Democrats won several key races in the high-stakes midterm elections -- with ABC News projecting that Democrats will take control of the Senate and the House.
Rep. Richard Hudson, the chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, the GOP's campaign arm for electing House Republicans, on Wednesday conceded his race in North Carolina's 9th Congressional District to Democrat Richard Ojeda.
ABC News has not projected a winner in the race.
"Last night, the voters of North Carolina’s 9th District made their choice, and I respect it," Hudson said in a statement released Wednesday.
Hudson, who was reelected by over 18 percentage points just two years ago, also said that he called Ojeda to concede.
"I wish him well and look forward to working with him to ensure a smooth transition for the people of North Carolina’s Ninth Congressional District," he said.
-ABC News' Halle Troadec
2 hours and 14 minutes ago
Trump says Vance post blaming GOP losses on Iran war is ‘largely true,’ takes no personal responsibility for midterm losses
President Donald Trump on Wednesday said Vice President JD Vance’s analysis that Republicans lost the midterms because of the war in Iran was “largely true,” but that he would do it again because “it’s the only answer.”
“Well, I think it's largely true because it drove the gasoline up a little bit, short term, and probably -- that's probably, it's true. But at the same time, if I had it to do again, I'd have to do it again because long term, it's the only answer,” Trump told reporters. “You can't let Iran have a nuclear weapon.”
President Donald Trump talks to reporters during a tour of White House Ballroom construction at the White House, Nov. 4, 2026, in Washington.
Alex Brandon/AP Photo
Trump said he knew Vance’s view of the war from the beginning.
“I know how he feels about it. I think it was. I think it was fine. Yeah, I thought it was good,” Trump said of Vance’s post. “I knew that when I went in, and we stopped them from having a nuclear weapon, and they will never have a nuclear weapon.”
Asked if he felt the war was worth it, Trump said he did.
“I do. Yeah. I mean, well, you have no choice," he said.
"I can tell you that, as far as that war is concerned, I would have done nothing differently,” he later added.
The president, who blitzed the country in the final weeks of the campaign, visiting ruby-red GOP strongholds, and where Democrats handed Republicans upsets, maintained they would have won if he were on the ballot. Trump had repeatedly asked rallygoers to pretend he was on the ballot.
“No, look. I mean, if I were on the ballot, we would have won. You saw the people that were packed, thousands and thousands of people at every rally, and if I was on the ballot, we would have won, but they just -- you couldn't transfer that love. There was such love at those rallies; it was incredible. We weren't able to transfer the love to candidates.”
-ABC News' Lalee Ibssa and Fritz Farrow
2 hours and 52 minutes ago
Trump talks about White House ballroom construction 1 day after GOP suffers election losses
President Donald Trump, speaking publicly for the first time Wednesday following Republicans' significant midterm election losses, touted the construction of the White House ballroom from inside the space -- as well as other construction projects around Washington.
The president and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum signed a beam that workers attached to a chain and lifted in the ballroom.
President Donald Trump speaks about the ballroom, at the White House in Washington, November 4, 2026.
Evan Vucci/Reuters
President Donald Trump signs the last piece of steel to be used in construction of the White House ballroom during an event, November 4, 2026 in Washington.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
The last piece of steel used in construction of the White House ballroom is hoisted up during an event with President Donald Trump, November 4, 2026 in Washington.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
3 hours and 6 minutes ago
Gov. Ron DeSantis calls GOP losses an almost 'extinction-level event'
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis described Tuesday's election results, which saw Democrats make massive gains in states including Texas, Iowa and South Carolina, as a "meteor strike," arguing that even a “wave” fails to capture the scale of the Republican losses.
“Last night, we witnessed, to call it a wave, I don't think would be fully accurate. It's the political equivalent of a meteor strike that went all around the United States, blue states, red states, everything in between, and the one state that was able to hold the line and withstand that is right here in the free state of Florida,” DeSantis said Wednesday in Florida.
DeSantis touted Republican candidates' success in Florida, but victory margins in many races were much closer than in previous years, as the Florida governor mentioned later on in his remarks.
DeSantis, who has not ruled out another presidential run, did not mince his words about last night’s election results for Republicans across the country, calling it a “close to an extinction-level event” for the party.
“Let's just be clear about what happened last night. This is close to an extinction-level event for Republicans in many parts of the country, as we have seen, probably in the last 100 years," he said.
