Democrats Take Congress, State Results, and a Foxy Intruder

Good morning. It's Wednesday, Nov. 4. Democrats are projected to take control of both chambers of Congress after sweeping key races up and down the ballot. First time reading? Join millions of insatiably curious readers. Sign up here.

Also in today's Digest: first person in the US dies of bird flu this year (Sci. & Tech.), President Donald Trump says he will end US aid to Israel (Pol. & World Affairs), befriending a murderer (In-Depth), best holiday destinations (Etc.), and much more. 

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 Need To Know 

Editor's note: Some readers may have received an earlier draft of this email. This version is updated as of 5 am ET, relying on AP projections for current tallies and called races. Final margins may shift as additional votes are counted.

Democrats Sweep the Senate ...

US voters woke up this morning to a blue wave in the Senate. Republicans entered Election Day with a 53-47 majority; Democrats are projected to secure at least 54 seats as of this writing, with two races still uncalled.

In Texas, James Talarico (D) defeated Ken Paxton (R), helping end the party's 32-year losing streak in statewide elections. Talarico led 55%-43% as of this writing, with 93% of the vote counted. In South Carolina, Annie Andrews (D) ousted incumbent Sen. Darline Graham (R), winning by 4.4 points—the first time the state elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1998. 

In Kansas, Adam Hamilton (D) unseated incumbent Sen. Roger Marshall (R) (51%-46%), becoming the first Democrat to win a Senate seat there since 1932. In Maine, Troy Jackson (D) defeated incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R) (54%-46%), ending her 30-year term.

Roy Cooper (D) also flipped North Carolina, defeating Michael Whatley (R), while Josh Turek (D) flipped Iowa, defeating Ashley Hinson (R). In Ohio, former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) defeated incumbent Sen. Jon Husted (R) to win back a seat on Capitol Hill.

In Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed (D) defeated Mike Rogers (R) by 6.6 points after one of the most contentious campaigns of the season. In Alaska, Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan led with 48.5% of the vote—but a final winner may not be known until the state's ranked-choice tabulation on Nov. 18. 

In a final surprise in Mississippi, Scott Colom (D) leads incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith (R) by less than 100 votes. The state does not allow automatic recounts (though courts can order them). 

See Senate results here.

... and the House

Democrats are projected to take control of the House, winning at least 228 seats as of this writing, with 68 races still uncalled. Projections estimate Democrats could secure more than 250 seats as votes are tallied.

The party needed to net at least four seats to overcome Republicans’ current 218-214 majority. Democrats flipped four key seats in swing state Pennsylvania alone, with Bob Harvie, Bob Brooks, Paige Cognetti, and Janelle Stelson ousting Republican incumbents.

In Ohio, Brian Poindexter (D) defeated incumbent Rep. Max Miller (R, OH-07), who is facing domestic abuse allegations. In a sign of the Democratic surge, Rep. Victoria Spartz (R, IN-5) lost to challenger JD Ford (D), despite winning in 2024 by 18 points.

Elsewhere, Democratic incumbents held several key districts redrawn by Republican-led states, including in Florida, North Carolina, Alabama and Texas. Roughly one-third of the nation’s congressional districts were redrawn this cycle (scroll for maps). 

The president's party has lost seats in 18 of 20 midterm elections since 1946. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D, NY-08) is poised to become the first Black speaker in US history when the new congressional session begins Jan. 3.

See House results here.

... and Key Down-Ballot Races

Thirty-six states held gubernatorial elections yesterday, with each party defending 18 seats and Republicans entering with a 26-24 edge nationwide. Among the notable results, Democrats flipped the Texas governorship for the first time in more than three decades after Republican Gov. Greg Abbott conceded his reelection bid to Democrat Gina Hinojosa.

In Ohio, Democrat Amy Acton defeated Republican Vivek Ramaswamy to succeed term-limited Gov. Mike DeWine (R), while Democrat Rob Sand beat Republican Zach Lahn in Iowa. Both victories marked the first time in 20 years that Democrats won gubernatorial elections in their respective states.

In Wisconsin, David Crowley (D) defeated Tom Tiffany (R) to succeed Gov. Tony Evers (D), becoming the state's first Black governor. In another first, Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) won Georgia's governorship, becoming the nation's first Black female governor and flipping a seat Republicans held for more than two decades.

Alaskans used ranked-choice voting to pick a successor to Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R), while also deciding whether to repeal the system; the 2024 repeal attempt failed by just 743 votes. Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins had 49% of the vote with 75% of ballots counted.

Separately, California considered a one-time wealth tax on billionaires, while voters weighed abortion-related ballot measures in Idaho, Nevada, Virginia, and Missouri. Several states also voted on voter ID requirements, and Idaho considered naming an official state gun. Dozens of local data center measures were also on ballots.

See all results here.

 In The Know 

Science & Technology

> New York reports its first measles-related death in more than 30 years (More) | Washington reports the US' first human death from bird flu this year (More) | What is bird flu, or avian influenza? (More)

> Paleontologists discover first-ever chemical evidence of red blood cells in dinosaur fossils; the finding could provide unprecedented insights into the biology of a dinosaur that lived roughly 115 million years ago (More) 

> Domesticated foxes exhibit changes in a brain region linked to aggression, maternal instincts, and social behavior over roughly 65 years, suggesting selective breeding can reshape the brain on short timescales (More) 

Business & Markets

> US stock markets close mixed (S&P 500 +0.4%, Dow -0.4%, Nasdaq +0.8%) as several Big Tech stocks make modest gains, offsetting Apple's 1.9% slide (More) | Do stocks rise or fall after elections? (More)

> Gas prices hit record high for an Election Day, with national average at around $4.15 per gallon; 2022 midterms set previous record of $3.75 (More) | See your state's average gas price (More, w/map) 

> US job openings rise to 7.5 million, marking a four-month high; layoffs fall to 1.6 million, the fewest since March 2025, per Labor Department report covering data through September (More) 

Politics & World Affairs

> US strikes Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz (More) | President Donald Trump says the US will end nearly $4B annual aid package to Israel by the end of this year (More) | How much foreign aid does the US provide Israel? (More, w/graphs)

> Parts of Learjet plane were found miles from Florida crash site, suggesting the aircraft was breaking apart before Sunday's crash, federal investigators say (More) | See inside the final seconds before the crash (More, scroll for flight path)

> Authorities recapture Tennessee inmate days after he escaped from custody; Jacob Allen Morley was convicted of murdering his coworker in 2022 (More) | See previous write-up (More)

In-Depth

> Have I Befriended a Murderer?

Longreads | Edward Abel Smith. A writer spends five years investigating a man convicted of killing his wife. Along the way, they become friends, blurring the line between uncovering the truth and trusting a killer. (Read) 

> The Rise and Fall of a Supercop

The Atavist | Alessio Perrone, Berber Verpoest, Arno Van Rensbergen. He spent decades putting some of Belgium’s most notorious criminals behind bars. Then, at 77, he was arrested in the country’s biggest-ever cocaine bust. Why? (Read) 

Visualize how counties shifted in the 2026 midterms. (w/map)

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Hear why football helmets may give players a false sense of security.

See the best times to eat Thanksgiving dinner.

Would you spend 30 years playing a single board game?

Clickbait: Turkish soccer game takes wild turn with foxy intruder. 

Historybook: Journalist Walter Cronkite born (1916); Nellie Tayloe Ross becomes first woman elected governor in the US (1924); Former first lady Laura Bush born (1946); Iran hostage crisis begins (1979); Barack Obama becomes first African American elected US president (2008).