What Went Down During The 2021 Elections
How are President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris — both of whom campaigned in person for Terry McAuliffe — responding to his loss?
When asked about the Virginia results during a press conference about vaccines for children, Biden tied the loss to both the ongoing struggle to pass his legislative agenda, and the lingering influence of Donald Trump.
“I was talking to Terry to congratulate him today. He got 600,000 more votes than any other Democrat has gotten. We brought out every Democrat there was … People want us to get things done. They want us to get things done. And that’s why I am continuing to push very hard for the Democratic Party to move along and pass my infrastructure bill and my Build Back Better bill,” Biden said.
Biden surmised that his agenda “should have passed before Election Day, but I’m not sure that I would be able to have changed the number of very conservative folks who turned out in the red districts who were Trump voters. But maybe. Maybe.”
Speaking to reporters after a press conference on the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which failed a vote to start debate today, Harris said, “It’s no surprise or no secret I supported Terry McAuliffe; I think he would have made a great governor, but it clearly was a fair election and I applaud the governor-elect.”
When a reporter asked about lessons for the Democrats from Virginia, Harris said, “I’m gonna leave that to the pundits, but I will say this: We had great wins, as well as obviously what we talked about in Virginia, and I celebrate those.”
Votes are still being counted slowly in New Jersey, but we have what qualifies as a major update out of Hudson County, where 1,865 additional votes have been counted. We’re told these were mail votes, and they indeed broke heavily for Murphy, 1,429-496. Murphy now leads statewide 50.0 percent to 49.3 percent (a margin of 16,617 votes).
Our colleagues at ABC News are projecting that Republican Jason Miyares has won the Virginia attorney general’s race. Republicans have officially swept all three statewide offices in Old Dominion.