Democrats Reclaim the House and Flip Governorships as the 2026 Midterms Break Their Way
Democrats were projected to win the U.S. House, flipped three Republican Senate seats and took governorships in Ohio, Georgia and New Mexico. The fight for the Senate majority was still undecided.
In brief
Developing (election night, Nov. 3): The results below are election-night projections from the Associated Press and the television networks. They are unofficial, several races remain uncalled, and control of the U.S. Senate had not been decided when this was published. Figures may change as counting continues.
The 2026 midterms broke decisively toward the Democrats. By late Tuesday the party had been projected to reclaim the U.S. House, had flipped at least three Republican-held Senate seats, and had taken governorships in states Republicans had held for years, several of them with candidates who made history by winning. The night did not settle everything; the Senate majority was still in the balance. But the shape of it was unmistakable, and for readers in the Washington region it resets the capital both parties will deal with for the next two years.
The House flips
The biggest single result was the House. CBS News and NBC News both projected Democrats would win control of the chamber, with NBC's model showing the party on course for roughly 248 seats, comfortably past the 218 needed for a majority. Republicans had controlled the House by just four seats going into the night. A Democratic House means the party will set the floor agenda, run the committees and hold the oversight and subpoena power that comes with the gavel, a direct check on the White House for the back half of the presidential term.
The flips came in the kinds of districts both parties had circled for a year. In Florida's 25th, Democrat Jared Moskowitz won, and high-profile incumbents including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez were returned to Washington.
Three Senate seats turn over, and the majority stays open
The Senate delivered the night's marquee upsets. NBC News projected Democrats had flipped three Republican-held seats: James Talarico defeated Attorney General Ken Paxton in Texas, former Gov. Roy Cooper won in North Carolina, and Annie Andrews pulled off what CBS called a major upset in South Carolina. Sen. Jon Ossoff held his seat in Georgia and Chris Pappas kept a seat for the Democrats in New Hampshire.
Even so, the chamber had not been called. Democrats needed a net gain of four seats to take the majority, and by late Tuesday they had three, with races in Maine and Alaska still outstanding. Alaska, as the Washington Post noted, can take more than two weeks to count. So the single most consequential question of the night, who runs the Senate, and with it the fate of the president's judicial and cabinet nominees, was left unresolved.
A wave in the statehouses
Democrats also made gains among governors, flipping several open and Republican-held seats. In Ohio, Amy Acton defeated Vivek Ramaswamy by about four points in the race to succeed term-limited Gov. Mike DeWine. In Georgia, Keisha Lance Bottoms won, the former Atlanta mayor becoming the first woman and the first African American elected governor of the state. And in New Mexico, former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland was projected to win, becoming the first Native American elected governor in the nation's history.
Democratic incumbents held in a string of states, among them Josh Shapiro in Pennsylvania, Wes Moore in Maryland, JB Pritzker in Illinois, Ned Lamont in Connecticut and Katie Hobbs in Arizona. Republicans had a signature win of their own in Florida, where Byron Donalds was projected to win the governorship over Democrat David Jolly, becoming the first Black governor in that state's history.
Why it matters here
For the Washington region, the national result changes the ground under local politics. A Democratic House alters the relationship between Congress and the District, where lawmakers hold unique power over local affairs. It reshapes the oversight that lands on federal agencies clustered in the DMV and on the workers who staff them. And it sets the terms of the budget and nominations fights that play out a few blocks from where many readers live and work.
What to Watch
The Senate call. Maine and Alaska will decide the majority. Alaska alone could take two weeks or more.
The final House margin. The size of the Democratic majority shapes how much the new majority can actually pass.
Recounts. Several close House and Senate races could trigger recounts before they are certified.
The transition in Washington. A flipped House means new committee chairs and a new oversight agenda when the next Congress is seated in January.
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CAN I KICK IT? screens New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument, on Aug. 22. (Courtesy SHAOLIN JAZZ)
The live-cinema series CAN I KICK IT? returns to the National Mall this month with what its producers are calling the "Gangsters on the Mall" chapter of their free outdoor summer run. On Saturday, August 22, the SHAOLIN JAZZ production brings the 1991 crime classic New Jack City to the Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument for a night of film, music, and community under the DC summer sky.
What sets the event apart is the sound. As the film plays, DJ 2-Tone Jones builds an original score in real time, reimagining one of the most iconic crime movies of the ’90s through hip-hop, soul, funk, and more. It is less a movie screening than a live performance built around the film.
The details:
Film: New Jack City (1991), with a live soundtrack by DJ 2-Tone Jones
When: Saturday, August 22 — seating opens at 7:30 p.m. (bring lawn chairs and blankets); film begins at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument, Independence Ave SW & 15th St NW
A parking note from the organizers: expect road closures and restricted parking east of 14th Street NW due to a separate race event in the District. Roads west of 14th Street NW will be accessible and available for parking.
New Jack City is the second of three screenings in this year’s free CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series, which opened with Black Panther at Skyland Town Center and concludes with Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial on September 5. Produced by the Washington, DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, the series has presented more than 150 live cinematic experiences at venues across the country, from Lincoln Center to SXSW.
"I wanted to be able to tell good stories with substance and remove the ‘ego’ out of the art," said Andrew Huang during a recent interview. Now, he’s building his career at the intersection of discipline, creativity and innovation.
Andrew Huang, founder of New Place Studios. (Courtesy photo)
As a Chinese American, Huang was reared with a deep respect for hard work, consistency and excellence. He describes his childhood as "not so affluent" and later attended college to hone his passion for videography. "In college I tried to do something I loved, which was video, but along the way I knew that I had to find a job. And so I thought, ‘what was the low hanging fruit to get to that stable 9 to 5 job?,’" he stated.
Later in life, Huang found himself working for corporations where his creativity was often limited, eventually leading to burnout. "I worked in a corporation for a long time and there were a lot of missing pieces. I wanted to fill in gaps missing in corporate video production," said Huang.
He later described how his upbringing and a mindset of "survival" led him toward a corporate career. However, his desire for balance and authentic storytelling ultimately pushed him to take the entrepreneurial leap.
"I founded a new place where you can create video and film with ‘substance and style,’" said Huang. His desire for work-life balance and passion for storytelling naturally evolved into a small business based in Virginia. With the launch of New Place Studios, the entrepreneur quickly found himself reconnecting with the values that would become the foundation of everything he creates behind the camera.
Huang said being a business owner has allowed him to first embrace himself. While others may see video as simply capturing moments, he sees it as a way to preserve stories that inspire, connect and leave a lasting imprint.
By combining cinematic visuals with cutting-edge production techniques and a keen understanding of branding, Huang helps organizations and individuals communicate their vision with purpose. He said understanding a client’s "why" serves as the compass for delivering the services they need.
One benefit of working with a small business, he said, is that clients get to see the production process unfold through a micro lens while working with the same faces throughout the entire project. "The work feels personal," said Huang.
Huang does not regret leaving behind the flash-over-substance mentality and corporate hustle culture. That does not mean the Asian American entrepreneur has been without challenges in the industry. "It’s relatively hard to find other Asian American creatives or people who would want to work with me in the DMV," said Huang.
He identifies the industry culture in which everyone is trying to blend in, creatives may fear displaying their Asian identity and some feel pressure to adopt an American corporate persona. He also points to what he describes as a level of gatekeeping within the industry. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 statistics, Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs own more than 3 million businesses and employ 5.2 million people in the United States.
After tapping into organizations such as SCORE, which offers free small business mentorship, New Place Studios has become a trusted creative partner throughout the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia). The company produces a range of creative services, including commercials, corporate branding, documentaries, film, 2D animation, motion graphics and photography.
For Huang, entrepreneurship has become more than a departure from corporate life. It has given him the freedom to create with intention, build meaningful connections and tell stories that go beyond the surface.
The 2026 CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
For three Saturdays this summer, some of Washington’s most familiar public spaces will do something they rarely do after dark: fill up with blankets, lawn chairs, and the sound of a movie being scored live, in real time. CAN I KICK IT?, the traveling “live cinema” series produced by the DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, is bringing a free outdoor run to the city — pairing three era-defining films with an original soundtrack performed on the spot by DJ 2-Tone Jones.
The premise is what sets it apart from a normal screening in the park. Rather than simply pressing play, 2-Tone Jones builds a score as the film unfolds, pulling from hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and sounds from around the world. The result, the organizers say, is less a movie night than a one-time performance — the same film you know, wired to a soundtrack you have never heard and will not hear again. Guest DJs warm up the crowd starting at 7:30 PM before each 8:30 PM screening.
The 2026 outdoor schedule
All three events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, August 8 — Black Panther at Skyland Town Center. A pop-up marketplace and community activities kick off the evening; guest DJs at 7:30 PM, film at 8:30 PM. Marvel’s superhero epic gets a one-night-only live score in Southeast DC.
Saturday, August 22 — New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument. Seating begins at 7:30 PM; the film starts at 8:30 PM. The 1991 crime drama plays out at the foot of one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks.
Saturday, September 5 — Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial. Seating at 7:30 PM; film at 8:30 PM. The series closes with Brian De Palma’s crime saga against the backdrop of the Memorial, scored live from start to finish.
First up: Black Panther at Skyland Town Center on August 8. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
A DC company with a national footprint
SHAOLIN JAZZ describes itself as a Washington-based arts company working at the intersection of music, film, art, and culture, and CAN I KICK IT? is its signature production. According to the organizers, the series has staged more than 150 live cinematic experiences around the country — at performing arts centers, museums, festivals, and cultural institutions including Lincoln Center in New York, SXSW, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Republic Square in Austin, the Tacoma Armory, and The Cary Theater.
“CAN I KICK IT? has always been about creating a shared experience,” said Gerald Watson, co-founder of SHAOLIN JAZZ. “When you combine iconic films with live music in public spaces, something special happens. People aren’t just watching a movie — they’re experiencing it together. That’s what makes these nights so memorable.”
Cinema as a community event
The DC run lands as cities across the country look for new ways to activate public space through arts and culture — and this series is a straightforward pitch for how to do it: take a landmark everyone already knows, add a film everyone has an opinion about, and let a live soundtrack turn the evening into something neighbors experience shoulder to shoulder. Families, film buffs, and music fans are all invited, and admission won’t cost a thing.
The CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series runs August 8, August 22, and September 5. All events are free; check SHAOLIN JAZZ (shaolinjazz.com) for the latest details and any weather updates before heading out.
