Harris congratulates Youngkin on governor’s win in Virginia

Vice President Harris on Wednesday congratulated Republican Glenn Youngkin for prevailing in the Virginia governor’s race while expressing disappointment at Democrat Terry McAuliffe’s loss.

“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,” Harris told reporters on Capitol Hill.

Asked for her message to Democrats following the loss in Virginia, Harris said she would “leave that to the pundits” before highlighting what she described as “great wins” by Eric Adams (D) in the New York City mayoral race and Shontel Brown (D) in Ohio’s 11^th congressional district. Both results were expected.  

Youngkin, a businessman who had never run for office before, was projected the winner of the Virginia gubernatorial contest just after midnight Tuesday, making him the first Republican to win a statewide election there in over a decade.

McAuliffe, who previously served as the governor of Virginia and is a longtime fixture in Democratic politics, had won key endorsements from top Democrats like Harris, President Biden and former President Obama who had flocked to the state to campaign for him over the past several weeks.

Harris appeared alongside McAuliffe at a campaign rally Friday evening. 

Democrats were disappointed by the Virginia loss along with a gubernatorial race in Democratic-led New Jersey, which remains too close to call. 

Many Democrats argued Wednesday that the election results should spur lawmakers to quickly pass Biden’s sweeping domestic agenda — an infrastructure bill and social spending and climate package that have stalled on Capitol Hill amid Democratic infighting.

Harris appeared on the Senate side Wednesday to preside over a vote on the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. All Republican senators, except one, voted to successfully block the consideration of the bill.

“When it comes to voting rights in America, it is clear that voting rights are in peril,” Harris told reporters following the vote. “The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act is an act that is deserving of robust debate on the floor of the United States Senate.”

“It is a shame that nearly every Republican in the United States Senate refused to even allow a debate on this issue,” Harris said.