2026 vs. every midterm since 1946
The president's party almost always loses seats in a midterm. Here's how 2026 compares, with Donald Trump's Republicans in the White House.
Votes are being counted: this page updates every minute.
Not final: 53 House seats and 2 Senate seats are still uncalled. The 2026 figures add the races each party leads; counting only called races, the House is -77 and the Senate -9.
Seats gained or lost by the president's party
| Year | President | House | Senate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Barack Obama (D) | -63 | -6 |
| 1946 | Harry S. Truman (D) | -56 | -12 |
| 1994 | Bill Clinton (D) | -54 | -8 |
| 1958 | Dwight D. Eisenhower (R) | -48 | -13 |
| 1974 | Gerald R. Ford (R) | -48 | -5 |
| 1966 | Lyndon B. Johnson (D) | -47 | -4 |
| 2026* | Donald Trump (R) | -47 | -9 |
| 2018 | Donald Trump (R) | -41 | +2 |
| 2006 | George W. Bush (R) | -30 | -6 |
| 1950 | Harry S. Truman (D) | -28 | -6 |
| 1982 | Ronald Reagan (R) | -26 | +1 |
| 1954 | Dwight D. Eisenhower (R) | -18 | -1 |
| 1978 | Jimmy Carter (D) | -15 | -3 |
| 2014 | Barack Obama (D) | -13 | -9 |
| 1970 | Richard Nixon (R) | -12 | +2 |
| 2022 | Joe Biden (D) | -9 | +1 |
| 1990 | George H. W. Bush (R) | -8 | -1 |
| 1986 | Ronald Reagan (R) | -5 | -8 |
| 1962 | John F. Kennedy (D) | -4 | +3 |
| 1998 | Bill Clinton (D) | +4 | 0 |
| 2002 | George W. Bush (R) | +8 | +2 |
* 2026: if current leads hold.
Questions and answers
Is 2026 a wave election?
Republicans, the president's party, lose 47 House seats (if current leads hold), the 6th-biggest loss of 21 midterms since 1946. The average since 1946 is a loss of 26 seats.
How many seats does the president's party usually lose in a midterm?
Since 1946, an average of 26 House seats and 3.6 Senate seats. It gained House seats only in 1998 and 2002.
What was the biggest midterm wave?
2010, when Barack Obama's Democrats lost 63 House seats. Next come 1946 (−56) and 1994 (−54).
Midterm history → · Who controls Congress? → · House seats that flipped →
Historical source: The American Presidency Project (UC Santa Barbara). 2026: civicAPI results against Republicans' 220 House seats from 2024 and 53 Senate seats going in.