OVERVIEW
On November 3, Democrats won control of both the House and Senate in the 2026 midterm elections. So far, the party has flipped seven Republican-held Senate seats, securing 54 seats to Republicans’ 44, with results still pending in Alaska and Mississippi. In the House, Democrats have flipped 43 seats, securing 253 seats to Republicans’ 155, with winners in 27 races not yet declared. The new Congress convenes on January 3, 2027.
The Senate gains came in Iowa, Kansas, Maine, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas. Adam Hamilton’s victory in Kansas ended a Democratic Senate election drought dating to 1932. In Texas, James Talarico defeated Ken Paxton, delivering the party’s first Senate victory since 1988. Annie Andrews won South Carolina’s first Democratic Senate election since 1998, while Roy Cooper secured North Carolina’s first since 2008.
The incoming Senate will include three history-making members: Minnesota’s Peggy Flanagan, the first Native American woman; Michigan’s Abdul El-Sayed, the first Muslim; and New Hampshire’s Chris Pappas, the first openly gay man. Colorado’s Melat Kiros became the first Gen Z woman elected to Congress. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries is in line to become the first Black speaker, subject to election by the incoming House.
Democrats also captured Republican-held governorships in Georgia, Iowa, Ohio, Texas and Nevada. In Texas, Gina Hinojosa defeated three-term incumbent Greg Abbott, becoming the state’s first Latina elected governor and the first Democrat to win the office since Ann Richards in 1990. Democrats also won all four congressional districts along the Texas-Mexico border.
Keisha Lance Bottoms’ victory in Georgia made her the first Black woman elected governor in U.S. history. New Mexico’s Deb Haaland became the first Native American woman elected governor, while Xavier Becerra became California’s first Latino elected to the office. Republican Byron Donalds and Democrats David Crowley and Aaron Ford became the first Black governors elected in Florida, Wisconsin and Nevada, respectively.
LEGAL INTERPRETATION
Democratic control of both chambers gives the incoming majority authority over congressional committees and the legislative agenda. Committees can hold hearings, request records and issue subpoenas within their jurisdiction and investigative authority. The Senate separately determines whether to confirm presidential nominees, including federal judges, Supreme Court justices and executive officials whose appointments require Senate consent. Republicans retain their existing congressional authority until the new Congress convenes in January.
Congress can enact legislation restricting agency authority over the use of federal funds, but those measures remain subject to the legislative process and presidential veto. Overriding a veto requires a two-thirds vote in each chamber. Oversight hearings and investigations do not themselves change the law or invalidate executive actions.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 remains the law of the land. It prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin and protects individuals of every racial group. The Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County remains binding precedent, holding that discrimination based on sexual orientation or transgender status constitutes sex discrimination under Title VII. These statutory protections and employers’ corresponding obligations apply regardless of which party controls Congress or the White House.
While the president retains authority to issue executive orders, which principally affect federal agencies, federal contractors and recipients of federal funds, recent court decisions have already limited their reach.
BRIDGE POV
For nearly two years, FORWARD has documented challenges to civil rights, attacks on inclusion and efforts to dismantle the practices and institutions designed to expand opportunity. For many in our community, the midterm results have brought relief, joy and renewed energy. After navigating uncertainty, defending commitments and supporting people who have felt personally targeted, those feelings deserve space.
The election creates a different political environment for the work ahead. How that translates into policy, oversight and institutional priorities will become clearer as the new Congress and newly elected state leaders prepare to take office.
A commitment to inclusion should never depend on which party controls Washington. It rests on a belief that people deserve dignity, opportunity and the ability to participate fully in the institutions that shape their lives. It is also simply good for business.
This is an opportunity to reconnect with the purpose behind an organization’s commitment to inclusion: understanding the people it serves, expanding access to opportunity, strengthening workplace culture and building businesses capable of succeeding in a changing country.
Those objectives have remained relevant throughout the political turbulence. This moment offers renewed energy to pursue them.
Inclusion cannot remain dependent on the courage of individual leaders or the outcome of the next election. We have seen how quickly commitments can be reversed when the practices supporting them lack a lasting foundation. And so, we need to move from progress to permanence.
Permanence requires inclusion to be embedded in how organizations make decisions and create value: how they identify talent, develop leaders, understand consumers, design products and deploy technology. It requires knowledge, clear responsibilities, measurement and accountability.
The election creates an opening to advance this work with renewed conviction. Organizations that have maintained their commitments can build on them. Those that stepped back can examine what was lost and strengthen the practices their businesses need.
Politics may change. Values should not. That principle has guided us through the challenges of the past nearly two years. It also guides how we build on this moment.
Building the infrastructure for inclusion means making it fundamental to how businesses operate, create value and grow, with the strength to endure beyond any election or individual leader.
ACTIONABLE STRATEGIES
- Reaffirm the business purpose of inclusion. Make clear how inclusion supports your organization’s people, consumers and growth. Give leaders a consistent rationale they can articulate across political cycles.
- Build permanence into the work. Embed inclusion in core decisions, budgets and management responsibilities. Establish measures that demonstrate its contribution to talent, consumer understanding and business performance.
- Build broader pathways to leadership. Examine who receives access to development, sponsorship and consequential assignments. Strengthen the practices that allow more people to contribute, advance and shape decisions.
