Democrats picked up seven Senate seats from Republicans in yesterday's midterms so far. Two Republican-held seats are still in play at the time of writing. Among the races called by AP as of Wednesday morning, there are already some historic wins for Democrats, which will send a senator for Kansas to Washington for the first time in almost a decade. Methodist minister Adam Hamilton beat Republican incumbent Roger Marshall with 51 percent of the vote. The last time a Democrat won a Senate seat in Kansas was in 1930 (96 years ago) and it has been 88 years since that senator, George McGill, vacated his seat.
An even more closely watched Senate race took place in Texas, where Democrat James Talarico beat Republican Ken Paxton, who had won against incumbent John Cornyn in the primaries. This means a Democrat will represent Texas in the Senate for the first time in 33 years. Not receiving as much attention, but maybe almost as surprising is Democratic challenger Troy D. Jackson upsurging long-time Republican Senator and declared Trump opponent Susan M. Collins in Maine. It has been 32 years since a Democrats from Maine has sat in the Senate. However, Maine Senior Senator Angus King is an Independent who caucuses with Democrats and is currently serving his third term.
A Democratic senator will represent South Carolina for the first time in 22 years and for the first time in 12 years in Iowa and North Carolina. In Ohio, Democrat Sherrod Brown won out against Republican incumbent Jon Husted. The state only saw a two-year gap in Democratic senators and Brown is succeeding himself in this regard after loosing the Ohio Senate election in 2024 against Republican challenger Bernie Moreno. Husted had been appointed a finish JD Vance's Ohio Senate term when he became vice president in Donald Trump's second administration.
