
Breaking down Democrats’ majorities after blue wave
Clip: 11/4/2026 | 4m 12sVideo has Closed Captions
Breaking down the Democrats’ big majorities after the blue wave
The results of the midterms have set up a two-year power struggle between Trump’s White House and the incoming Democratic Congress. Lisa Desjardins takes a look at the races and the potential size of the incoming Democratic majority.
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Breaking down Democrats’ majorities after blue wave
Clip: 11/4/2026 | 4m 12sVideo has Closed Captions
The results of the midterms have set up a two-year power struggle between Trump’s White House and the incoming Democratic Congress. Lisa Desjardins takes a look at the races and the potential size of the incoming Democratic majority.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipGEOFF BENNETT: Turning back now to tonight's top story, last night's midterm results have set up a two-year power struggle between Trump's White House and the incoming Democratic Congress.
AMNA NAWAZ: Lisa Desjardins is back at the Super Screen with more on the races and the potential size of the coming Democratic majority.
So, Lisa, let's start with the Senate.
Democrats have so far swept the toss-up races, but it's not over yet.
Where do things stand?
LISA DESJARDINS: That's right.
Remember, this is where we started last night, a look at the toss-up races all held by Republicans right now.
What's happened?
Look at all these flips.
This is a sweep like you seldom see in politics.
And we are still waiting, of course, for results from Alaska and from Mississippi.
So, just given what they have already flipped, Democrats have flipped seven seats in the Senate.
They could get nine.
That total, nine, is something that only comes around for either party in, say, 50 years.
Either way, this is quite a tsunami that we see tonight.
Now, I want to look at exactly kind of what the numbers are saying, as you see, gaining seven, and you can see all around the country.
There's one that stands out here, Mississippi, which is light blue and waiting on.
As you heard Liz say, we are waiting on votes because right now there's just a 65-vote difference.
Mississippi has 82 counties in it.
So think about that.
That is fewer than one vote per county difference in this race right now.
As they're waiting for provisional ballots, they also have some votes out here in Hinds County.
This is a place that has 90 percent counting, and where the Democrats Scott Colom is ahead by quite a lot.
We may be waiting for days or weeks on this.
And, as well, we could very well be the same for Alaska, where we have a virtual tie right now as well.
GEOFF BENNETT: So that's the Senate.
Let's shift our focus now to the House.
We know Democrats have claimed control of the House, but the question at this hour is the margin.
How are things looking?
LISA DESJARDINS: That's right.
I wanted to look at what the current Congress looks like.
First of all, you can see it's a mostly red Congress that we have today.
And then if you go to our map of where it stands now, here you can see all of this blue in the center of the country and on the side of the country, more than one blue dot in the center now.
You can see Democrats at this moment have gained 28 seats.
And what's interesting, as I prepared this segment, I also carefully looked at all the seats where we haven't had race calls yet.
There are quite a few.
And as I have been standing here, Democrats have picked up in Michigan 10 and in Michigan 4 and in Nebraska 2.
The Republican has conceded, Mike Lawler, in New York 17.
So remember the numbers, 28 pickups so far.
This is another 23 seats where Democrats are leading and poised to flip.
That is 51 seats that they could have total gain.
That's the kind of number that Newt Gingrich saw in 1994, a huge shift.
AMNA NAWAZ: So, Lisa, those are the numbers.
But what do the maps tell you about who or what shifted in this election?
LISA DESJARDINS: Right.
Let's talk about Texas there, because I think that is something historians will study for a long time.
James Talarico 55 percent to Ken Paxton, that is a huge margin.
Where did it come from?
Again, let's compare this to 2024 and the presidential vote.
You can see right here the Rio Grande Valley nice and red.
I want to pick one county that I think typifies the state a little bit.
That's Brewster County, where they happen to be having their famous chili cook-off right now.
Happy for all of them.
President Trump won this county by 13 points in 2024.
What happened with James Talarico?
Look at that.
It's a complete flip.
And this is a plurality Hispanic district.
This is all Hispanic territory.
I also want to point out we have a lot of close races in the House.
So it may take some time to know exactly what's going on.
For example, here, Arizona, we have a virtual tie right there in Arizona's Second District.
And one we're watching closely, Tennessee's Fourth District right here, again, just 280 votes between Victoria Broderick and Scott DesJarlais.
It's going to be a while before we know the exact margin, though we do know the general outcome.
AMNA NAWAZ: All right, Lisa Desjardins still going strong at the Super Screen for us.
Lisa, thank you.
LISA DESJARDINS: You're welcome.
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