Here's the latest
• Blaming the war: As more House races are projected for Democratic candidates, President Donald Trump said today it was “largely true” the Iran war contributed to the GOP shellacking, echoing remarks from Vice President JD Vance.
• New oversight: Senate Democrats have issued document preservation letters ahead of expected investigations. The Department of Homeland Security is already bracing for an onslaught of congressional oversight efforts, according to current and former officials.
• Possible target: Many Republican lawmakers and allies are moving swiftly to pin blame for the historic losses on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. And the House could vote as soon as next week to impeach the Pentagon’s top leader.
• What we’re still watching: CNN projects that Democrats will win at least 245 House seats. In the Senate, two contests have not yet been called. CNN Sightline rates the Mississippi race as neutral and Alaska as favoring the Democrat.
Updates
(157)Hegseth "needs to go," Sen. Mark Kelly says
Arizona Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth needs to “go as soon as possible,” as Republican lawmakers move to blame Hegseth for the Republican Party’s stunning defeat Tuesday.
“Donald Trump should fire him,” Kelly told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “If he doesn’t fire him, we’ll see what Republicans in the House want to do. It sounds like they want to impeach him. We’ll see what happens with that effort. I would like to see him go as soon as possible because he is just unable to do this job and he’s doing significant damage to the US military.”
The House could vote as soon as next week to impeach Hegseth, the Pentagon’s top leader.
Kelly, a retired Navy captain, said once Democrats take control of Congress, they will “put pressure on this president” to end the war in Iran, adding “we’ve got tools.”
Asked about whether he plans to run for president in 2028, Kelly, who has publicly weighed a White House bid, told Tapper he has not yet made his decision.
“Right now, I am making a lot of phone calls, congratulating people who won last night,” he said. “I’ll figure the rest of that out later with my family.”
Garcia insists that future congressional investigations won’t distract from affordability
The incoming head of the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Robert Garcia, touted the four main investigations the panel will pursue now that Democrats are projected to flip the House, insisting on Wednesday that probes on the “corruption of Donald Trump and this administration” won’t sidetrack efforts to bring down costs.
“We need to both move forward and pass new laws and lower the costs. There also has to be accountability for the crimes that are being committed because there is a link,” the California lawmaker told reporters at a press conference in Huntington Beach. “If we want to actually bring costs down, then we actually have to take on corruption as well, because it is because the Trumps are enriching themselves.”
“It’s because the oil companies are enriching themselves,” he continued. “That all goes back to the price of gas. It goes back to the price of groceries because Trump won’t take on the donors and those that are involved in these pricing schemes at the grocery store.”
Garcia reiterated Democrats will focus on the Trump family’s business dealings, the Department of Homeland Security and its immigration enforcement activities, corporate corruption and donations to the White House ballroom and other monuments in Washington, as well as the administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
CNN previously reported in September that Democrats had already begun to lay the groundwork for investigations if they won control of the House. Garcia said Wednesday that Democrats will “be ready on the very first day to launch a series of investigations and actions that will move quickly.”
CNN’s Annie Grayer contributed to this report.
Democrats are still flipping House seats as America waits for the last Senate results
As the day after Election Day starts to wind down, many Americans understand Democrats will hold power in Congress, but are now waiting to see how sizable that control will be.
Results continue to trickle in, with several Democrats flipping House seats across the country and a flip for the GOP. And while there are no final results yet in Mississippi’s Senate race, Democratic candidate Scott Colom told CNN he was feeling “confident.”
Here’s what else is going on in the elections space:
- Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was critical of many Republican races, telling CNN that voters were “disappointed in the productivity” of Congress and playing the blame game on gas prices.
- Across the party aisle, Democratic Senator-elect Annie Andrews also said the Republican party is “fractured,” with the GOP primary between Rep. Ralph Norman and Sen. Darline Graham being a symbol of that rift.
- New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani attributed Democrats win to focusing on working-class Americans and the issues that matter most to them, including cutting costs and building trust with voters.
- Maryland’s Wes Moore used to hold the title of the only Black governor in the US, but soon he will be joined by four others. He emphasized to CNN the historic election of Georgia’s Keisha Lance Bottoms, who is the first Black woman to hold the office.
- Looking ahead, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich put doubt on Vice President JD Vance leading the party as the presidential nominee in 2028, saying the GOP loss in the midterms, along with several strategies Vance has taken, has made “a good bit of the luster has come off the bloom.”
CNN’s Tori B. Powell, Elise Hammond, Katherine Koretski, Arpita Dasika and Aaron Blake contributed to this report.
Republicans need to focus on costs and elections will fall into place, new Florida governor says
While Republicans saw losses in the midterm elections, if the party focuses on affordability and prices, the “elections will take care of themselves,” Florida governor-elect Byron Donalds said.
Gingrich says Vance is damaged goods in 2028
At least one prominent Republican seems to think Tuesday’s election results have damaged Vice President JD Vance’s status in the 2028 presidential primaries.
In an X post, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich says a GOP win would have given Vance “an enormous argument to be the inevitable nominee.”
But he suggested Vance might have influenced some of the administration’s faulty strategies, including in Iran.
“Now, with this go-slow strategy blowing up in Iran and his defense of Vivek Ramaswamy’s horrible, inhumane ad featuring his opponent’s mother attacking her own daughter, a good bit of the luster has come off the bloom,” Gingrich said.
Gingrich hyped Secretary of State Marco Rubio, while also mentioning Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Vance is an attractive foil for many in the GOP who don’t seem to have much regard for his policies in the first place — including his non-interventionism and his skepticism of the alliance with Israel. It’s also attractive to blame him rather than President Donald Trump, which Republicans are much more loath to do.
But there is certainly truth in Gingrich’s comments — that the results hurt Vance’s prospects — which is probably why Vance felt compelled to issue a lengthy explanation of the election results and distanced himself somewhat from Trump’s decisions, again.
South Carolina result shows Republicans rejected a Washington-picked candidate, Andrews says
Democratic Senator-elect Annie Andrews told CNN that a rift between Republicans in her state — and in the country — was a factor in her election.
She said the GOP primary between Rep. Ralph Norman and Sen. Darline Graham was “a symbol of how fractured the Republican Party is here.”
Graham defeated Norman in a close runoff this year. Afterwards, Norman revealed to CNN his entire family was not voting for his former opponent, who was hand-picked by President Donald Trump.
“I also think it’s just a rejection by some Republicans in South Carolina about the idea that Washington would pick our next senator,” she told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Wednesday night.
Andrews went on to say that voters in her state have rejected “dirty politics” and that “they wanted something different.”
“So they took a chance on a mom of three and a pediatrician,” she said.
Jace Yarbrough will flip Texas' redrawn 32nd District for the GOP, CNN projects
Republican Jace Yarbrough, an Air Force veteran and conservative constitutional attorney, will win in Texas’ redrawn 32nd District, CNN’s Decision Desk projects, flipping a Democrat-held House seat.
The district had been centered around the Dallas suburbs and solidly Democratic. But the 32nd was changed in Republican-led redistricting last year, with its boundaries now stretching east and taking in typically Republican-voting areas.
Voters wanted to get back to the core values of the country's foundation, documentarian says
The Democratic wave in the midterm elections show that people were ready to “get back to what the values were that created the country,” documentarian Ken Burns told CNN’s Anderson Cooper.
"This is a pretty remarkable time," Moore says of historic governor election results
Before last night, Wes Moore was the country’s only Black governor. But soon, a record five Black governors will assume office after voters reelected Moore, and chose Keisha Lance Bottoms, Aaron Ford, David Crowley and Byron Donalds for the job.
Moore told CNN’s Jake Tapper he campaigned so much for other candidates this midterm season “to make sure that no one ever has to hold that title ever again.”
One of the candidates Moore campaigned for was Bottoms, who last night became the first Black woman to hold the title in US history.
Voters showed they were "disappointed in the productivity" of Congress, DeSantis says
The Democratic wave that led the party to take over both chambers of Congress was a result of voters being “disappointed in the productivity” of Congress members, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said, adding they “really didn’t have much to run on.”
“This was across the country, voters coming out — obviously on the Democrat side, independents and even some crossover Republicans — to express their displeasure about what’s going on in Washington and both sides of Pennsylvania Avenue,” he told CNN’s Jake Tapper.
The “open-ended” war in Iran had an impact on voters as well, specifically a “direct effect on people’s pocketbooks.”
“Every time they went to the gas pump, they saw the gas higher,” DeSantis said. “And I’ve criticized some of our Republican congressmen and Senate candidates running around the country trying to blame the high gas prices on Biden. Gas was $3 a gallon a year and a half ago, and now it’s four, and it’s four because of the (Iran) war. So when you gaslight people, they don’t trust you on anything else.”
The issue of inflation was a problem for Republicans as well, he said, because “when they go to the grocery store, they’re reminded of that and their wages are not keeping up with the costs of living.”
Looking toward the future of the Republican party, DeSantis advocated for more ideas in the party about what to accomplish and stand for. He added that while Trump’s personality has been a big part of the MAGA movement, “I don’t think there’s anybody that would be able to take up all the oxygen in the room the way the president can.”
Democrat Cait Conley will oust Republican Rep. Mike Lawler in New York, CNN projects
Combat veteran and Biden administration alum Cait Conley will defeat incumbent Republican Mike Lawler in New York’s 17th District, CNN’s Decision Desk projects, flipping the battleground seat for Democrats.
Retiring Democratic Rep. Jared Golden of Maine controversially broke with his party to back Lawler’s reelection bid in the New York City suburbs.
Democrat Marni von Wilpert will flip California’s 48th District, CNN projects
Democrat Marni von Wilpert will win the race for California’s 48th District, CNN’s Decision Desk projects, flipping the redrawn seat.
The district was redrawn from deep red to one that narrowly favored Democrats after California voters approved new maps in 2025.
Incumbent Rep. Darrell Issa, a Republican, decided to retire rather than seek reelection under the new lines.
Democratic wins show candidates' platforms speak to working Americans, Mamdani says
The wins Democratic candidates have been achieving show their platforms “speak to the crises in working class Americans’ lives,” New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani told CNN’s Jake Tapper.
Those wins now show “a mandate to drive down costs, a mandate to deliver change working-class Americans can feel in their wallet, and a mandate to fulfill the trust that those same Americans have put into Democrats.”
Mentioning the friendly relationship the mayor has with President Donald Trump, Tapper asked if Mamdani thinks potential House Speaker Hakeem Jeffries should try and get along with the president or be more aggressive.
“What we’ve focused on in the meetings and conversations we’ve had is finding those few areas of commonality,” he said. “I think that in many ways, it’s indicative of what our responsibility is as politicians — work with anyone and everyone, so long as the focus is for the benefit of the people we represent.”
Democrat Scott Colom to CNN: "I'm confident"
With a narrow lead in the Mississippi Senate race, Democrat Scott Colom expressed optimism in an interview with CNN, saying, “It’s very clear where it’s going.”
Listen to what Colom told CNN’s Annie Grayer.
Big details are emerging about what to expect from the current and new Congress
The new Congress will be in session in January, and details are starting to emerge on what we can expect with Democrats in majority.
Republicans are also scrambling for answers after losses, and a notable name is coming up in the blame game.
Here’s what we know:
GOP’s blame game: The House could vote to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as soon as next week. The GOP’s historic losses alarmed lawmakers, who are moving swiftly to pin blame for the election results on Hegseth, arguing behind the scenes that he played a chief role in convincing President Donald Trump to attack Iran with no exit strategy — and no plan for managing the inevitable political fallout. For now, party leaders, and many in their ranks, remain unwilling to directly blame Trump for their woes. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky told CNN he plans to trigger a vote to impeach Hegseth when Congress returns next week — and multiple GOP sources said they expect it to pass.
Letters issued: The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has issued letters asking for preservation of documents ahead of expected investigations into the Trump administration’s actions over the past two years, a Democratic Senate aide told CNN. Describing it as a “standard committee process,” the aide said these letters have been sent to the Trump administration, to Elon Musk regarding the slowdown of Starshield in Ukraine, and to ports, banks and private entities involved in the Russia diesel deal.
Developments in key races: Ohio Republican Vivek Ramaswamy said he left a congratulatory message for Democrat Amy Acton after she was projected to win the governor’s race. But Acton has no plans to call him back, a source close to her campaign told CNN. Meanwhile, South Carolina’s incoming Democratic Sen. Annie Andrews said she spoke with GOP Sen. Tim Scott, the other senator from her state, and that the two plan to meet next week.
Outstanding projection in Mississippi: Democrat Scott Colom’s lead has expanded slightly in the Mississippi Senate race as he leads Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith by 1,138 votes as of this writing.
CNN’s Jennifer Hansler, Taylor Romine, Jordan Budney, Patrick Svitek, Dana Bash, Logan Schiciano, Adam Cancryn, Sarah Ferris, Zachary Cohen and Alayna Treene contributed to the report.
Abdul El-Sayed says he will focus on these 4 things when he gets to the Senate
When he first entered Michigan’s Senate race, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed said he didn’t realize how “big this was going to get.” Now, as he prepares to be sworn in in January, the new senator elect is looking ahead to what he wants to accomplish.
First, he said the cuts to Medicaid that are part of President Donald Trump’s landmark “One Big Beautiful Bill” should be stopped from taking effect, he told CNN affiliate WDIV.
El-Sayed also said he wants to address “the power of oligopolies and monopolies” and pass the Protecting the Right to Organize Act to strengthen unions.
Finally, after emerging for a race that saw hundreds of millions of dollars in spending, El-Sayed said he wants to end some of that spending by outside groups. “I ran on money out of politics,” he said.
“There are some things we can do to put a tamper on this just blatant corporate greed and their ability to act as a monopolist,” he said, including breaking up big corporations.
Democratic socialist Gonzales-Torres will unseat Rep. Gomez in California, CNN projects
Democratic socialist Angela Gonzales-Torres will win California’s 34th Congressional District, CNN’s Decision Desk projects, ousting five-term Democratic Rep. Jimmy Gomez from the seat.
Democrat Teresa Benitez-Thompson will flip Nevada’s 2nd District, CNN projects
Democratic former state legislator Teresa Benitez-Thompson will win Nevada’s 2nd District, CNN’s Decision Desk projects, marking the first time her party has won the seat.
She will also make history as the first female Hispanic member of Congress from Nevada.
Benitez-Thompson served in the Nevada State Assembly before serving as chief of staff to state Attorney General Aaron Ford, who is running for governor. She will succeed longtime Rep. Mark Amodei, who announced this year he would not seek reelection.
Democrat Sam Forstag will win Montana’s competitive 1st District, CNN projects
Democrat Sam Forstag, a former smokejumper, will win the race for Montana’s 1st District, CNN’s Decision Desk projects, becoming the first Democrat elected to the US House from the state in almost three decades.
"Jesus Christ could have run and would have lost": GOP scrambles for answers after losses
The knives are out as Republicans trade blame over their deep losses last night — as some call for accountability within their ranks.
Rep. Greg Steube of Florida attacked party leaders for not “standing firm on our principles” and for kneeling down to the moderates in their chambers, saying top Republicans “governed out of fear.” Rep. Marlin Stutzman of Indiana said that somebody at the White House “should be fired” for the GOP losses, pointing squarely at senior White House adviser Stephen Miller. Several blamed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for his handling of the Iran war.
And many flatly blame the president’s performance in office, including his tariff prices leading to a steep increase in prices for many Americans.
“This election is a referendum on Trump,” said Rep. Don Bacon, a retiring Nebraska Republican whose district turned blue on Tuesday.
One Republican running in a swing district told CNN that the unpopularity of his party contributed to the deep losses.
And Rep. Mike Lawler, one of three Republicans running in a district Kamala Harris won in 2024, said he ran as strong a campaign as possible but “the bottom fell out” because of the worsening climate for the GOP in his New York suburban district.
“Jesus Christ could have run and would have lost,” Lawler told CNN.
