duck session before guardrails can be added. Eighty civil rights groups, in a letter shared with Mother Jones, urge Democratic leaders to make reining in surveillance an urgent priority, citing Flock cameras, data-broker purchases, and spying by agencies like ICE.
Fetterman Reveals on Fox the ‘Red Line’ That Would Make Him Ditch Democratic Partymediaite.com· 3h
On Fox News' Saturday in America, Kayleigh McEnany pressed Senator John Fetterman on what would make him leave the Democratic Party, and in a clip played on the show he named his caucus electing Chris Van Hollen, who is running for Senate majority leader and has, in Fetterman's words, "made his name being very hostile to Israel." Fetterman, who also criticized the progressive wing and questioned why Democrats' first instinct is to punish Israel rather than Iran, said, "I don't know how that's going to look, but I am a Democrat."
Perhaps the Rumors of Democracy’s Demise Were Prematurenytimes.com· 3h
Emily Bazelon argues in The New York Times that the November 2026 midterms were a crucial test of American democracy, and the country passed: Trump accepted the results, courts blocked federal efforts to seize ballots, and Republicans ran 13 points behind. But Bazelon says democracy remains damaged, and rebuilding will pose huge hurdles at home and abroad.
Mike Johnson Accepts Some Blame Over GOP Bloodbath: ‘We Did Everything We Could’HuffPost reports that House Speaker Mike Johnson partially blamed himself for the Republicans' midterm loss and will step down to make way for Rep. Jim Jordan as minority leader. Johnson told CNN he expects the next two years to be "a bit of a circus" under Democratic House leadership, and apologized that "the voters made the wrong choice."
Alaska voters stick with ranked-choice voting, again
Alaska voters kept ranked-choice voting for a second straight election, rejecting a Trump-backed ballot measure to end it, while Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins won the governor's race with Lisa Murkowski's endorsement, per the Associated Press. Criticism from Trump and Republicans intensified after a second Dan Sullivan ran against the senator, and Trump called the system "disastrous, and very fraudulent."
Alaskans vote in support of ranked-choice voting for third timedemocracydocket.com· 4h
Democracy Docket reports that Alaska voters rejected a ballot measure to repeal the state's ranked-choice voting and open primary systems for a second time, with 53.5% opposing the repeal as of the Sunday before the article. President Trump and Attorney General Todd Blanche claimed the system enabled a Democratic scheme to confuse voters in the Senate race, while FairVote's Meredith Sumpter said ranked-choice voting "is here to stay," and Mary Peltola is forecast to win the race against Sen. Dan Sullivan.
Just for Skeets and Giggles (11.14.26)In a news roundup, Jay Kuo surveys the week after the 2026 election: votes still being counted, Democrats at 56 Senate seats, Lauren Boebert's loss in Colorado, and Trump's stalled press secretary search. He also covers Jensen Huang's Nvidia resignation, an FAA grounding that stranded tens of thousands, Stephen Miller's elevation to chief of staff, and a runaway corgi race.
Democrat wins Alaska governor’s seat for first time in nearly 30 yearstheguardian.com· 4h
The Guardian reports that Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, a former state legislator, won Alaska's governorship in the 2026 midterms, defeating three Republicans including a Trump-backed candidate — the state's first Democratic governor since 1998. The Associated Press called the race ten days after polls closed; he won over 50% of first-choice votes in Alaska's ranked-choice system, and Democrats also took governorships in states such as Texas, Iowa, Ohio and Georgia.
Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins becomes first Democrat since 1998 elected governor in Alaskapbs.org· 5h
The Associated Press reports that Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, a former Alaska state lawmaker, was elected governor, the first Democrat to win the office since 1998, defeating three Republicans including Donald Trump-endorsed Bernadette Wilson. His victory gives Democrats 30 governorships, and he is to be sworn in on 7 December 2026 after endorsements from Lisa Murkowski and three former governors.
Send In The ClownsIn his Substack post, Charlie Sykes calls the FAA's massive ground stop an utter FUBAR, quoting Ron Filipkowski, Marc Thiessen, and Marjorie Taylor Greene criticizing Sean Duffy's press conference, and saying experts are not buying the early spin; commenter KO in LA details the FAA's rushed rollout of its new SMART software. The post also promotes his podcast with John Avlon and notes Lauren Boebert's re-election loss.
NEWS: Trump Absent as Ground Stop Impacts Millions, Americans are Furious—US loses Measles Elimination Status, Bomb in IllinoisAaron Parnas's news roundup reports that every U.S. departing flight was grounded for over four hours Friday — only the third such national stop — after a malfunction officials trace to overloaded routers at Chicago Midway, leaving thousands of flights delayed or canceled, and that the United States has lost its measles elimination status for the first time in more than 25 years amid an outbreak centered in Pennsylvania, where 1,542 cases and seven deaths are recorded. It also reports a credible bomb threat at a Peoria, Illinois, ethanol plant forced more than 5,000 people from their homes, and Parnas says President Trump was nowhere to be found during the ground stop.
FAA crisis sparks questions over billions allocated to ICENewsweek reports that a nationwide air traffic control outage led Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to ask Congress for $50 billion, prompting Democrats including Senator Brian Schatz to call for redirecting ICE funding, of which about $61 billion remained unobligated. Any such transfer would need congressional authorization, and Democrats may pursue it in January.
Corporate Democrats are weaponizing identity politics to smear progressives | Arwa MahdawiArwa Mahdawi's Guardian column argues that corporate Democrats from Haley Stevens to Hakeem Jeffries cynically weaponize identity politics to ward off reasonable criticism, pointing to Stevens' 11th-hour endorsement of Mike Rogers, the Republican opponent of Abdul El-Sayed, and Jeffries' months-long refusal to endorse Zohran Mamdani. Noting Jeffries' private meeting with Jared Kushner and her expectation he will be the next speaker, she urges him to heed progressive concerns rather than repeat the 'Bernie bros' playbook.
Opinion | ‘There’s No Juice Left to Squeeze From MAGA’The New York Times publishes a transcript of a 33-minute episode of its Opinion podcast "The Opinions," in which Robert Siegel, E.J. Dionne Jr., and Tim Carney debate whether MAGA can outlast Donald Trump after 2026 midterms that upended assumptions about where either party can win. Carney argues the Trump vote was never truly conservative or Republican and says Republicans have no juice left to squeeze from MAGA, while Dionne cites Democrats' 56 percent House popular vote and predicts they will push popular legislation like restoring health care cuts.
16 Totally Plausible Deals Trump Could Make With DemocratsPolitico lays out 16 bipartisan deals Donald Trump could plausibly strike with the Democrats who won the House in the 2026 midterms, from capping credit card rates, codifying his most-favored-nation drug pricing deals, and restoring enhanced Obamacare subsidies to legalizing recreational marijuana, repealing the Canadian tariffs, mandating anti-collision aviation tech, and an immigration deal on border security and a citizenship pathway. It cautions that hardliners like new chief of staff Stephen Miller show little interest in deal-making and that the looming 2028 race could push both sides to sharpen differences instead.
Will Trump’s lame duck presidency push him further beyond constraints of the law?The Guardian examines whether Donald Trump's presidency, weakened by the Democrats' 13-point 2026 midterm landslide, will push further past legal constraints in his final two years, citing an eight-month Iran war, immigration raids and cost-of-living pressures as the rout's causes. Miles Taylor warns Trump may defy court orders and escalate abroad, while Newt Gingrich predicts an aggressive comeback and Hillary Clinton expects him to become "even weirder and, sadly, more dangerous".
‘Democrat’ in Alaska’s House Race Is Doing Time in a New York PrisonEric Hafner, a felon serving a 20-year federal sentence in New York who has never visited Alaska, is the lone Democrat on the state's U.S. House ballot, holding nearly 8 percent as Nick Begich leads Bill Hill 48.5 to 41.2 percent. Unattributed texts urging Alaskans to back Hafner are the article's focus: it says an unknown benefactor likely hoped to confuse voters and help Begich, while Alaska Democrats support Hill and independent groups spent nearly $500,000 urging voters not to rank Hafner.
Middle East monarchies brace for Trump corruption scrutiny after blue wavewashingtonpost.com· 11h
Susannah George reports that Persian Gulf governments are bracing with dread for inquiries into alleged corruption involving President Trump, his administration, and his family. The piece follows Democrats' midterm sweep of the House and Senate, after which they pledged to follow the money wherever it may lead.
Can Cuba Survive Two More Years of Trump?Newsweek examines whether Cuba can outlast President Donald Trump's tightened blockade, fuel restrictions, and threat of military force before January 2029, after Democratic midterm wins and the war on Iran weakened his hand. Trump tells Hugh Hewitt he wants to get Cuba done before leaving office, while Cuba's U.N. ambassador and experts Theodore Henken and Andres Sebastian Pertierra doubt the pressure will succeed.
Well, that was frightening.Robert B. Hubbell's November 14, 2026 newsletter leads with the nationwide air traffic shutdown and the press conference at which Sean Duffy and Markwayne Mullin blamed Congress for underfunding FAA modernization—despite the last FAA funding, the Big Beautiful Bill, having passed without bipartisan support—while never explaining the shutdown's cause. He also reports Mary Peltola leading Dan Sullivan by 10,412 votes in Alaska, Lauren Boebert's defeat in Colorado, Democratic forecasts of a 56-seat Senate and 260-seat House majority, debate over the BAAJA permitting bill, and readers' pro-democracy protests across the country.
A Democrat Wins the Alaska Governor’s Race for the First Time Since 1998A New York Times article reports that Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, a 37-year-old former ultramarathoner from Sitka, defeated Republican Bernadette Wilson to become Alaska's first Democratic governor since 1998 and its youngest ever. Republican infighting and Trump-endorsed Wilson's loss in the four-person race helped him win a majority before ranked-choice counting, and he takes office Dec. 7 pledging to fix education, housing, and Alaska's finances.
“Maybe Conservative Justices Will Die or Retire” Is Not a Plan For Supreme Court ReformIn Balls & Strikes, Jay Willis takes on Noah Feldman's Bloomberg column arguing that Democrats should skip "radical" Supreme Court reforms and instead count on 2028 wins and the retirements of Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito by 2032 to flip the Court. Willis calls that a fantasy rather than a plan, arguing the six-justice conservative supermajority — which has overturned Roe v. Wade, ended affirmative action, and eviscerated the Voting Rights Act — must be checked through expansion, while the newsletter also flags GOP lame-duck judicial confirmations and quotes Elie Mystal's warning that a Democrat unwilling to break the Court's power is wasting everyone's time.
Silicon Valley claims to know the future. So why did it get the midterms so wrong?technologyreview.com· 35h
In an opinion column, tech communications consultant Aaron Zamost argues Silicon Valley's alignment with President Trump was a catastrophic misreading of the midterms, exposing leaders like Sam Altman and Elon Musk as less visionary than they claim. He cites tech leaders' White House photo with Trump, silent employees, and quotes like a Meta insider's "spray and pray."
The Democratic tsunami Is a “sea change” for reproductive rightsMother Jones reports that the midterm "tsunami" gave Democrats six new state trifectas, five attorneys general, and wins in formerly red states like Georgia and Texas, leading reproductive-rights leaders to call the result a sea change for abortion access. They see chances to repeal restrictions, unseat hostile enforcers, and even target the Hyde Amendment, though they are bracing for Donald Trump's officials to get more aggressive.
