The Morning Briefing: November 4, 2026

Democrats took control of both chambers of Congress in Tuesday’s midterm elections, markets swung overnight on the result, and the wars and standoffs abroad moved with them. Here is what to know this morning.

Democrats win both chambers of Congress

Democrats won control of the Senate and the House in Tuesday’s midterms, flipping seven Republican-held Senate seats in Iowa, Kansas, Maine, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas, according to CNN’s takeaways from the night. The Associated Press had called 222 House seats for Democrats, with Democrats leading in 41 more, against 138 called for Republicans. President Donald Trump responded in a social media post that Republicans would have won had he been on the ballot, USA Today reported. Read our full reports: Democrats projected to win control of the U.S. Senate and Democrats projected to win control of the U.S. House.

Counting is not finished. The Senate races in Alaska and Mississippi were still too early to call on Wednesday morning, and dozens of House districts remained uncalled as votes continued to be counted.

Governors and firsts across the states

In Texas, Democrat Gina Hinojosa defeated three-term Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, and Democrat James Talarico defeated Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton in the Senate race, the first Democratic Senate win in the state since 1988. In Georgia, Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms won the governor’s race and became the first Black woman elected governor in U.S. history. In Michigan, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed beat his Republican opponent to become the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate. Full reports: Hinojosa and Talarico win in Texas, Bottoms wins in Georgia, and El-Sayed wins in Michigan.

Not every race went the Democrats’ way. In Florida, Republican Byron Donalds won the governor’s race and became the state’s first Black governor. Read our report on the Florida result.

Markets fall, then turn higher, on the result

Global stocks slumped and the dollar softened overnight as the Democratic wins landed, Reuters reported, with traders weighing tighter regulation of technology and artificial intelligence companies and a higher chance of political gridlock. Nasdaq futures fell more than 2 percent before cutting losses, S&P 500 futures slid 0.6 percent, and the yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 4.906 percent. In Asia, chipmakers Samsung, SK Hynix and TSMC slid, and Japan’s Nikkei fell about 3 percent, led by SoftBank.

By Wednesday morning the contracts had turned. A Dow Jones update reported Nasdaq futures up 0.2 percent, S&P 500 futures up 0.2 percent and Dow futures up 0.3 percent, with the 10-year yield near 4.93 percent. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal cited in that update, Trump said higher gasoline prices resulting from the U.S.-Iran conflict were in part responsible for the Democratic sweep.

Iran deal talks stay far apart as strike reports circulate

Iran and the United States remain far from a deal to end their war, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Tuesday, even as mediator Qatar stepped up efforts to avert a new escalation and Qatari mediators traveled to Tehran on Monday night. Trump told the Financial Times he was ready for strikes but in no hurry, saying, “We’re locked and loaded if we need to go, but there may be no reason for it.” The New York Times reported that U.S. Central Command has prepared plans for a possible strike on Iran as early as Wednesday, November 4. That report describes contingency planning, not a confirmed decision to strike.

Overnight, the United States carried out strikes described by a U.S. official as defensive on Iran’s Qeshm Island, targeting surface-to-air missiles used against U.S. assets. Separately, Trump said on Tuesday that he had made a deal with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu under which Washington would stop 4 billion dollars in annual funding to Israel after this year while still selling weapons to Israel. Read our report on the Israel aid announcement.

Russia hits Ukrainian power stations overnight

Russia hit two power stations in Ukraine’s Kyiv and Zhytomyr regions on Wednesday, the Russian defense ministry said on Telegram, Reuters reported, keeping up near-daily strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities as temperatures fall. The strikes also targeted a cargo vessel at sea near Odesa and followed Tuesday’s bombardments with missiles and drones that knocked out power to swathes of Ukraine. Ukraine’s air force said Russia attacked with 310 drones from the evening of November 3, with hits recorded at 19 locations, and regional officials reported energy facilities damaged in six regions.

The strikes come a week before U.S.-brokered peace talks were set to resume. Read our report on the Abu Dhabi talks planned for November 10-11.

WNBA finals game 7 sets a viewing record

Game 7 of the WNBA Finals drew 3.3 million viewers, the league announced Tuesday, making it the most-watched broadcast in the history of the league’s playoffs. The Golden State Valkyries beat the Atlanta Dream 68-63 on October 31 in the first Game 7 in league history. The game, shown on USA Network, CNBC and Peacock, was the most-watched WNBA game on cable or streaming and the second-most-watched WNBA game on any platform since 1997, according to Field Level Media.