This episode of The Headlines covers the Democratic sweep of the 2026 midterm elections, which gave the party control of both the House and the Senate. Host Tracy Mumford walks through key races in South Carolina, Maine and Texas, and how Democrats also won in areas redrawn by Republicans.
The episode includes President Trump's subdued reaction, in which he said he would accept the results. It then turns to Israel's claims that Iran is considering chemical weapons, which U.S. officials disagree about, and to King Charles's remarks on Britain's role in the slave trade.
It ends with NASA astronauts voting from space.
In this episode Tracy Mumford
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From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today is Wednesday, November 4. Here's what we're covering.
Tonight we here in South Carolina sent a clear message. You have shown the nation that we will not bow down.
Michigan, we did it.
What a night for Ohio. Thank you.
Hello, North Carolina.
Thank you, Georgia.
Iowa.
Maine.
Minnesota.
We just took back Texas.
Last night was a wild night for the Democrats. The party seized control of the Senate and the House as voters delivered a clear rebuke to President Trump and the GOP. The Democratic route stretched coast to coast, with the party flipping seats that had spent decades in Republican hands or, in the case of Kansas, nearly a century. Voters swept out Republicans who stood with the president, and even those that tried to stand a step apart from him.
In South Carolina, Annie Andrews prevailed over Darlene Graham, who Trump had backed to take the seat of her brother, the late Senator Lindsey Graham. And in Maine, Senator Susan Collins, who often stood up to the president, conceded to the Democrat Troy Jackson, ending Collins's 30 years in office. And one of the most stunning wins played out in Texas.
I'm here at a Whataburger across from the victory party for James Talarico, where people are honking, they're cheering.
The Times' Texas Bureau Chief, Jay David Goodman, is in Austin, and he said voters in the state essentially delivered a Democratic earthquake, with James Talarico winning a Senate seat but Democrats also winning the Texas Governor's Office, the Lieutenant Governor's Office, and several other statewide races.
It's a kind of unforeseen, unexpected, and joyous moment for Democrats, and one that Republicans are sitting and thinking, how could this possibly have happened in the state that they had maintained an iron grip on for three decades?
Looking at the map, Democrats even managed to win in areas where there had been recent Republican redistricting efforts. The Democrats won districts in Florida that Republicans redrew to be favorable for themselves, and flipped at least one North Carolina seat in a similar situation. Times politics reporter Reid Epstein says, overall, the Democrats' consistent messaging that President Trump is to blame for rising prices seems to have carried the party across the board.
The places that Democrats have overperformed really cross geographic regions of the country. They have done well in rural areas and suburban areas. Their turnout is through the roof in urban parts of the country. They have won districts that are predominantly Latino. They have won districts that are almost all white. It is a thorough and complete victory across the country for Democrats against Republicans.
As of early this morning, Democrats could still widen their lead in the Senate. Ballots are still being counted in Alaska and in Mississippi, which emerged as an unlikely and unexpected battleground, with potentially only a couple dozen votes separating the two candidates. Meanwhile.
Hello, Mr. President.
Hi.
Hi.
Hi. What's up? Go ahead.
My colleagues who cover the White House spoke with President Trump as he was watching the results come in, and he chalked up his party's steep losses to the fact that he personally wasn't on the ballot.
And I think the other thing is Iran with the oil price was that they don't mind the Iran, but they probably weren't happy they weren't happy with the oil price. So, you know, it's one of those things. But I don't regret that decision at all.
When pressed on whether he would accept the results of these elections, after repeatedly sowing doubt about cheating and fraud, the president said he would.
We'll work with the Democrats, and we'll, you know, look forward to working with them. We'll probably work something out.
Overall, it was a short conversation, and his tone was subdued. Looking ahead, Democrats' victories give them the power to stall Trump's legislative agenda for the rest of his term. They'll also have functional veto power over any of Trump's appointments, including to the Supreme Court, and they'll have subpoena power to investigate the president, his administration, and his allies. For the full, up-to-date results of the 2026 midterms, you can check the Times app or go to nytimes.com.
Now, an update from the Middle East. The Times has learned that Israel has shared intelligence with the U.S. that Iran is considering the use of chemical weapons, possibly by putting them on a missile or drone. But American officials are divided on how seriously to take that intel. Some U.S. officials believe the intel is cause for alarm. The U.S. has been monitoring a lot of threats from Iran recently, especially since it uncovered an Iranian plot to target an air base used by American warplanes in Britain.
Other U.S. officials, however, are deeply skeptical, not that Iran is developing chemical weapons, but that it's ready to use them. Those officials see Israel's shared intelligence as part of an effort by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to try and push President Trump toward restarting major combat operations against Iran. For some officials, the talk of a chemical weapons threat from Iran has even evoked the flawed U.S. intelligence from the early 2000s about whether Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, which was cited as a reason for the U.S.
to invade. For its part, Iran has acknowledged it developed chemical weapons capabilities decades ago but has said it later dismantled them. In the Caribbean this week.
We cannot change the actions of those who came before us. We can, however, learn from the past.
King Charles gave a speech expressing, quote, "profound personal sorrow" over Britain's role in the transatlantic slave trade, which ran through many of the islands there.
As I have said before, that shameful chapter of history is one that fills my heart with horror.
The king was at a meeting of the Commonwealth nations, many of which are former British colonies, and many of which have demanded that Britain face up to its history. In his speech, though, the king stopped short of offering a formal apology for Britain's trafficking of millions of enslaved people from Africa in the 1700s and 1800s. In fact, the king alone can't formally apologize on the country's behalf. He would need the U.K. government to authorize him to do that.
Recently, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he's open to the idea of major change in British policy, but Burnham drew the line at paying reparations, which some Commonwealth leaders have also been pushing strongly for. Burnham wrote that the British people should not be held financially liable for, quote, "historical wrongs, however heinous, that happened in a different age under different laws."
And finally, one last little elections nugget for you.
Welcome to Space Station, where we have the privilege of being able to vote just like you on the ground.
This year, not even orbiting around the Earth at 17,000 miles an hour, stopped NASA astronauts from voting. Yesterday, the astronaut Anil Menon shared a little tour of his setup from the International Space Station.
This is my room that doubles as a voting booth, where I was able to fill out an electronic form and send it to Harris County so I could vote today.
Menon said two other crew members aboard also voted, but it was not always this way. Back in 1996, when Bill Clinton was facing off with Bob Dole, the presidency, the Times covered how the NASA astronaut aboard the Mere Space Station was not able to vote because, at the time, Texas, where most astronauts live, simply had no provisions for voting by email or from space. The Texas legislature changed that the next year, allowing those orbiting above us right now to space vote.
The very first astronaut to do that, in 1997, told The Atlantic, "It made me feel closer to the Earth." Those are the headlines. Today on the Daily, more on the midterms with the Times' Shane Goldmaker, Lisa Layer, and Nate Cohen. You can listen to that in the New York Times app or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Tracy Mumford. We'll be back tomorrow.
Plus, how to vote from space. Here’s what we’re covering:Midterm Elections Live Updates: Democrats Seize Control of Congress as Voters Rebuke Trump, by The New York TimesIsraeli Claims of Iranian Chemical Weapons Divide U.S. Officials, by Julian E. Barnes, Natan Odenheimer, Eric Schmitt, Adam Rasgon and Dustin VolzOn Cusp of Renewed War, More Iranians Are Calling for Nuclear Weapons, by Erika SolomonKing Charles Says U.K.’s Role in Slave Trade ‘Fills My Heart With Horror,’ by Michael D. ShearNASA Astronaut Votes From Space, by Jessica Shim and Jiwoong Hong
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