Updated 11:51 p.m.
WASHINGTON — Democrats are on track to win control of the U.S. Senate, the Scioto Valley Guardian projects, after flipping six Republican-held seats, including Ohio’s, in Tuesday’s elections.
Combining the 25 Senate races already called with senators who were not on this year’s ballot, Democrats held at least 51 seats to Republicans’ 39 early Wednesday, according to unofficial results from the Ohio Secretary of State. That is enough for a majority, but the Guardian’s projection also weighs the 10 races still too close to call, where Democrats were leading in two and Republicans in six.
Ten of the 35 Senate seats on the ballot Tuesday remained uncalled early Wednesday. Alaska had not yet reported results.
Democrats flipped six Republican-held seats and Republicans flipped none. The flips came in Iowa, Kansas, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas.
In Texas, Democrat James Talarico defeated Republican Ken Paxton 58.9% to 39.5%, with 69% of the expected vote counted, based on the Guardian’s analysis of unofficial returns. In North Carolina, Democrat Roy Cooper beat Republican Michael Whatley 58.6% to 39.2% with 99% in.
Democrat Annie Andrews unseated Republican incumbent Darline Graham in South Carolina, 51.0% to 46.8% with 94% in. In Kansas, Democrat Adam Hamilton defeated Republican incumbent Roger Marshall 51.6% to 45.4% with 92% in, and in Iowa, Democrat Josh Turek beat Republican Ashley Hinson 50.8% to 46.1% with 92% in.
Among other called races, Republican incumbent Ashley Moody held off Democrat Angie Nixon in Florida’s special election, 50.9% to 48.0% with 99% of the vote counted. Republican incumbents Tom Cotton in Arkansas, Bill Hagerty in Tennessee and Shelley Capito in West Virginia all won new terms, while Democratic incumbents John Hickenlooper in Colorado, Chris Coons in Delaware, Jon Ossoff in Georgia, Cory Booker in New Jersey and Mark Warner in Virginia held their seats.
The closest uncalled races included Maine, where Democrat Troy Jackson led Republican incumbent Susan Collins 50.7% to 49.2% with 52% counted, and Mississippi, where Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith led Democrat Scott Colom 49.9% to 48.0% with 91% in.
In Michigan, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed led Republican Mike Rogers 50.5% to 47.6% with just 41% counted. Republican Michele Tafoya led Democrat Peggy Flanagan in Minnesota, 51.5% to 45.5% with 42% in, and independent Dan Osborn led Republican incumbent Pete Ricketts in Nebraska, 48.6% to 45.7% with 52% in.
In Ohio, Democrat Sherrod Brown won the special election for the state’s U.S. Senate seat, defeating Republican incumbent Jon Husted 48.7% to 46.4% with 89% of the expected vote counted, according to unofficial results from the Ohio Secretary of State. Libertarian William Redpath took 2.8%.
Brown’s win flipped the Ohio seat from Republican to Democratic control and was one of the six flips the Guardian’s projection of Senate control rests on.
Full county-by-county results for races across Ohio and the nation are available on the Scioto Valley Guardian’s live results map at https://sciotovalleyguardian.com/national-election-results-2026/.
Results are unofficial until certified by the Ohio Secretary of State. Source: Ohio Secretary of State election night reporting. See the live map: https://sciotovalleyguardian.com/election-results-2026/
