Washington. Democrats won the House and were within reach of taking over the Senate in a rapidly building midterms wave Tuesday projected to sweep Republicans aside and deliver a stinging repudiation of Donald Trump's bruising presidency.

CNN and CNBC projected a Democratic House majority, giving the opposition the power to block Trump's legislative agenda and launch sweeping investigations of his administration during the final two years of his presidency.

The elections were a nationwide verdict on Trump's turbulent second term, with discontent over living costs, tariffs and the US war against Iran -- which has driven fuel prices sharply higher -- weighing on Republicans as his approval ratings languish near record lows.

In one of the night's biggest shocks, Democratic pediatrician Annie Andrews defeated Darline Graham in South Carolina, according to media projections.

Graham was supported by Trump and had been appointed to replace her brother, longtime Republican senator Lindsey Graham, after his death in July. Democrats had not won a Senate election in the deeply conservative southern state since 1998.

The victory followed another Republican Senate loss in North Carolina, where popular former governor Roy Cooper defeated a candidate handpicked by Trump.

Democrats also held crucial Senate seats in Georgia, where rising party star Jon Ossoff won reelection, and New Hampshire, where Chris Pappas became the first openly gay man elected to the chamber.

Republicans entered election day with a 53-47 Senate majority, leaving Democrats needing four net gains to take control. With two Republican seats already flipped, the battle for the upper chamber remained unresolved.

Blue Wave Warning
But momentum was on the Democrats' side.

House results offered further evidence of the scale of the Republican setback, with Democratic gains extending deep into normally conservative territory.

In a closely watched bellwether, Democrat J.D. Ford ousted Republican congresswoman Victoria Spartz in Indiana, capturing a district Trump won by 17 percentage points in 2024.

Political analysts had identified an upset in the district as an early warning that Democrats could be heading for a so-called "blue wave."

The party also flipped a Republican-held House seat in North Carolina, while results in Florida suggested that redrawn electoral boundaries were failing to deliver the gains Republicans had expected.

In Georgia, Democratic former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms won the governorship, becoming the first Black woman elected governor in US history and ending 24 years of Republican control.

Even Republican success came after scares in unusually tight results. Trump-backed Byron Donalds won Florida's governorship, becoming the state's first Black governor, while Republican Ashley Moody retained a Senate seat.

Ossoff hailed the Democratic victories as a rejection of Trump's "depravity, corruption and incompetence."

'Defiant' White House
A White House official told AFP the mood around the president was "defiant," warning that Trump would resist the "radical left" regardless of the election outcome.

"Buckle up," the official said.

Democratic control of the House will empower congressional committees to investigate the Iran war, mass deportations and allegations of corruption, while complicating Trump's efforts to pass new laws.

Losing the Senate as well would jeopardize his judicial nominees and senior administration appointments.

For voters, the campaign was often about the cost of everyday life.

"Rent, groceries, utility bills, and property taxes keep climbing, and I want people in Congress who will actually do something about costs," Taylor Cook, a 24-year-old Los Angeles voter, told AFP.

Trump defended his record in a final television appearance Tuesday, praising his tariffs, immigration crackdown and military campaign against Iran.

"We have to keep America great. We're great now. We were terrible two years ago," the 80-year-old told Fox News.

Trump had already contemplated the prospect of an opposition Congress.

"I veto everything," he said in a podcast released Monday, before acknowledging that he might eventually negotiate deals with Democrats.
 

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