 |
Headlines |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
LIVE COVERAGE
Nov. 4, 2026
Follow DTN's political reporting team Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday morning for live updates on called races, election results and insights from farmers and political analysts. Chris Clayton is reporting from Sen. Amy Klobuchar's election night watch party in Minnesota, while Jake Zajkowski and Jerry Hagstrom are reporting from Washington, D.C.
**
ELECTION RESULTS AT A GLANCE
Updated as results for competitive rural races are confirmed. All results called by AP News.
-- U.S. House
WI-03: Rebecca Cooke (D) defeats Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R). House Agriculture Committee seat flips.
TX-15: Bobby Pulido (D) defeats Rep. Monica De La Cruz (R). House Agriculture Committee seat flips.
IA-03: Sarah Trone Garriott (D) defeats Rep. Zach Nunn (R). Trone Garriott received 55% to Nunn's 45%, 92% reporting. House Agriculture Committee seat flips.
PA-08: Paige Cognetti (D) defeats Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R). House Agriculture Committee seat flips.
IA-01: Christina Bohannan (D) defeats Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R). Bohannan received 54% of vote to Miller-Meeks' 43%, 93% reporting.
OH-09: Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D) defeats Derek Merrin (R)
NC-01: Rep. Don Davis (D) defeats Laurie Buckhout (R)
PA-10: Janelle Stelson (D) defeats Rep. Scott Perry (R). Perry opposed the Renewable Fuel Standard and year-round E15 expansion.
OH-11: Rep. Shontel Brown (D) defeats Mike Kirchner (R)
GA-08: Rep. Austin Scott (R) defeats Race Kelly Esti (D).
PA-15: Rep. Glenn Thompson (R) defeats Ray Bilger (D).
OK-03: Rep. Frank D. Lucas (R) defeats Suzie Byrd (D).
AL-02: Rep. Shomari C. Figures (D) defeats Rhett Marques (R).
-- U.S. Senate
MI-Senate: Abdul El-Sayed (D) defeats Mike Rogers (R).
ME-Senate: Troy Jackson (D) defeats Sen. Susan Collins (R). Seat flipped.
IA-Senate: Josh Turek (D) defeats Sen. Ashley Hinson (R). Seat flipped.
KS-Senate: Adam Hamilton (D) defeats Sen. Roger Marshall (R). 52% to 45%, with 95% counted. Seat flipped.
MN-Senate: Peggy Flanagan (D) defeats Michele Tafoya (R).
OH-Senate: Sherrod Brown (D) defeats Sen. Jon Husted (R). Seat flipped.
AR-Senate: Sen. Tom Cotton (R) defeats Hallie Shoffner (D).
SC-Senate: Annie Andrews (D) defeats Sen. Darline Graham (R). Seat flipped.
TX-Senate: James Talarico (D) defeats Ken Paxton (R). Seat flipped.
NC-Senate: Roy Cooper (D) defeats Michael Whatley (R). Seat flipped.
VA-Senate: Sen. Mark Warner (D) defeats Bert Mizusawa (R).
-- Key Ag Races
OH-Governor: Amy Acton (D) defeats Vivek Ramaswamy (R). Seat flipped.
IA-Governor: Rob Sand (D) defeats Zach Lahn (R). Seat flipped.
MN-Governor: Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D) defeats Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth (R).
**
LATEST ELECTION UPDATES (All times Central)
12:10 A.M. CST, Nov. 4.
Republicans Hand Over Congressional Control to Democrats
As of Wednesday morning, Senate Democrats had flipped seven seats, giving them a 53-seat majority in the 120th Congress.
In the House, Democrats have won 211 seats so far and are on track to take control of both chambers. A blue wave hit states such as Iowa particularly hard, where Republicans lost three congressional districts, a U.S. Senate seat and the governor's office.
Top Republicans are also conceding. President Donald Trump took multiple calls from reporters Tuesday night, confirming he will accept the results of the election.
"Congratulations to the Democrats. They did a good job. But I don't view it as a hit on me. We've had the greatest two years in the history of the presidency," he told Fox News. "It's just a point in time...There was a mood in the air I guess...I shouldn't feel guilty."
It's a once-in-a-generation political shift, one that would have been historic if Republicans had held the House. Since the 1994 Republican Revolution, when Republicans took control of the House for the first time in 40 years, midterm elections have repeatedly reshaped congressional power. The 2026 results mark another major reversal, with Democrats flipping seats across the House, Senate and governors' offices.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said, "From the first day of this election, we knew that to keep the House and sustain our majority, we would have to defy more than a century of midterm history ... and it looks like history will be kept tonight."
Michigan, Alaska and Mississippi Senate races remain uncalled.
In his victory speech, James Talarico, the newest democratic Senator in Texas, said, "We just took back Texas. We just proved that all the money in the world is no match for the people of Texas."
-- Jake Zajkowski, Ag Policy Editor
**
10:27 P.M. CST
Democrats March Toward Control
Democrats are positioned to retake control of Congress, with several key Senate races shifting in their favor. AP has called the Texas Senate race for James Talarico (D), who defeated Ken Paxton (R). Texas has not elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 1993.
In Ohio, former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) is seeking a return to the Senate after losing his 2024 reelection bid to Republican Bernie Moreno. NBC News projects Brown to defeat Sen. Jon Husted (R). Brown previously served on the Senate Agriculture, Banking and Finance committees and said he plans to be active on several committees if elected.
In Arkansas, incumbent Sen. Tom Cotton (R) leads Democratic challenger Hallie Shoffner, a soybean and rice farmer, 55% to 42%, with 82% of the vote reported.
Democrats need a net gain of four Republican-held Senate seats to take control of the chamber. With projected wins in North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas, and Brown's race in Ohio, Democrats have met that threshold.
In Ohio's governor's race, Amy Acton (D), the state's former health director under outgoing Gov. Mike DeWine, defeated Vivek Ramaswamy (R), according to the Associated Press.
A competitive Pennsylvania House district also flips to Democrats. Paige Cognetti (D) defeats Rob Bresnahan (R) in PA-08, according to NBC News. Bresnahan serves on the House Agriculture Committee.
-- Jake Zajkowski, Ag Policy Editor
**
8:40 P.M. CST
Future Committee Leaders Secure Reelection
In House races, the Associated Press declared Rep. Shontel Brown, D-Ohio, the winner of her race. Brown, vice ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee, has announced she will run to lead committee Democrats in the next Congress. Rep. Jim Costa, D-Calif., has also announced he will run for the Democratic leadership position on the committee.
Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., the third-highest-ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee, has won reelection, the Associated Press declared. With 76% of the vote counted, Scott led with 49.7%.
Scott is expected to run for the Republican leadership position on the House Agriculture Committee. Rep. Glenn "GT" Thompson, R-Pa., the current chairman, is term-limited but has asked Republican leadership for a waiver to continue in the position. Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Okla., a former committee chairman, ranks second in seniority on the committee roster.
-- Jerry Hagstrom, Political Correspondent
**
7:30 P.M. CST
Nebraska Rep. Bacon Sees a Fight for the Soul of the GOP Coming
Outgoing U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., said Tuesday that Republicans would need a debate to "fight for the soul of our party" if they suffer major losses in the mid-term elections, arguing the GOP should reclaim traditional conservative principles and restore its ability to govern across party lines.
Speaking on NPR before polls closed, Bacon said he would interpret big Republican losses as a rejection of President Donald Trump and the MAGA movement.
Bacon, a member of the House Agriculture Committee who is retiring, pointed to free trade, economic freedom, federalism, the rule of law and a strong stance against Russia as principles Republicans should embrace. He criticized Trump's tariffs and described the president as "significantly weak on Russia."
Bacon also warned that demonizing political opponents prevents progress on deficits, health care, legal immigration and national security.
"We demagogue and we demonize the other side so bad, and then you can't work together," Bacon told NPR, adding that the problem predates Trump.
Bacon's 2nd Congressional District in Nebraska, covering most of the Omaha metro area, is considered the state's "blue dot" for backing both former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris, but at the same time electing Bacon, a moderate Republican, five times. His district is considered a toss-up.
Bacon predicted the party's direction would become a central fight in the 2028 presidential primaries, contrasting a continuation of MAGA under JD Vance with a return to the party's roots through figures such as Marco Rubio or Nikki Haley.
"There will be a debate in the primaries," he said.
-- Chris Clayton, Ag Business Editor
**
7:00 P.M. CST
Polls are almost closed across the East Coast, and vote counting is underway in 35 U.S. Senate races.
Six closely watched races could determine control of the U.S. Senate: Ohio, Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Maine and Texas. Democrats need to win three of the remaining races to secure a majority, while Republicans need four.
So far, Virginia's Senate race has been called for Sen. Mark Warner (D). Democrats now hold 35 Senate seats, compared with 31 for Republicans.
-- Jake Zajkowski, Ag Policy Editor
**
4:22 P.M. CST
Farm Profitability Outpaces Policy in Voter Survey
More than 50% of DTN farmer readers say farm profitability, inflation and input costs will have the biggest influence on their vote in the midterm election today, according to an unscientific online DTN survey that ran Oct. 13- Nov. 3.
Another 20% of the 95 survey respondents identified taxes and government spending as their top issue.
The One Big Beautiful Bill (H.R. 1) sought to reduce taxes, while government farm relief payments are projected to total $55.4 billion in 2026.
Trade, labor, regulation and energy policy each accounted for less than 5% of responses.
-- Jake Zajkowski, Ag Policy Editor
**
3:25 P.M. CST
Election Day Clarity: SNAP, "It'll Take Some Compromise."
On Election Day, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, broke with the notion that Republicans would not consider a two-year SNAP cost-share extension to win Democratic support for the farm bill.
"I hate to talk about compromising on getting fraud out of food stamps, but there may be some sort of compromise. We'll have to do with the Democrats to get 60 votes to get the bill out," he told reporters Tuesday. "It'll take some compromise, maybe on this food stamp issue."
Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., has called the one-year SNAP cost-share delay Republicans' and the White House's final offer.
Grassley called a two-year, $18 billion cost-share arrangement "irresponsible," but also said, "On the other hand, we have a chance of getting E15 if we get this farm bill passed, and that's $14 billion more in the pockets of farmers, so that's what I've got to analyze."
Grassley, who's not running for reelection, also expressed confidence in Republicans' ability win the seat for Iowa governor, recalling how rural votes helped propel Kim Reynolds to victory in 2018.
-- Jake Zajkowski, DTN Ag Policy Editor
**
11:50 A.M. CST, Nov. 3
Blue Wave or Red Wall?
Former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, a North Dakota Democrat who served on the Senate Agriculture Committee from 2013 to 2019, told DTN that rural voters are increasingly frustrated with policies coming out of Washington.
Farmers, she said, "may still love (President) Donald Trump, but he needs to understand that he shouldn't take us for granted, and that he needs to back off some of these policies that are hurting us."
She expects discouragement among rural swing voters, along with an opportunity for some to reconsider their political choices. But that won't mean a political realignment in rural America. "I don't think any of us ever imagine that rural America is going to be blue America. I don't think it ever will be. But we need to lose less badly," Heitkamp said.
Zach Lahn, Iowa's Republican Gubernatorial candidate, meanwhile has argued that Iowa can withstand a broader Democratic wave.
"If there is such a thing as a blue wave in the country, it's going to crash into the red wall of the state of Iowa," he said at a campaign event a week before the election.
-- Jake Zajkowski, DTN Ag Policy Editor
**
It's Election Day -- the first Tuesday of November.
Polls close at 6 p.m. CST in Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia. At 6:30 p.m. CST, polls close in North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia.
At 7 p.m. CT, polls close in Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Tennessee. Arkansas polls close at 7:30 p.m. CT.
At 8 p.m. CT, polls close in Arizona (results not released for one hour), Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
At 9 p.m. CT, polls close in Montana, Nevada and Utah. At 10 p.m. CT, polls close in California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington (mail ballots due).
Most polls in Alaska close at midnight local time, or 1 a.m. CT.
-- Jake Zajkowski, DTN Ag Policy Editor
**
MORE ELECTION COVERAGE FROM DTN
Related election analysis, agriculture policy reporting and congressional coverage.
-- "Congress Faces an Ag Shake-Up," https://www.dtnpf.com/…
-- "The Midterms and Iowa's Farm Future," https://www.dtnpf.com/…
-- "5 Midterm Races to Watch in the Midwest," https://www.dtnpf.com/…
-- "Data Centers Test Republicans Vote," https://www.dtnpf.com/…
-- "Ag Policy Blog: Ohio Democrat Seeks Top House Ag Post in Next Congress," https://www.dtnpf.com/…
**
Jake Zajkowski can be reached at jake.zajkowski@dtn.com
Follow him on social platform X @jzajkow
Chris Clayton can be reached at Chris.Clayton@dtn.com
Follow him on social platform X @ChrisClaytonDTN
Jerry Hagstrom can be reached at jhagstrom@nationaljournal.com
Follow him on social platform X @hagstromreport
(c) Copyright 2026 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.
