Midterm results live updates: Alaska, Mississippi Senate races still neck-and-neck

Republicans are still licking their political wounds after Democrats' resounding midterm election wins on Tuesday.

The seismic blue wave left the GOP scrambling and eyeing a path forward for a post-Trump era, even as the president remains at the helm of the party — and White House — for the next two years.

"If we don't change, we'll take more beatings," retiring Rep. Don Bacon, R-Nebraska, said.

Democrats, meanwhile, are continuing to celebrate resounding midterm election wins over President Trump , while hoping to add to their congressional majorities as the final races are decided.

"The biggest takeaway from last night is that millions of voters put their faith in Democrats to fight for them," Democratic Party Chairman Ken Martin said Wednesday in the wake of the stunning cross-country electoral rout. "Now, we're going to get to work and fight for a more affordable America."

A previously listless Democratic Party flipped the House, Senate and pulled off several down-ballot races, from protecting abortion rights in some states to winning the governor's office in Texas. As of early Thursday, Democrats had flipped seven Senate seats and more than 30 House seats. Votes are still being counted in the U.S. Senate races in Alaska and Mississippi , as well as dozens of House contests.

Trump said he will accept the midterm results and work with Democrats, but he also pledged to veto Democratic bills that come across his desk.

He called the veto the "ultimate power," though Congress can override a presidential veto with a two-thirds vote in both chambers.

Byron Donalds celebrates historic victory as Florida’s first Black governor

House Oversight Committee lays out 2027 plans

11:10 AM ET, November 5 2026, Sarah D. Wire

The incoming House Oversight Committee chairman Rep. Robert Garcia of California outlined the four main investigations that Democrats will be opening when they take back the house in January.

"We should be very clear that the American people have spoken loudly and clearly - they want change," Garcia told reporters during a news conference in Huntington Beach Wednesday. "They are tired of the destruction and the corruption of Donald Trump and this administration."

Garcia called Democrats' electoral victories nationwide a mandate.

Garcia said that the committee will be "laser focused" on: the Trump family's financial gains during President Donald Trump's time in office; the Department of Homeland Security and ICE's immigration enforcement efforts; corporate corruption and Jeffrey Epstein and who was involved.

Gingrich calls GOP race for president 'wide open' with 'bloom' off VP JD Vance

11:06 AM ET, November 5 2026, Bart Jansen

Newt Gingrich, an adviser to the Trump administration's Pentagon and a former Republican House speaker, called "the race for the GOP presidential wide open" after Democrats swept into control of Congress.

Gingrich said Vice President JD Vance would have had a claim on the nomination if Republicans had done well, but "the luster has come off the bloom" because of his "go-slow strategy blowing up in Iran" and his support for an Ohio gubernatorial ad that featured a mother attacking her own daughter.

"The number of people who want to draft Secretary of State Marco Rubio is staggering," Gingrich said in a social media post . "In addition, Ted Cruz, Tom Cotton, Ron DeSantis, Pete Hegseth, Glenn Youngkin, and a surprising number of people may decide this is their chance to take advantage of the chaos of the shocking defeat and seek to be the champion who can rescue the party and the country."

11:02 AM ET, November 5 2026, Zachary Schermele

Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert still has yet to learn whether or not she will secure a fourth term in Congress, as votes are still being counted in a tight race in Colorado's 4th Congressional District.

Boebert, a onetime staunch MAGA ally who has at times notably strayed from President Trump , is facing Democrat Eileen Laubacher. By NBC News' count , Laubacher was up by only a couple thousand votes just before noon ET Thursday, with roughly 93% of the vote in. Thousands more ballots are left to count.

El-Sayed keeps invoking Michigan-Ohio State rivalry

10:43 AM ET, November 5 2026, Erin Mansfield

Continuing a theme from the campaign trail, Democratic Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed once again invoked the college football rivalry between the University of Michigan, which he attended, and The Ohio State University, the alma mater of Republican Vice President JD Vance.

"I just pointed out the fact that constitutionally he's obligated to swear me in," El-Sayed, a Democrat, told CNN about Vance's role as the president of the U.S. Senate.

"And he did go to Ohio State University, which of course is a lesser university than the University of Michigan," El-Sayed quipped. "I'm just, I'm stating facts."

Data center, AI stocks fall after Democratic sweep of Congress

10:42 AM ET, November 5 2026, Bart Jansen

Stocks related to data centers and the development of artificial intelligence are down after Democrats regaining control of Congress sparked concerns about industry expansion.

Data centers were a potent political message in state and local elections, although not entirely along partisan lines. Advocates such as President Donald Trump argued that development of data centers is an economic benefit. But critics including many Democrats contend data centers drive up electricity costs and consume large amounts of water to cool equipment.

Stock prices fell Nov. 5 in companies such as CoreWeave, down 3%, and Nebius, down 6%.

"The market's moving from the promise of AI to the price of AI," said Ted Parkhill, CEO of Incline Investment Management.

Abdul El-Sayed says he'll work in Senate with GOP rivals such as Ted Cruz

10:25 AM ET, November 5 2026, Bart Jansen

Democratic Senator-elect Adbul El-Sayed of Michigan, who will be the first Muslim in the Senate, said he would work with Republicans who said the harshest things about him, including alleging he was a national security risk, such as Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.

"Ted Cruz said some awful things," El-Sayed said on MS NOW's "Morning Joe." "I will sit down with Ted Cruz, and if he's got a bill that makes sense to get money out of politics, put money in pockets, pass Medicare for all, I'll work with him on it, so long as he's willing to do it in good faith."

GOP Sen. Cruz blames election losses on high cost of living, including tariffs

10:23 AM ET, November 5 2026, Bart Jansen

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, called the Democratic wave in the midterm elections a "blue tsunami" and an "ass kicking" that Republicans will have to reckon with.

Texans hadn't elected a Democrat to statewide office since 1994, yet Democrats swept the posts on Nov. 3. Cruz said Republicans showed up at the polls but that they didn't like the candidates – and he took aim at issues Demcorats raised against Trump, including tariffs and allegations of corruption.

In Kansas, for example, which elected its first Democratic senator since 1932, nearly one-third of voters listed the cost of living as their No. 1 concern. That was followed by corruption, the Iran war terrible candidates and the trade war with Canada.

"Food is too high, gas is too high, diesel is too high, insurance is too high, life is too high," Cruz said in a social media post . "Tariffs have made everything too expensive, and the Iran war has dragged on too long."

Latino, Black, Muslim, Native: Voters chose diversity in midterm election

07:17 AM ET, November 5 2026, Michael Collins

WASHINGTON – On election night, America chose diversity .

The blue tsunami that swept Democrats back into power in the House and Senate in the Nov. 3 midterm elections carried to victory candidates with a diverse tapestry of racial, ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds.

Voters reshaped the Senate by electing a Methodist minister from Kansas, a Presbyterian seminarian in Texas, a Muslim physician from Michigan, a Native American in Minnesota, and, for the first time ever, an openly gay man from New Hampshire. Read more .

Mississippi Senate race outcome might take days

07:06 AM ET, November 5 2026, Michael Loria

It remains unclear who Mississippi will send to the U.S. Senate, and the state's top elections official is warning the final result might not be known for days.

"Counties have 10 days from the date of the election to submit their certified results to our office, which is November 13," Secretary of State Michael Watson said in a statement Wednesday. "Additionally, there are approximately 3,600 outstanding absentee-by-mail ballots that must be received within five business days and an unknown number of affidavit ballots that will be processed within the 10-day window counties have to certify their results."

On the ballot in the Magnolia State are Republican incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith and Democratic challenger Scott Colom. With 80% of ballots counted, Colom held a slight edge, with 353,440 votes to Hyde-Smith's 352,203. Independent Ty Pinkins had 15,696 votes, USA TODAY previously reported.

The tight race could deliver Democrats an eighth flipped Senate seat and make Colom Mississippi's first Democratic U.S. senator since Sen. John C. Stennis left office in 1989. Hyde-Smith has held the seat since 2018.

Where does the Alaska Senate race stand?

06:51 AM ET, November 5 2026, James Powel and Aysha Bagchi

In Alaska, Democrat Mary Peltola leads incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan by 637 votes with 74% of ballots counted, according to the Associated Press . Peltola and Sullivan are both below the 50% threshold needed to avoid sending the race to Alaska's ranked-choice voting system .

Alaska's voting system can make results take longer to determine in close races. According to David Becker, a former Justice Department voting rights lawyer who runs the Center for Election Innovation & Research, election officials will have to wait "for some time" for votes to come in from remote areas.

The state also has a significant population of military voters, whose ballots can arrive up to 15 days after Election Day, as long as they were postmarked by Election Day.

If no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote, the state's ranked choice voting system comes into play, which could mean further delays. Under state law, the ranked choice tally wouldn't start until Nov. 18.

"So it might be the second half of November where we get a really good sense of that," Becker said.