Pelosi ‘heartbroken’ over McAuliffe loss in Virginia governor’s race

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she is “heartbroken” over Democrat Terry McAuliffe’s loss in the Virginia governor’s race this week.

Mrs. Pelosi, California Democrat, expressed her disappointment to reporters on Thursday, though she remained confident about Democrats’ chances in the 2022 midterms just a year away.

“I’m heartbroken because Terry McAuliffe is a great leader in our country and was a great governor of Virginia, and I hoped that he was a once and future governor,” she said at a press conference.

Mrs. Pelosi dodged a question about whether the stalemate in Congress over President Biden’s domestic agenda hurt Mr. McAuliffe’s chances in the razor-close race against Republican and first-time candidate Glenn Youngkin. Republicans swept the top races in a state easily carried by Mr. Biden in 2020.

“I haven’t seen all the analysis,” she said.

The speaker added that delivering on the Democratic agenda on Capitol Hill helps her party in elections.

“There’s no question the more results we can produce in the way that people understand in their lives, the better it is,” Mrs. Pelosi said.

Mr. McAuliffe lost to Mr. Youngkin by roughly 2 percentage points on Tuesday night.

Mr. McAuliffe, who served as Virginia governor from 2014 to 2018, conceded to Mr. Youngkin the following day.

“While last night we came up short, I am proud that we spent this campaign fighting for the values we so deeply believe in,” he said in a statement, congratulating his opponent.

Mr. Youngkin will be the first Republican in 12 years to hold the governorship in Virginia. Inauguration Day is Jan 15.