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Democrats take back Congress as Republicans hold Florida

Democrats won back the U.S. House and Senate on November 3, according to 14ymedio and Cubanet, while Republicans held Florida: Carlos Giménez won re-election and the races of María Elvira Salazar and Mario Díaz-Balart were still undecided.

Democrats won back the House of Representatives with a majority that could reach 244 seats, above the 218 needed to control the chamber, and also flipped the Senate with wins in Texas, Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Iowa and Ohio, according to 14ymedio.

In Texas, James Talarico became the first Democrat elected to the federal Senate from that state in 38 years, defeating state attorney general Ken Paxton, who was backed by President Donald Trump. Republican governor Greg Abbott, seeking a fourth term, lost to Democrat Gina Hinojosa, the first Latina who will govern the state.

In Florida the result was the opposite. Republican Byron Donalds became the first Black governor elected in the state, Ashley Moody took the Senate seat vacated by Marco Rubio when he became secretary of state, and attorney general James Uthmeier, backed by Trump, also won, according to 14ymedio.

Among the Cuban American members of Congress, Cubanet reported that Carlos Giménez won re-election and that María Elvira Salazar and Mario Díaz-Balart were leading the count in their South Florida districts. In district 27, Democrat Elliott Rodríguez trailed Salazar by about 1,000 votes and did not concede: “We are going to count every vote. Until the last vote is counted, we are not going to say whether we won or not,” he said, in remarks translated by Yamacoa.

Diario de Cuba summed up that the Cuban American legislators keep their seats and that the Cuban government says it expects no change in U.S. policy toward the island after these midterm elections.

The new majority will let the opposition block Trump's legislative agenda, open investigations and push impeachment against the president or members of his cabinet, although removal would require two thirds of the Senate. Control of the upper chamber also gives Democrats power to condition foreign policy decisions and block Supreme Court confirmations, according to 14ymedio.

Trump blamed the setback on his name not being on the ballot, writing on his social network that he had not been on the ballot and that, had he been, his side would have won in a landslide, in the version published by 14ymedio. He later told The New York Times he is willing to accept the result and work with the new majority, and told Fox News he was a little surprised.

Sources: 14ymedio · 14ymedio · Cubanet · Diario de Cuba · Cubadebate · Diario de Cuba

Data updated: 2026-11-04T16:15:00.000Z

Democrats take back Congress as Republicans hold Florida | Yamacoa Observatory