The 2026 midterm elections on Tuesday, November 3, handed Democrats control of both the House and the Senate. Major networks including CNN, ABC News and Fox News projected Democratic majorities in both chambers. Only twice in the last 50 years has control of both chambers flipped in the same election, CNN noted.
What followed was a week in which the election dominated social media. Speeches went viral, records were counted, and a new set of questions emerged about what a Democratic Congress will mean for President Donald Trump's final two years.
This is the first post in our Midterms 2026 coverage series. Below are the trends that rose after election night, followed by the biggest stories covered last week by Dylan Page, the British creator known as "News Daddy," whose TikTok account has about 20 million followers.
- 7Senate seats flipped by DemocratsIowa, Kansas, Maine, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas (CNN)
- 54Senate seats projected for DemocratsCNN Decision Desk, Nov. 5; counting continues
- 250+House seats projected for DemocratsCNN Decision Desk, Nov. 5
- 30+Republican incumbents projected to loseCNN
- 1954Last time a new Senate majority was lost after one cycleBallotpedia, via The Deep Dive
- $11.9BProjected federal election spendingOpenSecrets, up from $8.9B in 2022
Source: CNN, Ballotpedia, OpenSecrets. Figures are projections; final results are still being certified.
The Trends That Rose After Election Night
1. A wave of historic firsts
The results produced a long list of firsts, and they were among the most-shared posts of the week:
- Abdul El-Sayed (D-Michigan) will be the first Muslim member of the U.S. Senate after defeating Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers. (Who is Abdul El-Sayed?)
- Keisha Lance Bottoms (D-Georgia) became the first Black woman elected governor in U.S. history.
- Deb Haaland (D-New Mexico) became the first Native American woman elected governor of any state.
- Peggy Flanagan (D-Minnesota) became the first Native American woman elected to the U.S. Senate.
- Chris Pappas (D-New Hampshire) became the first openly gay man elected to the U.S. Senate.
- Gina Hinojosa in Texas and Xavier Becerra in California were elected their states' first Hispanic governors, according to Newsweek.
- In Texas, Democrats won statewide for the first time since 1994, CNN reported.
- With Democrats taking the House, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries is in line to become the first Black speaker of the House when the new Congress convenes.
Several races were still being counted days later, including Alaska, where Democrat Mary Peltola could become the first Alaska Native U.S. senator, and Mississippi's Senate race, where affidavit ballots were still being counted.
2. One victory speech outran everything else
The single biggest piece of election content, by a wide margin, was Abdul El-Sayed's acceptance speech. Clips of it drew more than 51 million views across two platforms, according to the social-media tracking newsletter What's Resonating. Al Jazeera English, The Independent and NBC News also posted clips that each drew millions of views.
In the speech, El-Sayed responded to months of attacks on his identity, ending with a line directed at President Trump: "You can just go on and call me Senator." Trump had called him "dangerously radical" during the campaign.
The speech also drove the week's sharpest pushback from conservative accounts. The Daily Wire posted side-by-side clips comparing El-Sayed with former President Bill Clinton, and Dan Bongino posted that Michigan had elected a national security threat. Both drew more than 10 million views. We break down his background, platform and the case his critics made in our full profile of Abdul El-Sayed.
3. Republicans began assigning blame
The arguments within the Republican Party over the results became their own trend:
- Vice President JD Vance said the "obvious" reason Republicans lost key races was the war with Iran, ABC News reported.
- President Trump told 60 Minutes he expects to fire people over the losses, while expressing confidence in Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, according to CNN.
- Trump also said he "wasn't on the ballot," and told CNBC he could work with Democrats on "many more things than people understand."
- Georgia's outgoing Republican attorney general, Chris Carr, blamed Trump for the party's losses in Georgia, according to a CNN affiliate.
- The White House posted a video reminding followers that "Trump is still your President." It drew about 1 million likes across two platforms.
4. "A mandate" and the fight over what comes next
On the left, the conversation quickly turned to what Democrats should do with their majorities. Sen. Bernie Sanders called the results "a mandate for sweeping economic change," calling for a billionaire wealth tax, Medicare for All and a national moratorium on AI data centers. His video drew about 14.9 million views across four platforms. Other Democrats have urged more targeted goals, and party leaders are expected to set out their own agenda before January.
5. AI data centers became an election issue
One of the less expected themes of the cycle was artificial intelligence. Opposition to new data centers, over electricity costs, water use and local impact, became a campaign issue in several swing districts, according to CNN and Bloomberg Government. That moved markets: shares of some smaller AI cloud providers fell after the results, while large tech companies rose, CNBC reported.
6. Young voters and Latino voters shifted
Exit polling showed groups that helped Trump win in 2024 moving away from Republicans this time. PBS NewsHour reported that voters under 30 and Latino voters swung toward Democrats, and CNN pointed to large swings among Latino voters in Florida House races.
7. Late-night TV and memes
The cultural side of the election was just as loud. A Tonight Show sketch in which Jimmy Fallon "interviewed" Trump using unrelated clips as answers drew 21.6 million views. A Doja Cat concert clip in which she changed a lyric to reference Texas results also spread widely.
What Could Change After the Election
The new Congress is sworn in in January 2027. Based on what Democratic leaders and analysts have said, these are the areas most likely to change:
- Investigations and oversight. Committees will gain subpoena power. Rep. Robert Garcia has already announced House Oversight investigations, and Bloomberg Government reported that Hegseth's role in the war with Iran will be investigated.
- Tariffs. Democrats plan to challenge the administration's global tariffs and try to reclaim Congress's authority over trade.
- Health care costs. House Democrats led by Jeffries plan to push to restore expired Affordable Care Act subsidies and reverse Medicaid cuts.
- The war with Iran. Democrats intend to use war-powers resolutions to press for an end to military action.
- Nominees and judges. A Democratic Senate will control confirmations for Cabinet posts and federal judges.
Winning Congress does not let Democrats reverse policies on their own. Trump still holds the veto, and in a video after the election he noted that he can use it. Any new law will need his signature or a two-thirds vote to override him.
The Biggest Stories Dylan Page Covered Last Week
Dylan Page, a British creator who posts as "News Daddy," is one of the most-followed news accounts on TikTok, with about 20 million followers. The Reuters Institute's 2026 Digital News Report found he was the most-mentioned youth-focused news creator in the UK. Here are the most-watched stories he covered in the week of November 1–8, with view counts tracked by the What's Resonating newsletter.
| Story | What happened | Views |
|---|---|---|
| Palm Beach County jet crash | A Learjet 60 crashed near Greenacres, Florida, on Nov. 1, killing all nine people aboard | 13.7M |
| Midterm records and firsts | The historic wins and broken records from election night | 5.9M |
| Ronaldo retires from Portugal | Cristiano Ronaldo ended his 23-year international career | 4.2M |
| Five changes after the election | What a Democratic Congress could change | 3.9M |
1. The Palm Beach County jet crash
On Sunday, November 1, a Learjet 60 business jet flying from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas crashed onto a road near a residential area in Greenacres, Palm Beach County, Florida, at about 12:50 p.m. All nine people on board were killed, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed. One man in a vehicle nearby suffered a leg injury.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called the crash "cataclysmic," saying the jet looked "like a missile going down" and left a large crater beside the road. The crew had reported ice and turbulence and asked to climb before the crash. About 600 residents of a nearby mobile home community were evacuated. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating, and no cause has been announced.
Page's breakdown of the crash used flight-tracking data showing the jet's rapid descent. It was his most-viewed video of the week. Read more: Greenacres Learjet crash: the nine victims and the NTSB investigation.
2. The midterm records and historic firsts
The day after the election, Page covered the records and firsts listed above. Among them were the first Muslim U.S. senator, the first Black woman elected governor and the first Native American woman elected governor, as well as Democrats' first statewide win in Texas in more than 30 years.
3. The five changes that could follow the election
In a second election video, Page laid out changes that could follow from the results. The main areas analysts and lawmakers point to are covered in our "What Could Change" section above.
4. Cristiano Ronaldo retires from international football
On Thursday, November 5, Cristiano Ronaldo announced his retirement from international football in a video on social media, ending a 23-year career with Portugal. The 41-year-old retires with 234 caps and 146 goals, both men's international records, plus a record 11 goals across six World Cups.
Ronaldo captained Portugal to its first major trophy at Euro 2016 and won the UEFA Nations League in 2019 and 2025. He had considered retiring after Portugal's round-of-16 loss to Spain at the 2026 World Cup, but continued at the request of the Portuguese Football Federation. His announcement came shortly after Argentina's Lionel Messi also retired from international football. Read more: Ronaldo's records, the rift with Jorge Jesus and how his Portugal career ended.
Why Dylan Page Matters to How Young People Follow News
Page's week shows how many young people now get their news: short videos that move from a plane crash to an election to football in a few days. News creators like Page now reach audiences on a scale that rivals traditional outlets, and the Reuters Institute and others have tracked their growing influence on how young people follow politics.
His position on TikTok has not been easy. In January 2026, Page said he was temporarily leaving the platform after videos were removed for unspecified "community guidelines" reasons and his earnings fell. He has since returned and passed 20 million followers.
More in the Midterms 2026 Coverage Series
- Who Is Abdul El-Sayed? The first Muslim U.S. senator-elect, his platform and the race that made history
- Greenacres Learjet crash: what we know about the nine victims and the NTSB investigation
- Cristiano Ronaldo retires from Portugal: the records, the rift and how his international career ended
Results are still being certified in several states, and we will update the figures above as final counts are confirmed.
Election figures are network and AP projections reported between November 3 and 6, 2026, and may change as final results are certified. Social-media view counts are from the What's Resonating newsletter by Magnitude Media and reflect the time of publication.
Sources: CNN, election night takeaways; CNN live updates, Nov. 5; CNN video takeaways; CNBC live updates; ABC7 live updates; PBS NewsHour takeaways; Newsweek, historic victories; NBC, historic firsts; The Deep Dive, records broken; Bloomberg Government, five key areas; What's Resonating, Nov. 3, Nov. 5 and Nov. 6; NBC Miami, Palm Beach County crash; CBS12, NTSB briefing; AP via ABC7, Ronaldo retires; Daily Sabah, Ronaldo records; Digiday, TikTok news creators.