AP calls both the House and Senate for Democrats in the midterm elections

The Associated Press reported that Democrats won the House, completing a sweep of Congress in Tuesday's midterm elections. The AP had earlier called the Senate for Democrats but said the House was too close to call. Its latest report says Democrats have now taken both chambers.

The call settles what earlier reports had left open. The Daily Beast reported overnight that Democrats had won the House, but that was not a confirmed call, and Axios reported that Republicans had lost the Senate before the AP confirmed it. Democrats needed 218 seats for a House majority. In the Senate, Republicans began the election with a 53-47 majority, and Democrats needed 51 seats because Vice President JD Vance, a Republican, would break a 50-50 tie. The AP called North Carolina's Senate race for Democrat Roy Cooper, flipping a Republican-held seat, and Axios pointed to AP-projected Democratic gains in South Carolina, Kansas and Texas.

Before Election Day, Democrats were favored to regain the House, and forecaster Nate Silver gave them an 80% chance of taking the Senate. Early exit polls from CBS News then showed substantial dissatisfaction with President Trump, whose approval stood at 38% among voters, and opposition to him drove much of the Democratic vote for the House.

Bets on a Democratic sweep climbed through October from likely, edged higher at the end of the month and on Monday, and jumped Tuesday evening as the first polls closed. By early Wednesday they had settled at certainty, before the AP's call.

Other bets moved in the same direction. Traders ruled out Republicans keeping both chambers and ruled out a Republican Senate paired with a Democratic House. They also made Republican wins unlikely in the Kansas and Maine Senate races, while Republican hopes in Montana eased from all but certain to likely.

The new Congress convenes on Jan. 3, when the House will vote for speaker. The AP reports that Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries is expected to be nominated and elected. Individual races remain to be counted and certified, but the AP has called control of both chambers for Democrats.