Midterm elections 2026 live updates: Vance blames Iran war for GOP losses, Trump talks ballroom

Democrat Abdul El-Sayed took the stage to address his supporters after defeating Republican Mike Rogers and becoming the first Muslim elected to the Senate.

“Mike, enjoy your retirement. I know you got a house in Florida and two yachts,” El-Sayed said. “May we never have to see the likes of you in this state again.”

El-Sayed defeated Rogers, a former FBI agent, 52% to 45% in a huge win for progressives. In his victory speech, El-Sayed called out Trump and Vance.

“JD, habibi, there is this delicious irony in the fact that you’re constitutionally obligated to swear me in in January,” he said. In Arabic, “habibi” is a term of endearment.

El-Sayed then addressed Trump, who endorsed Rogers and mocked the Democrat’s name while on the campaign trail.

“Donald, I know you struggle with my name, so after JD swears me in in January, you can go on and call me Senator,” El-Sayed said.

— Irit Skulnik

Trump called reporters to gather at the White House — for his first in-person remarks after election results poured in — to show off the construction site of his controversial ballroom. The president touted other construction project as well on the heels of a historical shellacking of his fellow Republicans in the midterm elections.

Trump pointed out the “Corinthian columns” that would be a feature of the ballroom.

“This is a special structure,” the president said. “It’s going to be, not only one of the biggest, but it’ll be the most beautiful ballroom, I think, anywhere in the world.”

Trump, speaking to reporters on camera, said he would add his signature to what he believed would be the final piece of steel for the ballroom, which had already been signed by workers at the site.

Trump has faced criticism for focusing his attention on building projects in Washington in the months leading up to the GOP wipeout Tuesday night, where his party was projected to lose majority control of both chambers of Congress.

— Dan Mangan

Trump boasted, inaccurately, about the stock market’s gains in the wake of Democrats’ midterm landslide.

“Stock Market just hit another Record High — 91 Days in just a short period of time — Less than two years,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Your 401(k)s are through the roof. Record Setting All!”

While major stock indexes broadly jumped higher on Wednesday, none are at record highs.

According to data from FactSet, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down about 2.7% from its all-time intraday high. The S&P 500 is down about 1.7% from its all-time intraday high, while the Nasdaq Composite is down 6.6% from its all-time intraday high.

— Kevin Breuninger and Brianna Bernath

Alex Soros, who along with his billionaire father, George Soros, poured $102 million into Democratic-aligned super PAC Democracy PAC this election cycle, celebrated the party’s sweeping midterm victories Wednesday.

“The world changed yesterday,” Soros wrote on X. “This wasn’t just a midterm or a blue wave. It was something this country has never seen before.”

“The greatest victory I have ever seen!” he added.

The Soros family was a major exception among the election’s biggest donors, who overwhelmingly favored Republicans. The 50 largest donors gave $1.7 billion to Republican-aligned groups, more than double the $832 million directed toward Democrats.

— Luke Fountain

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., expressed confidence that he will be re-elected as the chamber’s majority leader in the next Congress.

“The issue is not me,” Schumer said at a press conference when asked about newly elected Democrats who said they would not back him for the promotion.

“I’ll be re-elected as majority leader, but the issue is focusing on the American people and what they want,” Schumer.

The Democratic leader took another victory lap elsewhere in his remarks, calling the midterm result “a generational remake of the Senate map that is going to change America not only now but on into the future.”

— Kevin Breuninger

Tuesday’s results delivered a gut punch to Elon Musk and Silicon Valley’s biggest power players, who poured record sums into elections only to watch their candidates lose and a backlash against AI threaten their bottom lines.

Musk spent at least $474 million, including $224 million in Texas, where his preferred candidates for governor and Senate both got clobbered. His sprawling business empire now faces a less friendly Democratic governor-elect, Gina Hinojosa, who has pledged to curb corporate subsidies and data center expansion.

And the losses piled up nationwide. Of the 44 federal races targeted by Musk’s America PAC, Republicans it backed or whose opponents it targeted had lost 29, won just three and were awaiting results in 12 as of Wednesday morning.

More broadly, voters repudiated the AI industry’s rapid expansion, with roughly two dozen proposals to restrict or block data centers appearing to pass among 41 local measures across 10 states, according to preliminary results.

For an industry betting trillions on an increasingly debt-fueled AI boom, the consequences could dwarf the election losses. Moratoriums and tougher permitting threaten to derail expansion plans, drive up costs and delay the revenue needed to pay off those massive investments.

Read more on the backlash to tech billionaires here.

— Luke Fountain

Jeremy Allaire, CEO of crypto platform Circle, told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” he doesn’t see pending Democratic control of Congress meaningfully affecting chances of crypto legislation, calling the technology a “bipartisan” issue.

“Circle is purple, and that’s very important,” Allaire told CNBC. “Our business and what we do in digital dollars are a bipartisan issue, and we want to work with leadership in every political party and in countries around the world.”

“Policy will continue to iterate and get forged, and so we’ll just continue to work with policymakers and governments like we have for the last 13,14 years,” he said, pointing to Congress passing the GENIUS Act by a wide margin last year.

When pressed about notions that the crypto industry is more friendly to Republicans, Allaire said crypto’s push into the mainstream has brought parties to the table that are important across the political spectrum.

“Everybody in capital markets, in banking, in payments and technology companies — they’re all moving to build on this, and those all of those companies are important to political leaders no matter what side of the aisle you’re on.”

— Caleigh Keating

Ted Leonsis, Monumental Sports & Entertainment founder, chairman and CEO, congratulated democratic socialist Janeese Lewis George on her Washington mayoral win.

“Living and working in the nation’s capital gives us a special appreciation for civic participation,” Leonsis wrote in an X post.

Lewis George will succeed Mayor Muriel Bowser, a moderate Democrat who has held the role for over a decade. She defeated independent and Green Party candidates in Tuesday’s election.

Lewis George campaigned on universal childcare, lowering costs, expanding housing and instituting a new Business Activity Tax, among other policies.

She has also pledged to stand up to Trump, who has previously labeled Lewis George a “communist.”

“Our commitment to D.C. carries through every day of the year,” Leonsis said in his post. “Through our teams, venues, and network we have an opportunity and a responsibility to create jobs, support local businesses, bring people downtown and open doors for young people across the city.”

— Irit Skulnik

LinkedIn co-founder and Democratic megadonor Reid Hoffman took a victory lap Wednesday, responding to news that House Speaker Mike Johnson would not seek the minority leader post with a jab on X: “full resignation also an option.”

Hoffman, who poured $8 million into Wisconsin Democrats this fall, also weighed in on Silicon Valley’s political loyalties, writing that “some have always stuck true to their principles” in an earlier post Wednesday.

— Luke Fountain

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., and House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, are both expected to vie for the job of leading Republicans in the minority next Congress, setting up a battle of two top GOP lawmakers.

Jordan sent a letter, obtained by CNBC, to the Republican caucus on Wednesday, announcing his plans.

“For too long, we have operated without a clear plan to survive the hour or the day in front of us,” Jordan wrote. “That will not cut it against an emboldened and energetic Democrat majority.”

Scalise, who has been the number two Republican in the House under Speaker Mike Johnson, is expected to announce his candidacy later on Wednesday, MS NOW reported, citing a House GOP aide who requested anonymity to discuss the private plans.

The intraparty battle takes shape hours after Johnson announced on Wednesday morning that he would not seek the leadership spot in the next Congress.

— Justin Papp

The electoral sweep by Democrats last night injects a new, unstable dynamic into the single biggest political risk to financial markets in the coming year: the debt limit. Unless a defeated Republican Party makes a swift and unlikely show of unity to take the issue off the table in their last few weeks in power, the protracted fight that will unfold is set to be nastier than ever, adding volatility to an already shaky bond market.

The debt limit is the definition of a must-pass bill, even more than issues like funding the government and the defense budget. That makes it potentially the one real chance the new Democratic majority in Congress has to extract concessions from a president who is already pledging to veto their agenda. Markets will hate the entire process, even if – as many expect – it ends in compromise. 

Because it is Democrats who hold the leverage, unlike past episodes, the ultimate agreement is more likely to increase government spending than lower it. With high bond yields weighing on the economy, and Americans expecting action from a newly empowered Democratic opposition, the fight could be particularly damaging. 

Read more of our debt-ceiling analysis here.

— Matt Peterson

Vice President JD Vance blamed the Iran war for Republican losses in the midterms in a social media post Wednesday.

“The president himself said so last night,” Vance wrote.

“If you’d like to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next 6 years was worth it, then do so,” the vice president said. “Argue it was a worthwhile cost to pay. Agree or disagree, that’s at least honest.”

“But everyone knows why we lost. And any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there,” he said.

Brent crude oil is down more than 4% to $98.98 per barrel, while U.S. crude is 4.3% lower to $91.99 a barrel.

— Spencer Kimball

Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said the committee will focus on CEO accountability, a billionaire tax, healthcare and tariffs in a statement detailing plans for the upcoming session of Congress.

“Trump and Republicans have been running a smash-and-grab job on the American people. Under my leadership, the top priorities of the Finance Committee will be affordability for us, accountability for them,” the statement read.

Wyden indicated much of the committee’s focus would rest on accountability for billionaires and corporate executives, detailing plans for a “tax agenda that puts American families first and requires the ultra-rich to pay their fair share.” He declared he was putting bank, insurance and pharmaceutical company CEOs “on notice,” bringing those who have worked with Trump under the committee’s scrutiny.

Wyden also declared expanding healthcare and asserting authority over trade policy as legislative priorities for the upcoming session. With Democrats projected to take control of the Senate and its committees, Wyden, who is currently the highest-ranking Democrat on Senate Finance, is expected to become chair.

— Caleigh Keating

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., won’t run to lead the House Republicans from the minority next Congress, his office confirmed on Wednesday.

Punchbowl News first reported that Johnson announced the decision on an all-staff call Wednesday morning, after the GOP suffered a drubbing at the hands of Democrats, losing their majorities in both the House and Senate.

Johnson became speaker in 2023 after his predecessor, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was deposed amid an intraparty revolt. He led House Republicans through the first part of Trump’s term, helping to shepherd through the president’s sprawling 2025 tax and spending package and other legislative priorities.

— Justin Papp

While Democrats secured majorities in both chambers of Congress, last night’s results also yielded several historic firsts by candidates on both sides of the aisle.

In Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed will become the country’s first Muslim senator. The Democrat defeated Republican Mike Rogers, earning a little over 52% of the vote with 97% of the vote counted, according to the Associated Press.

For the first time in U.S. history, a record five Black governors will serve at the same time following last night’s elections. This includes Georgia’s Keisha Lance Bottoms, a Democrat, who will be the nation’s first female Black governor. Wisconsin Democrat David Crowley, Florida Republican Byron Donalds and Nevada Democrat Aaron Ford will all be their states’ first Black governors. Democrat Wes Moore won reelection in Maryland, where he’s been the governor since 2023.

In Texas, Democrat Gina Hinojosa will be the state’s first Latina governor after she beat incumbent Republican Greg Abbott, who had served as the state’s governor since 2015. Ohio will also have its first female governor in Democrat Amy Acton.

New Mexico’s Deb Haaland, former secretary of the interior under the Biden administration, will be the first female Native American governor in U.S. history.

— Ananya Chetia

Democrat James Talarico of Texas laid out where he sees room to work with Trump during an interview with Fox News.

Talarico is projected to become Texas’ next senator, according to the Associated Press. He will be the first Democrat to win statewide office in ruby-red Texas since 1994.

Talarico said Congress and the president should strike a deal to pass immigration reform that includes border security, but also more legal pathways for immigrants.

“Give the president where credit is due, he has done a better job than the previous administration of securing the border,” Talarico said. “But we also need to create more legal pathways for hardworking immigrants who want to come here and contribute to our economy.”

Talarico said he also wants to work with Trump to address the housing shortage: “He’s a builder and we need to cut the red tape, the regulation that sometimes my party has been guilty of, so that we can build millions of new homes in this country,” Talarico said.

— Spencer Kimball

Rochefort Asset Management founder and co-CEO Kyle Bass said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that continued inflation and Fed moves in recent years have ‘destabilized’ the world and contributed to the Democratic wave.

“We’ve lived now for a couple of years with much higher prices,” Bass said, adding the Fed ‘going overboard’ contributed to the current economic landscape. “What happened during Covid and what happened during the GFC has really destabilized the world.”

“The financial architecture of the world hasn’t looked this bad in a long time, and I think that what we’re going to see is more destabilization within and externally.”

Bass, a resident of Texas and GOP donor, said Republicans “couldn’t have chosen, in my opinion, a worse person to run” in GOP nominee Ken Paxton, but the Lone Star State’s flip blue was due in part to an influx of out-of-state Democratic donors.

“We knew that the, that the money from the coastal areas was coming in in a big way for Talarico and for governor.”

“It’s hard for me to believe that Texans voted someone like that in,” Bass said of Talarico. “If Texans writ large showed up to vote, they wouldn’t have these people representing us in the state.”

— Caleigh Keating

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer responded with just six words when asked by CNBC whether Democrats plan to investigate companies that have done business with the Trump administration.

“You gotta go after the corruption,” Schumer said.

— Megan Cassella, Spencer Kimball

Democratic Whip Katherine Clark of Massachusetts said the new Congress plans to pass legislation focused on affordability and rooting out corruption, key voter concerns that carried the party to victory.

“We will pass legislation to lower prices, protect access to quality healthcare, and stamp out the corruption that has become a staple of Trump’s Washington,” Clark said in a statement. “We are ready to get to work.”

While the Democrats won a resounding victory, it is far from clear that they will be able to change policy in a substantive way when they take the reins of Congress in January.

President Donald Trump told Fox News late Tuesday that he plans to use his veto power.

“They’ll send over things that are insane and I’ll veto them,” Trump said. “And after a couple months of vetoes, they’ll call and they’ll say how do we get this stuff done and we’ll work together.”

— Spencer Kimball

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the midterms gave a clear message to those in Washington D.C., after Democrats took control of Congress Tuesday night.

“People of our country sent a message regarding change. Inflation…really has really taken a mark on the consumer. Consumers voted on their feet,” Khosrowshahi said on CNBC “Squawk Box.”

The CEO said tax policies so far have favored capital and that there needs to be a “rebalance.”

“If we tax capital gains at income rates, all the VCs will still be in business, all the private equity folks will stay in business. You still be investing in the S& P 500. People spin stories…to tell otherwise, and it just doesn’t feel true to me,” he said.

— Ananya Chetia

In a statement from Beijing’s state media, China Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the midterms were an “internal affair” of the U.S. and that China is willing to work with President Trump on maintaining a “constructive and stable strategic relationship” between the two countries.

“China is willing to continue working with the United States to safeguard and implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state,” the statement read.

— Eunice Yoon, Caleigh Keating

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, who is eyed as a potential contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that the midterms showed voters are “exhausted” with the direction of the country under Trump and the GOP.

“They’re exhausted on the fact that everything is more expensive, even though they were told that everything would be cheaper,” said Moore, who easily won reelection on Tuesday.

Moore also referenced the unpopular war in Iran and corruption in Washington, which “continues to run rampant” while “everyone else’s life is just getting harder.”

“So I think you’re seeing that people wanted leaders who are ready to disrupt the status quo, and who are ready to just change the direction from what people are seeing and feeling in their lives right now,” he said.

— Kevin Breuninger

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told CNBC that Democrats do not have a list of companies that they plan to investigate or subpoena.

“We’ll have those conversations over the next couple of weeks,” Jeffries, who is poised to become Speaker of the House in January, said Wednesday. “But clearly, things aren’t going right for the American people. Capitalism is broken in the way in which it is being experienced by so many working-class Americans and middle-class Americans.”

“We’ve got to make sure we build an economy, a free-market economy, that works for everyday Americans,” he said.

— Megan Cassella, Spencer Kimball

Stock market futures rose after Democrats swept the House and the Senate in Tuesday’s midterm election, the results of which President Donald Trump reportedly said he would to accept.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged nearly 900 points in premarket trading. S&P 500 futures were up about 1%, and Nasdaq-100 futures were around 0.5% higher.

Some investors were worried heading into the midterms that Republicans might challenge the election results in a drawn-out process that would create uncertainty. But Trump told the New York Times that he was “absolutely willing” to accept the results.

Follow live market updates here.

— Spencer Kimball

Twelve hours after the first polls closed, Alaska and Mississippi are the only two Senate races in which the AP has yet to call a projected winner.

Democrat Mary Peltola is looking to unseat Alaska’s Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan. The race, which has been shrouded in controversy over Democrats’ reported recruitment of a spoiler candidate with the same name as the incumbent, appears neck and neck, with an estimated 72% of the vote in as of 6:10 a.m. ET.

In Mississippi, incumbent Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith is trying to fend off Democrat Scott Colom, who was considered a long-shot challenger against the political veteran in the ruby-red state.

But with an estimated 96% of the vote tallied, Colom and Hyde-Smith appear to be within a hair’s breadth of each other.

If Colom wins, he would become the first Black senator ever elected by popular vote in Mississippi.

— Kevin Breuninger

Speaking to CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Wednesday morning, Greg Swenson, chairman of Republicans Overseas U.K., said the midterm outcome marked a major shift among voters.

“The MAGA base was disappointed that Trump started a foreign war,” he said.

However, Swenson noted that he did not think the president “has to change that much” in the wake of the election.

“He’s not afraid to meet his opposition. I think he’ll be fine working across the aisle,” he said. “However, he will use the veto — he still maintains all of the exec brand which controls the regulatory environment, foreign policy, [and the] military.”

Overnight, Trump posted an image of a red baseball cap bearing the word “VETO” on Truth Social. He also told The New York Times his administration will “work with the Democrats.”

— Chloe Taylor

Shares of Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Tesla fell in premarket trading Wednesday as the Democrats won a significant victory in the midterm elections.

SpaceX was last trading down 3.8% and Tesla dropped 3.5% amid big losses for Republican candidates Musk had backed.

Artificial intelligence stocks came under pressure overnight as Democrats — seen as proponents of data center moratoriums — won big in midterm elections in key data center hubs.

The Democrats’ victory in Texas is a big setback for Musk, where he heavily backed Republican candidates, and where his companies Tesla and SpaceX are based. Musk spent a record of at least $474 million on the midterms and funneled $224 million into Texas alone, where Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton and Gov. Greg Abbott lost to Democrats.

Read the full story here.

— Kai Nicol-Schwarz, Sarah Min

Democrats’ sweeping midterms victory marked a major rejection of Elon Musk and the artificial-intelligence industry, as a broad backlash against U.S. President Donald Trump and his tech allies put their political influence — and the debt-fueled data center buildout — under sharper scrutiny.

Musk, who spent a record of at least $474 million on the midterms, funneled $224 million, or nearly half, into Texas alone, according to a CNBC analysis of campaign finance records, only to see his favored candidates, Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton and Gov. Greg Abbott, trounced in a Democratic wave.

The defeats rattled markets overnight, sending SpaceX and Tesla shares lower, both of which have long flourished under Abbott’s business-friendly. Meanwhile, broader tech stocks came under pressure as Democrats secured control of Congress.

Read more here.

— Luke Fountain

Democrat Aaron Ford is projected to win Nevada’s race for governor, beating Republican incumbent Joe Lombardo, who was seeking a second term in office.

Lombardo narrowly beat Democrat Steve Sisolak in 2022.

Trump was the first Republican presidential candidate to win the state of Nevada since 2004.

— Chloe Taylor, Justin Papp

Incumbent Susie Lee is the projected winner of the race for the House seat in Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District.

Lee — a moderate Democrat who serves on the House Appropriations Committee — was running to defend her Las Vegas House seat, which Trump won in 2024.

Challenger Jon Kamerath, a GOP candidate, was a political newcomer whose campaign site says he is a retired nurse and former chess champion.

— Chloe Taylor, Garrett Downs

Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek is projected to win reelection in Oregon, after a rematch with Republican state Senator Christine Drazan, who she beat by 3.5 percentage points in 2022.

Kotek, a former state House speaker, is defending her record on housing and education, while Drazan, a former House Republican leader, focused on taxes, affordability and homelessness.

The race tightened into a near dead heat despite Oregon not electing a Republican governor in more than four decades.

— Chloe Taylor, Luke Fountain

Pete Ricketts is projected to win the Senate race in normally safe red Nebraska, where Trump won by more than 20 percentage points in 2024.

He faced a strong challenge from independent candidate Dan Osborn, a labor union leader and Navy veteran. Osborn ran against Republican Sen. Deb Fischer in 2024 and lost by roughly seven percentage points.

— Chloe Taylor

Democrat Katie Hobbs is projected by The Associated Press to win reelection in the race for Arizona governor.

Her win marks a defeat for Trump-endorsed Republican Rep. Andy Biggs, a former state Senate president and Freedom Caucus chairman who was subpoenaed by the House Jan. 6 committee.

Hobbs, a former secretary of state, narrowly won the governor’s race in 2022.

— Chloe Taylor

Projected wins for the Democrats in both the House and the Senate could intensify Trump’s focus on foreign policy in his final two years in office, experts told CNBC.

Laurel Rapp, director of Chatham House’s U.S. and North America Programme, said Trump would be “somewhat constrained” on matters of oversight and investigation, but on foreign policy “he does still retain a lot of latitude.”

J.C. Lintzenich, visiting senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund, said that the president is not a “lame duck.”

“The president of the United States still has lots of power, lots of authority,” he said. “We still have pending action in Iran. We still have an unresolved situation with Russia and Ukraine.”

Read more here.

— Sawdah Bhaimiya

Polls have closed in California, where voters considered a measure that would impose a 5% tax on billionaires in the state. With 83% of precincts partially reporting, Proposition 40 had received 43.7% yes votes, according to the California Secretary of State, far short of a majority.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin contributed $102 million to a nonprofit that fought the initiative. Numerous other tech billionaires also put money towards opposing the measure.

In addition, Proposition 42, which would block new personal property taxes and taxes on past activities, had 54.6% of the vote. Even if California voters approve the billionaire tax, Proposition 42 could get in the way because courts might conclude that it conflicts with Proposition 40.

— Jordan Novet

Residents of several U.S. towns and cities voted against the development of data centers in their jurisdictions, as part of a broad AI backlash. The outcomes followed a Pew Research survey over the summer showing that Americans have soured on data centers due to the environmental and energy costs.

In Ashville, Ohio, residents rejected a resolution that would have approved terms for EdgeConneX to build two data center buildings on 195 acres. In Illinois’ Joliet Township, southwest of Chicago, voters said no to a measure over whether the city council should approve construction of AI data centers.

“These are non-binding measures, but given the size of the Democrats’ victory, adding Texas governorship, and a 29 to 1 lead to restrict data centers, politicians that want to remain employed as politicians are going to heed these messages,” Jim Bianco of Bianco Research wrote in a post on X.

— Jordan Novet