South Africans vote in local elections that could continue the decline of the once-mighty ANC

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africans voted Wednesday in local elections that are an evaluation of the once-mighty African National Congress party, which led the country out of white minority rule but has seen a consistent decline in support over the last decade.

The elections will decide who leads South Africa's eight main city municipalities as well as 44 district and 205 local councils.

A key battleground is the largest city and economic hub of Johannesburg. It's often been called Africa's richest city, but its problems with water, electricity supplies and other public services have underlined the frustrations of millions of South Africans with local government failures.

Johannesburg has changed its mayor five times in four years since the last local elections. It is currently governed by a fragile ANC-led coalition but is a target for South Africa's second biggest party, the Democratic Alliance.

The DA has put forward its former national leader, 75-year-old Helen Zille, for mayor of Johannesburg.

She has embarked on a series of publicity stunts meant to highlight the failures of the ANC and other parties to properly run Johannesburg, including snorkeling in a water-filled trench in the middle of a road and rowing an inflatable boat through a pond created by a water leak in another part of the city of around 5 million people.

Voters do not directly elect mayors but choose members of the councils that run cities and choose the mayors. Small parties often play kingmaker roles in local government coalitions.

In the last local elections in 2021, the ANC won less than 50% of the vote for the first time since the apartheid system of white minority rule ended in 1994.

The ANC then lost its 30-year parliamentary majority in national elections in 2024 — a seismic shift for Africa's biggest economy — and entered into a national coalition with the DA and other parties, though ANC leader Cyril Ramaphosa was reelected president of South Africa.

But while the parties are partners in a national unity government, they are fierce rivals in the local elections. Zille's quest to be mayor of Johannesburg will test if the DA can win ground away from its traditional support base in the second biggest city of Cape Town.

These elections will also be the first local vote contested by the MK Party that is led by former South African President Jacob Zuma. Zuma resigned as president because of corruption allegations in 2018 and was expelled from the ANC in 2024 for starting his new party.

It made a surprisingly strong debut in the 2024 national elections to become the third biggest party in Parliament and has strong support in Zuma's home province of KwaZulu-Natal in the east of the country.

Inadequate public services — and especially failed water supplies — are a key election issue across the country. Others are corruption and high rates of unemployment, while there has also been a national reckoning over immigration.

Groups protesting against illegal immigration have drawn support and attention across the country of 62 million people in recent months and have criticized Ramaphosa and his government. Some parties have made opposition to undocumented migration a central part of their local election campaigns.

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People vote in local elections in Alexandra township, outskirts of Johannesburg, South Africa, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

People wait in line to vote outside a polling station during local elections in Alexandra township, outskirts of Johannesburg, South Africa, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

A man is pulling a rubbish bin next to a pile of rubbish along the street in Alexandra township, on the outskirt of Johannesburg, South Africa, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

A man searches for recyclable materials in a large rubbish container in Alexandra township, on the outskirt of Johannesburg, South Africa, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

FILE - South African President Cyril Ramaphosa address the media with EU leaders in Johannesburg, South Africa, Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe, file)

A Democratic Alliance (DA) mayoral candidate Helen Zille is seen on election billboard in Alexandra township, on the outskirt of Johannesburg, South Africa, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

Election posters hang on a street lamp post in Alexandra township, on the outskirt of Johannesburg, South Africa, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress, delivering a decisive rebuke of Republican governance in Washington and ushering in a new era of congressional resistance to President Donald Trump.

Tuesday's midterm elections laid bare voters' deep frustrations over high prices, the Iran war and concerns over government corruption. Democrats routed their rivals across the map, flipping states that have voted Republican for decades and that Trump won by double digits just two years ago.

That includes James Talarico's stunning Senate victory in Texas, where no Democrat had won statewide office in more than 30 years, and Annie Andrews' upset victory over Sen. Darline Graham in South Carolina. Trump had thrown his full weight behind both losing candidates.

In Michigan, progressive Abdul El-Sayed — one of a crop of left-wing candidates who prevailed in Democratic primaries — topped Republican Mike Rogers. Even Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, a battle-tested survivor of difficult elections, lost to Democrat Troy Jackson.

The results marked a fundamental unraveling of the coalition that returned Trump to the White House two years ago, with young people and Latinos moving away from Republicans, according to The AP Voter Poll. Only about one-third of Hispanic voters said they backed the Republican in their local U.S. House races.

It was all a major blow to Trump, who spent nearly every day of the last month holding rallies to energize his supporters but was unable to stop a wipeout.

While Trump has proven adept at steamrolling efforts to rein him in, Democratic control will profoundly reshape Trump’s final two years in office and hamstring his legislative agenda.

Party leaders have signaled they'll use their new power to ensure Trump's final two years in office are dominated by a series of investigations of top members of his administration and deeper scrutiny of how he's enriched his family. Impeachment of Trump and his Cabinet officials is not off the table. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and tech titan Elon Musk, a former top Trump adviser, are among possible targets for investigations.

In celebratory events Tuesday night, Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer called the results a “generational remake of the Senate map.” Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries said “the American people are crying out for transformational change.”

Trump immediately sought to shift blame for his party's losses, posting on his social media site before polls even closed on the West Coast that he wasn't on the ballot — even though he spent weeks asking voters to act like he was. He vowed to veto Democrat-controlled legislation, sharing a picture of a red baseball cap with “VETO” stenciled in the style of his trademark “Make America Great Again” campaign swag.

In a late-night phone interview with Fox News, Trump said he didn't consider the elections to be a personal defeat. Voters, he said, “didn't like the candidates.”

Democrats had braced for Trump to again try to undermine the results if they won after he warned that noncitizens would cast ballots en masse and filed lawsuits in Alaska and California. Instead, he said on Fox that he would accept them.

Despite the results, Senate Majority Leader John Thune wrote on X that “Senate Republicans will not stand idly by as the far-left, socialist wing of the Democrat Party attempts to unwind everything we’ve done.” He said they will work with Trump “to stop the worst impulses of Democrat extremism.”

Midterm elections are typically difficult for the president's party, but Republicans had originally expected that their Senate majority was safe. Instead, Democrats marched through some of the most conservative states in the nation.

Josh Turek defeated Rep. Ashley Hinson in Iowa, while Adam Hamilton ousted Sen. Roger Marshall in Kansas to become the state's first Democratic senator since 1932. A cascade of surprising Democratic victories included Talarico defeating Ken Paxton in Texas, Andrews upsetting Graham in South Carolina, Sherrod Brown topping Sen. Jon Husted in Ohio and Roy Cooper taking an open North Carolina seat.

Trump played an outsized role in many of the races. He endorsed the scandal-plagued Paxton and helped him defeat incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in the Texas primary, even as Republican officials warned his efforts could be costly. He sharply criticized North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, who opted not to seek reelection. He also supported Graham, despite doubts within the party that she was the right candidate to replace her brother, who died unexpectedly earlier this year.

Less of a surprise was Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff winning reelection in Georgia, defeating Rep. Mike Collins. Rep. Chris Pappas also won a Senate race in New Hampshire, defeating former Sen. John Sununu to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.

One outstanding Senate battleground was Alaska, where the Trump administration filed a lawsuit to block certification of Senate results if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan loses the race, citing the presence of a second candidate named Dan Sullivan on the ballot. Mississippi’s Senate race remained too early to call.

In the House, Democrats reached deeply into Trump-won territory to defeat his preferred candidates and win in even some of the most Republican states. There were multiple Democratic pickups in Iowa, Texas, Florida and Pennsylvania and new Democratic seats in Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio and Utah. In Iowa, there was an all-Republican congressional delegation going into the election. Democrats will now represent three of them.

Bracing for a tough night, Republicans had spent the campaign’s final stretch pumping tens of millions of dollars into states and districts that Trump won handily two years ago, as Trump campaigned in heavily red areas. But even Republicans' money advantage didn't stem the Democratic tide.

“I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!” Trump wrote on his social media site.

Voters were sour heading into Tuesday, deeply unhappy with the country’s direction and pessimistic about the future, according to The AP Voter Poll.

Most said they felt frustrated, with about three-quarters saying they felt “angry” or “dissatisfied” with the country’s current trajectory. Dissatisfaction was particularly high in blue states, but even in red states, a majority of voters were at least “dissatisfied.”

The economy was key to Trump's White House comeback two years ago. But the poll found that three-quarters of voters said the economy is “not so good” or “poor." About 8 in 10 said inflation has caused a “severe” or “moderate” financial hardship for their households.

Government corruption was also a big issue with voters. Roughly half cited it and the cost of living as “crucial” to their vote for Congress — higher than immigration enforcement policies, the war in Iran and artificial intelligence data centers. About 6 in 10 voters said Trump prioritizes his own personal interests more than the country’s interests.

Despite their relative advantage on issues, the Democratic Party was not much more popular with voters than the Republicans. Just under half of voters said they have a “somewhat” or “strongly” favorable view of the Democratic Party, while about 4 in 10 viewed Republicans positively.

Republicans tried to buck historical midterm precedent with an aggressive redistricting effort aimed at creating a more favorable congressional map. But in Florida and Texas, where Republicans hoped to pick up as many as nine seats, the plan fell short, with Democrats picking up targeted districts.

Beyond Washington, 36 states elected governors. Democrats Josh Shapiro in Pennsylvania, JB Pritzker in Illinois, Wes Moore in Maryland, Maura Healey in Massachusetts and Kathy Hochul in New York all won reelection. In a stunning upset in Texas, Gina Hinojosa defeated Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who was seeking a fourth term.

In Ohio, Republican Vivek Ramaswamy lost to Democrat Amy Acton after his campaign faced backlash for an ad featuring Acton’s estranged mother, who lost custody of Acton decades ago after her husband, Acton’s stepfather, was indicted for raping Acton as a child.

Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms of Georgia will be the first Black female governor of any state. In neighboring Florida, Byron Donalds became the nation's first Black Republican to be elected governor.

Jeffries, in line to make history as the nation’s first Black speaker of the House, has outlined a 100-day agenda focused on lowering the cost of living and aggressively overseeing the Trump administration.

The especially strong showing for Democrats could boost the party's large crop of potential presidential candidates. It may also complicate the paths of Vice President JD Vance and other Republicans who may have been looking to turn their loyalty to Trump into momentum.

Associated Press journalists Joey Cappelletti, Lisa Mascaro, Linley Sanders, Aaron Kessler and Ali Swenson in Washington; Cody Jackson in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.; and Allen Breed in Raleigh, N.C., contributed.

South Carolina Democratic Senate candidate Dr. Annie Andrews takes the stage at an election night event in Charleston, S.C., Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)

Democratic Senate candidate Texas state Rep. James Talarico speaks at an election night event in Austin, Texas, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Attendees watch early election returns at an election night event before Democratic Senate candidate Texas state Rep. James Talarico arrives to speak in Austin, Texas, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Attendees watch early election returns at an election night event before Democratic Senate candidate Texas state Rep. James Talarico arrives to speak in Austin, Texas, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Georgia Democratic Senate candidate Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., walks out during an election night event, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Supporters of South Carolina Democratic Senate candidate Dr. Annie Andrews cheer during her election night watch party, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)

Democratic Senate candidate Rep. Chris Pappas, right, D-N.H., greets the crowd at an election night event, with Vann Bentley, left, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, in Manchester, N.H. (AP Photo/Reba Saldanha)

North Carolina Democratic Senate candidate Roy Cooper speaks at an election night event Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Ramey)

Event staff set the stage before Democratic Senate candidate Texas state Rep. James Talarico arrives to speak at an election night event in Austin, Texas, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

People cheer at an election ight event for Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, in Bangor, Maine. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Dr. Theopia Johnson Tate, of Atlanta, poses for a portrait at an election night event for Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Guests attend an election night event for Republican Senate candidate Mike Collins, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, greets supporters at an election night event Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, in Bangor, Maine. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Residents vote in the midterm elections at the Old Stone School in Hillsboro, Va., Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)

A Sheriff's Deputy and his dog inspect ballots at the Los Angeles County Ballot Processing Center on Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, in City of Industry, Calif. (AP Photo/William Liang)

Ballots are sorted on Election Day Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, in San Francisco.(AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Brad Girod holds his 14-month-old daughter, Genevieve, as he votes on Election Day during the midterm election at a polling place in the National Veterans Memorial and Museum in Columbus, Ohio, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

A woman votes at the Emery Heights Community Center, Tuesday Nov. 3, 2026, during the midterm elections in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

A voting location is seen at the Greater Middle Baptist Church on Nov. 3, 2026 in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Kevin Wurm)

People cast their ballots at the polling place at the League for People with Disabilities in Baltimore on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

A woman votes at the Emery Heights Community Center, Tuesday Nov. 3, 2026, during the midterm elections in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Samantha Pounder, of Washington, confirms her address with a poll worker while voting with her daughters Aya, 3, left, and Sade, 6, at the Emery Heights Community Center, Tuesday Nov. 3, 2026, during the midterm elections in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

People move in line to cast their ballots at the polling place at the League for People with Disabilities in Baltimore on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Voters cast their ballots at Public School 321 elementary school in the Brooklyn borough of New York on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

A volunteer places a "Vote Here" sign at the Brooklyn Museum in New York on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Voters cast their ballots at the Brooklyn Museum in New York on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

A volunteer sorts "I Voted" stickers at the Brooklyn Museum in New York on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

A person walks to the City of Arlington South Service Center ahead of the polling place opening on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Josh Turek speaks during a campaign rally, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026, in Council Bluffs, Iowa. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)

People listen to Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who is running for reelection, outside an agricultural business as she makes a campaign stop, Monday, Nov. 2, 2026, in Van Buren, Maine. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., introduces Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed during a campaign rally at Eastern Michigan University, Monday, Nov. 2, 2026, in Ypsilanti, Mich. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, speaks to members of the media before sign-waving with supporters at the edge of Midtown Mall, Monday, Nov. 2, 2026, in Anchorage, Alaska. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

People wait in line to cast their ballot at a polling location open for early voting at the Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026, in Wasilla, Alaska. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)