Early midterm returns suggest a possible “blue tsunami”: early returns and live projections show Democrats leading in multiple House and Senate contests as votes are tallied across battleground states.
Associated Press live coverage reports Democrats have won control of Congress, saying the party “won control of Congress in the midterm elections, taking seven Senate seats across red and battleground states.”
The Washington Post’s live updates show Democrats ahead in early tallies and projecting gains in both chambers, with its sidebar listing Democrats at 52 Senate seats and noting flipped seats in Texas, Kansas and Ohio as returns come in.
Analysts and networks are calling races as precincts report results; observers on nightly coverage used the phrase “blue wave” to describe the scale of Democratic gains in early returns, and outlets point to high early-vote turnout and shifting suburban margins as drivers of the results.
Context: the term blue tsunami has been used in political commentary to describe large Democratic gains in midterms, and this cycle saw several indicators pointing toward Democratic advantage, including late polling and party gains in previously toss-up districts before Election Day.
For background on turnout and pre-election trends that fed into early returns, see reporting on early voting surges in battleground states and recent Cook Political Report moves that favored Democrats in House races.
Sources
- The Washington Post — live updates showing Democrats’ early leads and seat counts in the Senate and House
- Associated Press — live coverage reporting that “Democrats won control of Congress in the midterm elections, taking seven Senate seats across red and battleground states.”
