Rep. Abigail Spanberger wins re-election in Virginia, AP projects

Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) has won re-election in Virginia's competitive 7th Congressional District, AP projects.

Why it matters: Spanberger's razor-thin victory against state Delegate Nick Freitas (R) comes as a relief to Democrats, who did not see the gains they expected in the House and instead netted a loss of four seats, despite taking the White House.

• Spanberger first flipped the traditionally red district in 2018 when she defeated former Rep. Dave Brat (R), who allied himself closely with President Trump.

The intrigue: Spanberger's win comes days after she tore into her House Democratic colleagues on a caucus call thought to be off the record for what she described as their embrace of unpopular progressive issues like calls to "defund the police" and talk of socialism.

• "We want to talk about funding social services and ensuring good engagement in community policing, let's talk about what we are for," Spanberger was heard saying in audio of the call obtained by the Washington Post.
• "And 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 it."

Go deeper ... James Clyburn: "Defund the police" slogan could hurt Black Lives Matter movement