quote:

'It was a failure': Furious House Democrats unload as leadership promises answers after election losses

House Democratic leadership tried to tamp down fuming lawmakers on a private call Thursday that included finger-pointing, befuddlement and a few tears as Democrats acknowledged being blindsided after losing a number of key races in an election some were projecting as another blue wave.

Democrats went into Election Day boasting they would not only protect freshmen Democrats in battleground districts that helped them take the House majority, but also see wins in Republican strongholds to expand their majority.

Neither happened.

Instead, at least seven incumbent House Democrats lost races, with other contests still too close to call. Democrats, though, are still expected to keep the majority. Senate Democrats similarly had a poor election night, being bested by Republican incumbents again and again in races that they were forecasted to win.

House Democrats talked through the aftermath on a private caucus call Thursday afternoon, where lawmakers blamed the media, polling and one another for the losses, according to a source on the at-times heated call. Leadership attempted to paint a rosy picture with former Vice President Joe Biden on track to win the White House, though no winner has been declared as votes in several states are still being counted, .

"We lost members who shouldn't have lost," Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a moderate who narrowly won her race in Virginia, said in a heated speech, according to a source on the call. "We need to not ever use the words 'socialist' or 'socialism' ever again because while people think it doesn't matter, it does matter. And we lost good members because of that."

She specifically pointed to the defund the police movement and said it hurt her and other moderates who were in tight races.

Spanberger raised her voice, telling fellow Democrats they needed to learn a lesson from this cycle or "we will be f---ing torn apart in 2022."