Democrats capture the Senate, snapping Republicans' grip on Washington

Democrats have won the U.S. Senate, according to The Associated Press, knocking Republicans out of power in the chamber that has anchored their control of Washington. The call caps a cycle in which Democrats steadily gained ground on Republican-held seats.

The engine behind the win, per AP, was voter frustration with President Donald Trump. Democrats ran on that discontent and turned it into a Senate majority, ending the GOP's dominant stretch in the capital.

Control of the Senate is a blunt instrument: the majority party sets the floor schedule, decides which bills get votes and handles confirmations. Democrats now hold that leverage.

Republicans, who entered the cycle on top in Washington, will move into the minority in the chamber. Democrats are set to steer the Senate's agenda from here, with the party's newly won majority defining the next stretch of legislative fights.