Democrats captured the U.S. House in President Donald Trump’s 2018 midterms, while Republicans increased their Senate majority, leaving control of Congress divided between the parties.
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) reported that the 116th Congress had 235 Democrats and 199 Republicans in the House, with one seat vacant. The opening stemmed from the unresolved race in North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District: officials did not certify its 2018 result, and a new election filled the seat in September 2019.
The Senate’s party division changed by two seats in each party’s column. Republicans finished with 53, up from 51, while Democrats had 45 after starting with 47. Two independents also held seats. Democrats led the House and Republicans led the Senate.
The Census Bureau put 2018 turnout at 53.4% of the citizen voting-age population. That was the highest rate for a congressional election in the agency’s records, which begin in 1978.
House Historian records place the result in a wider pattern. Since the modern party system began, more than three-quarters of shifts in which party controls the House have occurred during midterm elections, the office’s data show.
At a White House news conference on Nov. 7, the day after the election, Trump said: “The Republican Party defied history to expand our Senate Majority.” His party had gained two Senate seats even as Democrats won the House.
Democrats later used their House majority to impeach Trump. The House approved the first article on Dec. 18, 2019, by 230-197, with one member voting present and three not voting. On Feb. 5, 2020, the Senate acquitted him on both articles, voting 52-48 on the first and 53-47 on the second.
