Democrats are set to win majorities in both the House and the Senate, US media reported as votes were counted, leaving President Donald Trump to govern against a Congress controlled by the opposition.
In the Senate, where 35 of 100 seats were up, Republicans lost seven to hold 44 and Democrats gained seven to reach 54, a majority, according to RealClearPolitics as of 4 p.m. Japan time. Democrats are also projected to pass the majority threshold in the House, CNN reported.
Masaharu Yasuoka, a professor at Kobe University's Graduate School of Intercultural Studies who specializes in contemporary US politics, said the swing came sooner than expected.
Hispanic voters and hardline immigration
Yasuoka pointed to flips in southeastern states including North Carolina and South Carolina, not only Texas and Kansas, as significant. Growing Hispanic populations had long made Democratic gains there plausible, but Trump drew substantial Hispanic support at the last election.
That support eroded as immigration enforcement was pressed in hardline form, he said, leaving Hispanic voters facing the arrest of people close to them or the risk of detention for simply walking down the street.
“I see it as these policies backfiring badly this time.”Masaharu Yasuoka, professor, Kobe University Graduate School of Intercultural Studies
Texas governor's race also falls
Texas held its gubernatorial election alongside the midterms. The state has long been a Republican stronghold, in the governor's office as in the legislature, but the Democratic candidate is now certain to win there too.
MBS announcer Haruka Maeda, reporting from the state, said the incumbent governor's falling approval ratings combined with the popularity of Democratic Senate candidate Talarico, who won her race, to produce a coattail effect that put the Democratic gubernatorial candidate over the line.
What the result means for the White House
Yasuoka said the loss will reduce Trump's influence within the Republican Party and is likely to constrain military action.