CBS projects Democrats win Senate control in 2026 midterms; Schumer vows to entangle Trump in 'legislative razor wire'

Publication date: November 5, 2026, 03:58:35

Democrats Projected to Take Senate Control

Democrats will take control of the Senate in January, according to CBS News projections, following major upsets in Texas, South Carolina, and Kansas in the 2026 midterm elections.

The Senate races in Alaska and Mississippi remain unresolved as of Wednesday morning, with CBS News rating both as toss-ups. However, Democrats have secured enough wins to control at least 54 seats in the upper chamber — a once-unthinkable feat.

Democratic candidates flipped seats in Maine, Iowa, Ohio, and North Carolina. The party also held onto seats in Georgia, New Hampshire, and Michigan, where Democrat Abdul El-Sayed won a contentious race against Republican Mike Rogers.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer vowed Wednesday that “whenever Trump defies the will of the American people or the law, we will launch investigations, take him to court, and entangle him in legislative razor wire.”

New Updates

9:01 PM — Democrat Scott Colom Leads Mississippi Senate Race by Just Over 1,000 Votes

In Mississippi’s unexpectedly close Senate race, Democrat Scott Colom has increased his lead over Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith to a little over 1,000 votes.

The two candidates remain neck-and-neck, and CBS News still rates the race a toss-up. State election officials say several thousand ballots still need to be counted, including outstanding absentee ballots that will be counted as long as they arrive within five business days, as well as “affidavit” ballots from voters whose eligibility still needs to be confirmed.

7:12 PM — Ted Cruz Says He Called to Congratulate Talarico, Calls Results a “Blue Tsunami”

On his podcast, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz did not hold back on what he thought about Tuesday night’s catastrophic results for Republicans in Texas.

“History was made last night,” he said. “For months, we were saying that 2026 was the most consequential midterm election of our lifetimes. Unfortunately, we were right. Sometimes, history is to be celebrated. Other times, it is to be mourned. Always, it must be reckoned with. 2026 was not simply a blue wave. It was a blue tsunami. It was an ass kicking. It was not simply a bad 2006 midterm election. It was a Watergate-level repudiation.”

Cruz said they have to ask what happened and why, and where they go from here. The problem wasn’t turnout, he said. “Instead, our voters, Republicans, libertarians, independents, showed up and voted, and rejected our candidates, voting Democrat instead. We’ve lost the House, we’ve lost the Senate.”

“Nowhere are the consequences of this election greater than Texas,” he said, adding that he had been warning for weeks that Republicans could lose it all.

Cruz said he called Democratic Senator-elect James Talarico Tuesday night and congratulated him on his “impressive” victory.

Cruz said Republicans need to understand that the country’s “K-shaped economy” is a “yawning divide.”

6:58 PM / November 4, 2026 — Moderate Democrat Hillary Scholten Congratulates El-Sayed but Says Centrist Candidates Overperformed

Michigan Democratic Rep. Hillary Scholten — a moderate who kept some distance from progressive Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed — congratulated El-Sayed for his win on Wednesday, but argued that “moderate, common-sense candidates” performed especially well on Tuesday.

In an interview on “The Takeout with Major Garrett,” Scholten said she “did not endorse Mr. El-Sayed in the race because I don’t endorse that brand of politics,” but said she is glad the state remained in Democratic hands, and disagreed with Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens’ decision to endorse Republican Mike Rogers. Stevens lost to El-Sayed in the primary.

“I’ve already reached out to Mr. El-Sayed, congratulated him on his win and told him that I look forward to working together in the best interest of Michigan. That’s what we do. We campaign and then we put our differences aside and we get down to work,” she said.

Asked about El-Sayed’s seven-point victory, Scholten noted that she won reelection by nearly 16 points — a performance she chalked up to putting “effectiveness at the center of what I do.” She also argued the race was broadly a rebuke of President Trump.

“We saw Mr. El-Sayed prevail by seven points. Our incoming governor, Jocelyn Benson, prevailed statewide by 11 points, right? So a real overperformance there by a more moderate and centrist candidate,” she said.

6:10 PM / November 4, 2026 — Grassley, 93, Isn’t Considering Resignation

A Grassley aide tells CBS News that Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the Senate president pro tempore, is not considering retirement before Democratic Governor-elect Rob Sand takes office.

“Senator Grassley is not resigning,” a Grassley spokesperson said. “He remains committed to delivering for the people of Iowa, who overwhelmingly elected him to a six-year term in 2022.”

Resigning would allow Iowa’s current Republican governor, Kim Reynolds, to appoint a replacement for Grassley, who is 93. Grassley’s current term concludes in 2029.

3:59 PM / November 4, 2026 — Thune and Trump Have Spoken After Republican Losses

Senate Majority Leader John Thune and President Trump have spoken, according to a source familiar with the conversation, after last night’s bruising results for the GOP in the upper chamber.

Senate GOP leaders had been fighting to hang onto the upper chamber as the political landscape worsened for Republicans in recent weeks. But facing an unpopular war in Iran and persistent affordability issues, their candidates struggled to combat the serious headwinds.

Despite the losses, Thune is expected to have his conference’s support for two more years as leader. He told CBS News in an interview ahead of the election that he was “very interested in seeing how things turn out in the election,” but he expected to run again as leader.

The president has been critical of Thune over his refusal to change Senate rules to approve a controversial elections bill Mr. Trump has pushed for months. But the president has also come to Thune’s defense in recent months, and the relationship between the two men has appeared to improve.

When asked whether he expected support from the president, Thune said he didn’t “bank on it.” But he said if the president “found his way to do that, that’d be great.”

1:36 PM / November 4, 2026 — Barrasso Says “I’m Here for the Fight” Amid House Leadership Changes

Senate Republican Whip John Barrasso posted Wednesday on social media that he’s “here for the fight” after the GOP lost the majority in the chamber. In the House, Speaker Mike Johnson told staffers on Wednesday morning that he will not run for minority leader, sources told CBS News. The current House whip, Tom Emmer of Minnesota, is already facing a challenge from Texas Republican Rep. August Pfluger.

“Republicans had a tough night last night,” Barrasso wrote. “We lost great Senators in hard races. In Alaska and Mississippi, we continue to fight.”

Barrasso said there are “clear lessons to be learned from the results,” including that voters’ “priorities must always come first.”

Barrasso also vowed to “aggressively oppose terrible ideas that drive our country toward the socialism Democrats embrace.” He said Republicans would focus on affordability and lowering prices.

11:37 AM / November 4, 2026 — Schumer Vows to Entangle Trump in “Legislative Razor Wire” If He Defies American People

Schumer said now, “Americans are calling for accountability, not accommodation.”

“They want us to check on Trump’s chaos at home and abroad,” he said.

The minority leader pledged that, “Whenever Trump defies the will of the American people or the law, we will launch investigations, take him to court, and entangle him in legislative razor wire.”

“The days of Trump’s supplicant Senate are over,” he added.

Schumer said, “Elections have always been the strongest lever Americans have to counter a wannabe king, so long as Americans are willing to use it.”

“Yesterday, America did,” Schumer said.

12:53 PM / November 4, 2026 — Trump Speaking from Site of New White House Ballroom

President Trump spoke to reporters from the construction site of the new White House ballroom in his first public appearance since Republicans lost control of the House and Senate.

Mr. Trump praised the new ballroom and helipad on the South Lawn of the White House, calling it a “thing of beauty.” He discussed his other construction projects in Washington, D.C., including his proposed arch outside Arlington National Cemetery and renovation of East Potomac Golf Links.

President Trump points to a steel beam before it’s lifted to the top of the White House ballroom on Nov. 4, 2026. Andrew Harnik / Getty Images

11:36 AM / November 4, 2026 — Schumer Calls Election Victories a “Generational Remake of the Senate Map”

Senate Minority Leader Schumer called Tuesday night’s victories a “generational remake of the Senate map” with “huge consequences for history.”

“But with this majority, Americans have given we Democrats the opportunity to prove ourselves worthy of their trust, and that’s the most important job,” he said.

The New York Democrat said many people remain skeptical. But he stressed that Americans have “entrusted us with the majority to do what they, the American people, want.”

“Republicans received that opportunity two years ago, and completely squandered it,” Schumer said. “The GOP misread Americans’ demand for change as a mandate to do Trump’s self-serving bidding, and Trump spent half his time talking about things that were irrelevant to their lives.”

Schumer said, “Republicans are going to have to choose whether to keep listening to the nonsense that’s coming out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, or start acting in the interests of the American people.”

11:26 AM / November 4, 2026 — Schumer Lauds Senate Victory: “Oh, What a Night”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer spoke about the Democrats’ widespread victories in Tuesday’s Senate contests, lauding the candidates’ efforts and pledging to work for Americans.

“In 2025, when I said we could win back the Senate after we had lost the presidency and the Senate, people rolled their eyes,” the New York Democrat said at the news conference. “What changed? What caused that change? First and foremost, our coalition moved as one body, House and Senate, to define the issues that Americans cared most about.”

Schumer cited cost and corruption as the key issues on voters’ minds. And he cited candidate quality, saying, “we recruited great candidates who knew how to tailor their message to the states.”

“Every one of the candidates that we recruited, whenever I talked to them, the number one thing that motivated them was patriotism,” Schumer said.

11:19 AM / November 4, 2026 — Mississippi’s Colom: “We Are Going to Win This”

Democrat Scott Colom, who is locked in a tight Senate race with incumbent GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, said he is “very happy” with where the race stands and predicted that he will ultimately prevail.

“The people of Mississippi turned out in historic numbers to make this race possible in a midterm election,” he said during a press conference.

Colom’s campaign has estimated there are 15,000 affidavit ballots that still have to be counted, and he said his campaign is going to “make sure the law is followed.”

“I think that anybody who can look at the math should be able to know where this is going,” he said.

Colom expressed confidence that he will end up victorious against Hyde-Smith.

“The bottom line is this is the beginning of a new direction for our state. We are going to win this. We have already shown the country that Mississippi matters, y’all,” he said.

Mississippi hasn’t elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1982.

CBS News has rated the race between Colom and Hyde-Smith a toss-up.

[Content truncated in original source]