Perriello's performance showed the most dramatic improvements over past Democratic voting in the more conservative areas of the district hardest hit by decades of job loss and economic slowdown.

As a presidential candidate, Barack Obama also improved on past Democratic performance, but he ultimately lost this district by around 7,500 votes (2.5 percentage points).

Perriello may also have been helped by coattails from atop the ticket, as Mark Warner won the district in a landslide with 65 percent of the vote.

[15] Perriello lost to Republican nominee State Senator Robert Hurt in a race between the two and Independent candidate Jeffrey Clark.

[18] As early as two weeks after being elected in 2008, Perriello was targeted for defeat by national Republicans and by outside groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Koch brothers' funded Americans for Prosperity.

[21] The two congressmen took dramatically different approaches to campaigning, with Perriello embracing his short congressional record that included votes for progressive legislation like the Affordable Care Act, and Nye attempting to distance himself from his party.

'"[23] Citing the 2006 midterm elections, Perriello pointed toward the example of fellow Democrats including Senators Jim Webb, Sherrod Brown, and Jon Tester—all winning in difficult political environments with firm positions that cut across typical progressive or conservative ideologies.

Perriello described his vote for Cap and Trade legislation as a national security imperative, stating "There's got to be something more important than getting reelected," in an interview with Politico.

[37] He pressed the administration and Congress to include more infrastructure spending in the stimulus bill, and authored the Every Penny to Main Street Act, which would have used the money that banks paid back from the bailout to directly create new jobs in construction.

[47] In April 2018, Perriello co-authored an opinion piece in the Washington Post with Tom Cormons, executive director of Appalachian Voices, calling on Governor Northam to support a push by landowners and environmental groups against a fracking gas pipeline through the Blue Ridge Mountains.

[48] Hate Speech and Discrimination: Perriello strongly condemned the Unite the Right rally that occurred in Charlottesville in August 2017.

Perriello wrote in Slate magazine that, “Our future will be determined by whether we speak honestly about the racial demagoguery of this White House, whether principled conservatives stop enabling the racist and authoritarian policies of the Trump administration, whether we restore the line between force and violence, and whether we have the moral and intellectual courage to engage honestly with our past.”[49] On the one year anniversary of the rally in 2018, Perriello said that while the impact of the rally remains to be seen, the event “could prove to be a wake-up call that inspired a more inclusive and just community and country.” He also strongly emphasized a need for white Americans to actively speak out and demonstrate against racism, in order to counter the narrative of white supremacists.

The resulting document, Enduring Leadership in a Dynamic World, set out four strategic priorities for American diplomacy and foreign assistance: preventing conflict and violent extremism, promoting democratic societies, advancing inclusive economic growth, and mitigating climate change.

As Special Envoy, Perriello was the U.S. representative to a region including Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, and Rwanda, countries working to overcome a recent legacy of civil war and genocide.

Perriello was charged with implementing the administration's policies of preventing mass atrocities and supporting the emergence of peaceful, democratic societies.

[55] This work culminated in the historic New Year's Eve agreement on December 31, 2016, which lays out a path to the first peaceful transition of power since the country's independence in 1960.

[57] On January 5, 2017, Perriello announced[58] that he would run for Governor of Virginia in the 2017 election on a platform centered around economic justice as well as resistance to the Trump Administration.

[59] In his campaign, he championed robust policies for addressing the racial wealth gap, reproductive health, resurgent monopolies, and corruption.

[60] They were joined by Senator and former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders,[61] who subsequently appeared with Perriello at a George Mason University rally.

[62] Other individuals and organizations who endorsed Perriello, included Our Revolution, a Sanders' affiliated group; Khizr and Ghazala Khan;[63] the Progressive Change Campaign Committee;[64] Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.

[70] Perriello refused to accept campaign contributions from Dominion Energy, a state-regulated utility and Virginia's biggest political donor.