Democrats' historic wins in Texas highlight taking control of Congress in midterm blue wave

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi congratulated Democrat Scott Wiener Wednesday after he defeated her preferred candidate, Connie Chan, in the race to succeed her in California's 11th Congressional District.

"I congratulate Scott Wiener on his election to the Congress," Pelosi said in a statement. "Representing San Francisco is an extraordinary honor and a profound responsibility."

Pelosi, who endorsed Chan in the contest, praised the losing candidate's campaign and thanked her supporters.

"I was proud to support her, and I am so proud of the campaign she ran," Pelosi said.

Rapper Nicki Minaj delivered a defiant message following Tuesday's midterm elections, reminding Democrats that President Donald Trump remains in the White House while celebrating Republican victories in Florida.

"Trump is STILL your PRESIDENT," Minaj declared in a lengthy X post accompanied by a selfie video.

The Grammy-nominated rapper also praised Vice President JD Vance, congratulated Rep. Anna Paulina Luna and Florida Gov.-elect Byron Donalds and took a swipe at Democrats over their previous presidential campaign spending.

"Blowing a billion on a losing campaign full of celebrities is STILL hurting them," Minaj wrote, appearing to reference former Vice President Kamala Harris' unsuccessful 2024 presidential bid.

Minaj also invoked her Christian faith, declaring, "Jesus is STILL LORD," while drawing attention to the persecution of Christians.

The rapper closed with a message for her critics.

"Stay tuned & STAY MAD," she wrote.

The Associated Press projects that Democrat Marni von Wilpert, a San Diego City Councilmember, will defeat Republican Jim Desmond in California’s 48th Congressional District, flipping the open seat to Democratic control.

Wilpert’s victory cashes in on mid-decade, Democratic-backed redistricting in California that has turned the 48th District into a more blue-leaning area. More broadly, it also marks a significant victory for the party as it tries to recapture control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The district’s incumbent, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., won the seat by comfortable margins in the past two cycles, beating out Democratic challengers by more than 10 percentage points.

Issa announced his retirement after the maps’ implementation, framing it as a personal decision in a statement posted on X. 

On her website, Wilpert identified priorities like increased accountability for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), protecting government programs like Social Security and, like many other Democrats, a focus on affordability.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis warned Wednesday that Republicans face a rapidly closing window to confirm President Donald Trump's conservative judicial nominees after Democrats seized control of the Senate, while blasting GOP lawmakers for failing to deliver on key campaign promises.

"I'd roll in cots to the U.S. Senate cloakroom. I'd have them work around the clock," DeSantis told Fox News' Laura Ingraham on "The Ingraham Angle."

The outgoing governor warned that Republicans must fill every available judicial vacancy before Democrats take control in January.

"You cannot leave anything on the table," he declared.

DeSantis also criticized congressional Republicans for failing to pursue major immigration reforms, including restrictions on H-1B visas and codifying Trump's executive orders.

"There's so many things that could have been done. They didn't even attempt it, Laura," he said.

While acknowledging that Florida weathered this year's blue wave better than other Republican strongholds, DeSantis argued that frustrated GOP voters stayed home because their party failed to deliver.

"They promised big things, and they didn't deliver it," he said

Erika Kirk leaned on her late husband Charlie’s advice as she urged conservatives to regroup after Republican election setbacks.

“I miss Charlie so much every single day, but especially on a day like today,” she wrote on X.

“He always said that when things are going well, we need to stay humble. And when things aren’t going the way we want, we need to stay positive, keep our faith, and get back to work.”

Kirk warned against conservative infighting, saying Turning Point would study the results, listen to voters and prepare for 2028.

She also thanked the organization’s staff, students, volunteers and ballot chasers.

“I know Charlie would be unbelievably proud of each and every one of you, and I am, too,” she wrote.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani struck a triumphant tone Wednesday following Democrats' midterm victories, taking shots at Vice President JD Vance, billionaire Elon Musk and wealthy political donors while declaring a new political dawn.

"Last night's election proved working people expect more from their government and they're tired of waiting," Mamdani said in a video posted to X.

The democratic socialist mocked Vance's call for more time to deliver on the administration's promises, arguing Americans cannot afford to wait another two years for relief from rising costs.

Mamdani also singled out Musk, accusing politicians of catering to the wealthy.

He went on to accuse politicians of spending taxpayer dollars on "war crimes and genocide" instead of schools and infrastructure.

"It is not enough to simply win power. We must use it," Mamdani declared, challenging Democrats to turn their electoral gains into policies.

"My friends, it is morning again in America," he concluded, invoking the iconic slogan from former Republican President Ronald Reagan's campaign.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is considering a third run for president in 2028, suggesting Republicans' bruising midterm losses have him reconsidering his political future.

Appearing Wednesday on Christopher "Mad Dog" Russo's SiriusXM show, Christie said Tuesday's election results had prompted him to think seriously about another White House bid.

"I certainly am going to think about it now after the results of last night," Christie said on Mad Dog Sports Radio on SiriusXM.

The former Republican governor, who unsuccessfully sought the GOP presidential nomination in 2016 and 2024, even pointed to Ronald Reagan's political comeback as a potential precedent.

"Reagan got elected on his third time running, so maybe there's a bit of a charm to that," Christie said. "You don't do this a third time just for the experience."

Christie said he expects to make a decision within a few months.

Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., defended her controversial decision to rescind her endorsement of Democratic Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed Wednesday, declaring she would not sacrifice her principles for party unity following Tuesday's midterms.

"I don't regret it, but I am truly sorry that it upset some of my colleagues and people I care about personally," Stevens wrote in a lengthy statement posted to X.

"The endorsement was the outlier act. Rescinding it was not," she declared.

Stevens, who lost the Democrat Senate primary to El-Sayed, said her longstanding support for Israel made endorsing him difficult from the outset.

"As co-chair of the House caucus on antisemitism, endorsing a man who stood with Hasan Piker and his antisemitic bile was always a tough fit for me," Stevens wrote.

The Michigan Democrat said she initially hoped to help moderate El-Sayed's positions but concluded that "Instead, he got worse."

"I regret my original endorsement," she added, acknowledging that her reversal had upset colleagues and personal friends.

Stevens insisted she remains committed to the Democratic Party while refusing to compromise her opposition to antisemitism.

"What mattered more was truth over political convenience," she concluded.

The Justice Department fired back Wednesday at the prospect of congressional investigations under the incoming Democratic House majority, accusing Democrats of preparing to revive their previous efforts to weaponize the federal government.

"DOJ officials are not afraid of threats from Democrats on the Hill: we have followed the law and will continue to do so," a Justice Department spokesperson told Fox News' David Spunt.

The warning comes one day after Democrats won control of the House in Tuesday's midterm elections, setting the stage for heightened scrutiny of President Donald Trump's administration.

"It is no surprise that rather than focus on bringing down costs for Americans, Democrats in Congress are picking up where their weaponization efforts left off when they were last in power," the spokesperson added.

Fox News' David Spunt contributed to this reporting.

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer acknowledged Republicans' bruising midterm defeat Wednesday while launching his bid to remain the party's whip as Democrats prepare to take control of the House.

"There is no sugarcoating the failure we just experienced," Emmer wrote in a letter to House Republicans. "We lost, and I take that loss personally, both as a competitor and a member of this team."

But the Minnesota Republican insisted the grand ole party could rebound.

"We are down, but we are not out."

Emmer, who previously chaired the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), pointed to the GOP's 2020 House gains and 2022 majority as evidence Republicans can recover from electoral setbacks.

He urged colleagues to unite against Democrats and prepare to reclaim the majority in 2028.

"The only goal of the minority is to become the majority," Emmer wrote.

Emmer closed by formally requesting support to serve as Republican whip in the 120th Congress.

Democratic Socialists of America supporters laid out sweeping ambitions for the U.S. economy during an Election Night watch party, with some calling for collective ownership of major industries and an economic system no longer centered on private profit.

"I would definitely support collective ownership of industries in the United States for sure," one attendee told Fox News Digital.

Another identified energy and weapons production as industries that should no longer generate private profits.

"Ultimately, for me, the long-term goal of the political project is a socialist transformation of society and a move beyond the economy being centered around profit and instead being centered on human need," the attendee said.

A third socialist called for greater public control of companies, comparing bosses and landlords to authoritarian rulers.

"We don't like kings. We don't accept them," the DSA supporter declared.

Voters handed Democrats control of Congress in the midterms after the GOP’s affordability pitch fell flat. Now Democrats must prove they can bring costs down after campaigning on a promise to address Americans' economic woes.

Scott Lincicome, vice president of general economics at the Cato Institute, said the gap between Trump’s promise to lower prices and voters’ experience since he was re-elected is likely what led to widespread Republican losses Tuesday night.

"When you campaign on lowering prices, and then you actually actively increase prices, it's probably gonna hurt when voters go back to the polls and are mad about prices still being too high," Lincicome told Fox News Digital.

Three charts show the cost pressures that helped shape the midterm vote — and the affordability challenge Democrats now inherit when they take control in January.

Everyday costs keep climbing

Consumer prices rose 3.7% over the year through September and 0.6% from August, according to the latest inflation report. The consumer price index tracks prices across a broad range of household expenses, including food, housing, medical care and transportation.

Trade policy added to some of those costs. A New York Federal Reserve study found that Trump’s tariffs added about 2.9 percentage points to prices across the consumer goods researchers examined.

Roughly one-third of the increase came from U.S.-made products, as domestic manufacturers faced higher costs for imported materials and components.

The figures show the price pressures voters faced, but not how they assigned responsibility for them.

Democrats' midterm victories set up a new fight over Trump’s economic agenda, including his sweeping tariffs. A Democratic-led Congress can hold hearings, demand information and force votes, but experts say it may have limited ability to unwind the policies on its own.

This is an excerpt of an article by Fox News Digital's Amanda Macias.

Republicans’ sweeping losses Tuesday could reshape the Supreme Court for years, prominent conservatives warned, arguing that Democrats’ new Senate majority may block President Donald Trump from replacing Justices Clarence Thomas or Samuel Alito with conservative successors.

"Assuming Republicans lose the seats where prediction markets have the Democrats at 90+% to win, that would produce 55 Democrat Senate seats," Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis wrote on X on Tuesday night in a post that was viewed almost 4 million times.

"Chance of confirming a worthy successor to Justice Thomas and/or Alito during President Trump’s term: Zero. Chance of confirming a worthy successor during a hypothetical GOP admin 2029-2033: probably zero (GOP won’t be able to recapture enough seats in 28)."

Democrats took control of the Senate Tuesday night and hold 54 seats as of midday Wednesday, and DeSantis was joined on social media by several others explaining that Alito, 76, and Thomas, 78, will be almost impossible to replace with equally conservative appointees.

Ed Whelan, a conservative legal expert who clerked for the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, wrote on X that Trump is now effectively blocked from appointing federal judges or Supreme Court justices during the final two years of his term.

"If a Republican is elected president in 2028, that president will not be able to appoint any justices or judges until Republicans regain the Senate," Whelan wrote. "Given the deep hole, that might not happen until 2033. "

Whelan also explained that a justice resigning during the upcoming "lame duck" session is highly unlikely and Republicans would have a hard time securing 51 votes.

"If Sherrod Brown wins Ohio seat, he gets sworn into Senate in early December, so Senate becomes 52R-48D," Whelan wrote. "Collins and Murkowski would be unlikely to support anyone Trump would nominate. John Cornyn, Thom Tillis, and Bill Cassidy aren’t going to be eager to do Trump any favors. And there are other senators—e.g., John Curtis of Utah—who would be leery of anyone Trump would be eager to push through."

This is an excerpt of an article by Fox News Digital's Andrew Mark Miller.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis warned Wednesday that Republicans have been nearly wiped out nationally after devastating election losses, while highlighting his state as the lone remaining GOP stronghold among the 10 most populous states as speculation builds about his political future in 2028.

Tuesday was an otherwise brutal night for the GOP, as the Trump movement faces major questions amid setbacks in longtime Republican strongholds such as Kansas and Texas, while holding Senate seats in West Virginia and deep-red Wyoming and South Dakota.

"This is close to an extinction level event for Republicans … out of the ten largest states in this union, only one state will have Republican control of their state, the state of Florida," DeSantis said at a Wednesday news conference, where he also highlighted Florida as the lone bright spot on Republicans' map of the nation's largest states.

"We've built up a record of achievement. We've earned trust from a number of our voters that even in the worst situation that you can imagine politically we were able to hold the line," DeSantis added.

Fox News Digital reached out to DeSantis for comment.

Orlando-based political strategist and pollster Doug Kaplan told Fox News Digital that DeSantis appears to be eyeing a lasting role on the national stage.

"I think last night was a big night for DeSantis. If you're looking at winners on the Republican side, then I think he's found his lane if he wants to run for president in 2028.," he said.

Kaplan characterized DeSantis' comments as an "opening salvo" in an effort to distance himself from the Trump-led status quo in the Republican Party, though he acknowledged the staying power of Trump's MAGA movement among GOP primary voters.

This is an excerpt of an article by Fox News Digital's Charles Creitz.

Texas’ 9th Congressional District has been called for Democrat Leticia Gutierrez, adding to Democrats’ gains in the House.

Gutierrez defeated Rep. Morgan Luttrell, R-Texas, in the Houston-area district.

The race was called Wednesday at 1:02 p.m. ET.