• Analysis
2026 US Senate Results: Democrats Win North and South Carolina Races
Democrats have won surprise Senate victories in North Carolina and South Carolina in Tuesday's 2026 midterm elections, with Roy Cooper defeating Trump-backed Republican Michael Whatley and pediatrician Annie Andrews narrowly beating Darline Graham, per media projections.
The 2026 US Senate results delivered the Democratic gains the party needed in the Carolinas on Tuesday night, with initial results showing the party holding Georgia and New Hampshire even as it took two Republican-held seats, according to projections.
Cooper takes North Carolina
Roy Cooper, the 69-year-old former two-term governor, won North Carolina's Senate race, defeating Michael Whatley, the Trump-backed former Republican National Committee chair who has never held elective office and campaigned alongside Trump in the state.
Cooper centred his campaign on affordability, arguing over the high cost of food and energy as President Trump's approval ratings fell. He built a significant polling lead along the way, drawing strong support from independent voters, and pledged to get straight to work in Washington on the issue.
He takes the seat of Republican Senator Thom Tillis, who announced his retirement after breaking with Trump over Medicaid cuts in the president's signature tax and spending law.
Cooper addressed supporters in Raleigh after the race was called.
"Tonight, we showed the country that when everyday people come together, we can make change."
Andrews breaks a South Carolina drought
In South Carolina, pediatrician Annie Andrews narrowly defeated Darline Graham in another pickup for Democrats, with NBC News and CNN calling the race in Andrews's favour.
- •Andrews is the first Democrat to win a Senate seat in South Carolina since 1998.
- •Darline Graham had temporarily filled the seat after her brother Lindsey Graham's death in July.
- •Governor Henry McMaster appointed Darline Graham after Trump recommended her, with the president calling it a "fabulous tribute" to her late brother.
Georgia holds, other states watch
Democrats also held seats in Georgia and New Hampshire. In Georgia, Senator Jon Ossoff, 39, won re-election to a second term by defeating Republican Mike Collins, keeping a key seat for the party.
Ossoff entered the race as the Senate's youngest member and the only Senate Democrat seeking re-election in a state Trump carried in 2024. His campaign pulled in more than $100 million, sparking speculation about a potential 2028 presidential bid.
He marked the win with sharp words for the president on Tuesday night.
"The American people have rebuked the depravity, corruption and incompetence of the failed lame duck president Donald J. Trump."
Ossoff also told supporters that the task was not only to contain one president's wickedness but to heal the brokenness beneath, according to his remarks.
Contests in Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Ohio and Texas remained watched as results came in.
What the results mean for Senate control
The arithmetic for Senate control was set before election day: Republicans held a 53-47 majority going into Tuesday's vote, and Democrats needed a net gain of four seats to take the chamber.
- •The two Carolinas wins count toward that target.
- •The party's hold on Georgia and New Hampshire kept its incumbents in place.
Whether the four-seat net gain was reached depended on the results still being counted in the remaining states, with the Senate picture running alongside expectations in the House, where polling before the election suggested Democrats would wrest the chamber away from Trump's Republican Party.
