Democrats and Republicans reflect on midterm results and the message sent by voters

NPR | By Tamara Keith,

Leila Fadel

Published November 5, 2026 at 2:46 AM MST

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The 2026 election proved to be very good for Democrats and very bad for President Trump and Republicans. But there are still races outstanding that can tell us what mattered to voters this year.

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Tamara Keith

Tamara Keith is a Senior Political Correspondent for NPR and co-hosts the NPR Politics Podcast.

Leila Fadel

Leila Fadel is a host of Morning Edition, as well as NPR's morning news podcast Up First.

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