Level 1 — Absolute Beginner

People in the United States voted on Tuesday. They voted for the Congress. The Congress makes the laws of the country.

The Congress has two parts. One part is the House. The other part is the Senate. The Democrats won both parts. Before the vote, the Republicans had both parts.

Some wins were a big surprise. In Texas, a Democrat won a Senate seat. The last time that happened was in 1994. In Kansas, a Democrat won too. The last time there was in 1932.

President Trump said he was a little bit surprised. He said the Democrats worked hard. But he also said he can still say no to new laws.

to vote

To choose a person or a plan in an election.

Congress

The group of people who make the laws in the United States.

the House

The larger of the two parts of the American Congress.

the Senate

The smaller of the two parts of the American Congress.

a seat

A place in Congress that one person wins in an election.

to win

To come first and get the prize or the job.

a surprise

Something you did not expect to happen.

a law

A rule that everybody in a country must follow.

Level 2 — Elementary

Americans voted on Tuesday in the midterm elections. These elections happen in the middle of a president's four year term, and they decide who sits in Congress. Congress has two chambers: the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The Democrats won both chambers. The Associated Press called the Senate for them, and television networks projected that they would also take the House. The Democrats went into the election with 47 Senate seats out of 100, so they needed to take seats away from the Republicans. By the end of the night they were projected to have flipped seven.

Two of those wins shocked people. In Texas, James Talarico beat Ken Paxton. He is the first Democrat elected to statewide office in Texas since 1994. In Kansas, Adam Hamilton beat Senator Roger Marshall by more than 50,000 votes, the first Democratic Senate win in that state since 1932. In Maine, Senator Susan Collins accepted defeat and said it had been the honour of her life to serve.

Hakeem Jeffries, who leads the Democrats in the House, told a cheering crowd that today begins the great American comeback. President Trump wrote on social media that he was not on the ballot, and that if he had been, his party would have won in a landslide. He also told Fox News that the Democrats fought hard and did a good job.

midterm elections

Elections held halfway through a president's term of office.

a chamber

One of the two halves of a parliament or congress.

to flip a seat

To win a seat that the other party held before.

to project

To announce the likely winner before all the votes are counted.

statewide

Covering a whole American state, not just one small district.

defeat

The fact of losing a contest or an election.

a landslide

A victory by a very large number of votes.

a comeback

A return to success after a time of failure.

Level 3 — Intermediate

The Democrats took control of both chambers of the United States Congress in Tuesday's midterm elections, an outcome that reporters across several continents described as a rebuke to President Donald Trump. The Associated Press called the Senate for the Democrats during the night, and by the close of one Australian live blog the party was projected to hold 53 Senate seats against 42 for the Republicans, with five contests still uncalled. In the House, 224 seats had been called for the Democrats and 133 for the Republicans, and American networks were forecasting a final Democratic total of somewhere between 230 and 255.

The map tells the story better than the totals do. Seven Republican Senate seats were projected to change hands, among them Ohio, where Sherrod Brown unseated Senator Jon Husted, and South Carolina, where Annie Andrews won by roughly 51 percent to 47. The most startling results came in two states the Democrats had almost stopped contesting. James Talarico defeated Ken Paxton in Texas, the first time a Democrat had won statewide there since 1994, and Adam Hamilton turned out Senator Roger Marshall in Kansas, where no Democrat had taken a Senate seat since 1932. Governors' races moved the same way, with the Associated Press projecting 24 Democratic governorships against 13 Republican ones.

Winners reached for the language of the underdog. Talarico told supporters that the people of Texas were his slingshot, and that they had defeated Goliath. Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic leader and now the man most likely to become speaker, told a watch party that today begins the great American comeback, adding that House Democrats were committed to making life better for voters. In Georgia, Keisha Lance Bottoms was projected to become the first Black woman elected governor of an American state, while in Florida the Republican Byron Donalds was projected to become that state's first Black governor.

The president's reaction arrived in several registers at once. On social media he insisted that he had not been on the ballot and that his side would have won in a landslide if he had been. Speaking to Fox News he conceded he was a little bit surprised and that he had thought his party would do better, before praising his opponents: he said the Democrats did a good job, and that they fought hard. He told the New York Times he was absolutely willing to accept the results. Yet he also argued that the new majorities were really not in control, because any bill they send him can come back with a veto stamp on it.

a rebuke

A sharp expression of disapproval or criticism.

to unseat

To remove someone from a position by beating them in an election.

uncalled

Describing a race in which no winner has yet been declared.

to contest

To compete for something, such as a seat in an election.

an underdog

A person or team expected to lose.

Level 4 — Advanced

Midterm elections are usually read as a referendum on an incumbent president, and on Tuesday the reading was unambiguous. The Democrats captured both chambers of Congress, a result that several outlets reached for the word stunning to describe. The Associated Press called the Senate during the night; by the time one live blog closed, the projected arithmetic stood at 53 Democratic seats to 42 Republican, with five races still outstanding, while 224 House seats had been called for the Democrats against 133, and networks were modelling a final chamber somewhere between 230 and 255. The totals were provisional, and the outlets disagreed about the precise number of flips, some counting six Senate pickups and others seven. The direction, however, was not in dispute.

What distinguishes a wave from a good night is where it breaks. Ohio returned Sherrod Brown to the Senate at Jon Husted's expense; South Carolina went to Annie Andrews on a margin of roughly four points. But the results that will be studied are the ones in places the party had written off. Texas elected James Talarico, its first statewide Democratic winner since 1994, over Ken Paxton. Kansas sent Adam Hamilton to Washington by better than 50,000 votes, ending a drought in Senate contests that stretched back to 1932. Susan Collins, among the most durable survivors in recent Senate history, conceded in Maine with the observation that it had been the honour of her life to serve the people of the state. Governors' mansions tilted too: the Associated Press projected 24 for the Democrats against 13 for the Republicans, with Keisha Lance Bottoms in line to become the first Black woman elected governor of an American state and the Republican Byron Donalds poised to be Florida's first Black governor.

The rhetoric of the victors was biblical and brisk. Talarico said the people of Texas had been his slingshot and that Goliath had been defeated. Hakeem Jeffries, who is now the overwhelming favourite for the speakership, announced that today begins the great American comeback and promised that House Democrats were committed to making life better for voters. Jon Ossoff, comfortably returned in Georgia, offered the darker framing, describing the administration as a failed lame duck and telling supporters that the first light of dawn was on the horizon. Notably, none of the four outlets surveyed carried a word from Chuck Schumer, Mike Johnson or John Thune, a silence that says something about how quickly the narrative had settled.

Trump's response moved through denial, generosity and constitutional arithmetic in the space of a few hours. On Truth Social he wrote that he had not been on the ballot and that his party would have won in a landslide had he been. On Fox News he allowed that he was a little bit surprised, that he had thought his side would do better, and that the Democrats had fought hard and done a good job. To the New York Times he said he was absolutely willing to accept the result and expected to work something out with the other side. And then the harder point, which is also the accurate one: a congressional majority can pass bills, but it cannot enact them over a president's objection without votes it does not have. The Democrats, he suggested, are really not in control, because fifty excellent bills can be returned with a single stamp. What the majorities do unambiguously carry is the subpoena power, and the oversight machinery that comes with committee control.