Virginia Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger blasted her party's showing in the 2020 elections on a Democratic Caucus call on Thursday. Her campaign has declared victory over opponent Nick Freitas, but it was a tight one. She is currently leading the Republican by just 5,500 votes. Democrats were supposed to gain seats in the House of Representatives from vulnerable Republicans. It was supposed to be a "blue wave." It didn't materialize. Republicans remain a powerful minority on Capitol Hill.
"Tuesday was an abject disaster for Democrats in Washington," Politico wrote. "To imagine the amount of soul searching and explaining the party will have to do after Tuesday is absolutely dizzying. The infighting will be bloody - as it should be. We fielded text after text from Hill Democrats Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning with existential questions about their leadership and the direction of their party."
It was similar story in statehouses across the country.
"Democrats failed to flip chambers in Texas, North Carolina, Iowa, Pennsylvania and Michigan," the New York Times noted. "Republicans flipped New Hampshire’s Legislature.
Spanberger cried to her fellow Democrats that this never should have happened. *(warning: graphic language)*
Spanberger on the Dem caucus call: We lost races we shouldn’t have lost.
— Erica Werner (@ericawerner) November 5, 2020
Defund police almost cost me my race bc of an attack ad.
Don’t say socialism ever again.
Need to get back to basics.
(Is yelling.)
"If we run this race again we will get f*cking torn apart again in 2022," Spanberger animatedly added.
She wasn't the only one to have a breakdown about the state of her party.
Also earlier in the call Debbie Mucarsel-Powell who lost her race was crying , and mentioned how people can’t pronounce her name, and said stop being negative on Twitter
— Erica Werner (@ericawerner) November 5, 2020
Way to go, Nancy!
Republicans, meanwhile, celebrated a surge of conservative women elected to Congress, thanks to the effort led by Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY).