WASHINGTON - Democrats won control of both the House and Senate in Tuesday's midterm elections, ending two years of unified Republican government and delivering a broad rebuke to President Donald Trump across states that had recently appeared safely Republican.

The Associated Press reported that Democrats flipped at least seven Senate seats in Kansas, Iowa, Texas, Ohio, Maine, North Carolina and South Carolina while defending contested seats in Georgia and Michigan. In the House, the party gained more than two dozen Republican-held districts, including several that Trump carried by double digits in 2024.

The result gives Democrats control of Congress when the new members take office in January. They will be able to block legislation, reject presidential nominees in the Senate, issue subpoenas and use committee investigations to scrutinize the administration.

North Carolina former Gov. Roy Cooper defeated Trump-backed Republican Michael Whatley, becoming the state's first Democratic senator-elect since 2008. In Kansas, voters elected the state's first Democratic senator in nearly a century, while Democrats also won Senate races in Texas and South Carolina, states Trump carried comfortably two years ago.

Democratic victories extended beyond Congress. The party flipped Republican-held governorships in Georgia, Ohio, Iowa and Texas. Gina Hinojosa defeated three-term Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, becoming the state's first Democratic governor since the 1990s and its first Latina governor.

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries is positioned to become the first Black speaker of the House if, as expected, his caucus nominates him and the new majority elects him in January. Formal leadership votes have not yet occurred.

Trump accepted the outcome in a phone interview with Fox News and congratulated Democrats on their campaigns, although he rejected the idea that the result was a judgment on him. During the campaign, he had repeatedly asked voters to act as though he were on the ballot.

Voter research pointed in the opposite direction. The AP Voter Poll, a survey of about 80,000 voters in all 50 states, found that about four in 10 cast their congressional ballot to express opposition to Trump, compared with fewer than two in 10 who said they were expressing support.

Roughly seven in 10 voters said Congress had not done enough to check the presidency. The economy remained the leading issue, with high food and gasoline prices weighing heavily, while concern about democracy and government corruption ranked close behind.

Young and Hispanic voters also moved away from the Republican coalition that helped Trump return to office in 2024. About seven in 10 voters under 30 backed Democratic House candidates, while roughly six in 10 Hispanic voters did so, according to the AP survey.

A democratic correction, not a blank check

The most important result is institutional. Americans did not remove the president, but they used a lawful election to restore competition between branches of government. That is how a constitutional system is supposed to correct concentrated power without violence or political revenge.

Republicans allowed loyalty to Trump to replace independent congressional judgment. The Senate's advice-and-consent role weakened, House oversight became selective, and candidates were asked to defend decisions made by the White House even when voters were focused on prices, war and corruption.

The defeat of Trump-endorsed candidates in conservative states shows the limits of personal control over a party. Voters who supported the president two years ago were willing to deny him a compliant Congress when they believed results had not matched promises.

Democrats should not interpret the wave as permanent ideological conversion. The AP poll found the Democratic Party only modestly more popular than the GOP, and many winning candidates emphasized affordability, accountability and practical independence rather than sweeping progressive programs.

The new majority will face a test of restraint. Serious oversight of public spending, conflicts of interest, war powers and executive conduct is necessary. Investigations designed mainly for television, endless impeachment talk or refusal to negotiate on basic government functions would quickly waste the mandate.

Divided government can produce paralysis, especially when a president has veto power and both parties are already looking toward 2028. It can also force public debate that unified government avoided. Judicial nominations, military operations and large spending bills will now require greater scrutiny.

Trump's acceptance of the result matters after years of pressure on election officials and repeated claims that losses must be fraudulent. The peaceful transfer of congressional power should be treated as a minimum democratic obligation, not a favor granted by either party.

Voters gave Democrats the power to check the presidency, not permission to imitate its excesses. Their success will be measured by whether Congress becomes more transparent, more independent and more responsive to the costs families actually face. The election restored balance; governing must prove that balance can deliver.